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Religions come, live and die. They oust each other. Monotheism changes the pantheism. As a rule, all this is accompanied by wars and violence. But what do we see when we're looking at the ancient mosque, church, or even Egyptian pyramids? First of all, we see the thoughts and feelings of the people who lived during that time. Their thoughts were captured in stone, bricks, signs, and drawings. As the colors of the dawn fix the fresh breath of the morning on your film, so our ancestry talks to us from the walls.

And now, slow down. Forget about humming cars. Take a look at these windows and arches. Do you hear horses approaching?

In the year 1650, the Chrestovozdvizhensky monastery was founded on the initiative of the Cossack leaders and rich people of Poltava in honor of the liberation of Ukraine in1648 from Polish invaders. The original buildings were made of wood, so they didn’t survive. In fact, only forty-five years after its beginning, the monastery was captured and devastated by Crimean Tartars. In1709, it was seized by Swedish troops, who disposed of their artillery on its territory.

The erection of the new cathedral began at the end of the seventeenth century and continued into the first quarter of the eighteenth century, after the Northern War (1700-1720). The cathedral of the monastery is one of the best examples of an architecture called "vizantian" or "Ukrainian baroque." It features seven domes. The bell tower was erected in 1786.

During the civil war (1917-1921), the monastery suffered greatly from the frequent changes of power. In1923, it was closed. In the thirties, the buildings were used for different purposes. There was a club for railroad men, regional historical archives, students’ hostel and canteen. After World War II, the buildings were gradually restored, but the activity of the monastery was forbidden again in 1960. Finally, it was re-opened in 1990.

Many famous people visited the monastery. Among them were the Russian emperor Katherine II (Sophia-Frederike-Augusta), the last emperor of Russia Czar Nikolai II, and the outstanding Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko. Interestingly, the house in which Katherine II lived still stands. Many years have passed since that time, but the snake of the road still creeps up the hill--higher and higher, to the old monastery.

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Olexiy Logvinov was born in January 7, 1981 in Poltava, Ukraine where he still lives with his parents. From 1987 to 1998 he studied at English Poltava School #3. During the last three years at the school he became a very popular photographer and took photos of every school event. About three years ago, he won third prize in a photo competition which was arranged in Poltava by Fuji Photo. He is now a second year student at Poltava Pedagogical College. He will be giving us reports from his country from time to time.

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