Kiev Ukraine Zaborovsky or Western Main Gate

overview

Zaborovsky or Western Main Gate was built in Kiev city in 1745-1748, at the same time as Golden Gate so the walls surrounding St Sophia's Monastery, by Johann-Gottfried Schadel, and commissioned by the Metropolitan of Kiev Rafail Zaborovsky, a notable eighteenth-century patron of the arts.

His crest appears in the centre of the tympanum of the archway and on the pediment. Originally there were quarters for the corps-de-garde on either side of the gateway. In 1822-1823 they were demolished and the archway blocked up. At present the proportions of the gate are distorted as a result of the re-laying of the street which has raised the soil level by approximately one and a half meters.