В книге коротко изложена история Киево-Печерской лавры и монастыря от начала пещерножительства. Дается описание святынь Ближних и Дальних пещер, устава Студийского, Киево-Печерской лавры, ее храмов и святынь, священной утвари, библиотеки, богослужений и обрядов, больничного монастыря. Прилагаются иллюстрации и детальные планы пещер.

Church architecture is a contentious field of inquiry. Polemics, dogmatism, and caricature abound. It would be unrealistic to think any book could resolve the controversies, but a fresh look at the most basic questions about churches, their meanings and their uses, may prove useful to all sides. The incentive to write this book was mixed: it grew out of historical interest, but also out of an urge to see more clearly what churches have meant and what they can mean for communities that buildand use them. It might seem that the first four chapters deal with theological questions, while the extended case studies that follow shift the focus to history—but in fact theolog and history are intertwined throughout.

Much of this book was researched and written while I was resident in Vienna, Wolfenb€uttel, and Berlin, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the scholars who helped to facilitatemy stays in these cities. I amgrateful to Martina Fuchs and Alfred Kohler for their friendly support during my time in Vienna, to Jill Bepler, for her years of kindness during my stays in Wolfenb€uttel, and to Claudia Ulbrich, for helping tome to get on myfeet in Berlin. I would also like to thank the following friends and colleagues who have answered questions, provided advice, or sent me unpublished chapters of their own work to help me on my way: Euan Cameron, Geoffrey Dipple, Martin Gierl, Kevin Gould, Mark Greengrass, Susan Karant-Nunn, Peter Marshall, Judith Pollmann, Penny Roberts, and Alexandra Walsham. I am also extremely grateful to the two readers who worked through the manuscript and provided me with such thoughtful and helpful reviews. None of these scholars, of course, is responsible for the views of this book or the errors that remain. Both at the beginning ofthis project and at the end the assistance provided by the Al exander vonHumboldt Foundation enabled me to undertake research in world-class libraries. It gives me great pleasure to record my appreciation in print for the generous help the Foundation offered during my time in Wolfenb€uttel and Berlin. And finally I would like to record my gratitude to the Queen’s University, Belfast for making it possible for me to live and work in two worlds.