Church of the Tithes

Church of the Dormition of the Virgin
The ruined Church of the Tithes in the 1650s, drawn by Abraham van Westerveld.
Religion
Affiliation	Eastern Orthodox Church
Province	Kyiv Metropolis
Rite	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Status	destroyed
Location
Location	Kyiv, Ukraine
Architecture
Type	cathedral
Completed	996
Materials	Stone

Church of the Tithes

Shown within Kyiv
Location	Kyiv, Ukraine
Coordinates	50°27′28″N 30°31′03″E / 50.4577777878°N 30.51750001°E / 50.4577777878; 30.51750001
Type	Building
History
Builder	Volodymyr of Kyiv
Founded	10th century AD
Periods	Kievan Rus
Cultures	Old Ruthenian
Site notes
Condition	Ruined

The Church of the Tithes or Church of the Dormition of the Virgin (Ukrainian: Десятинна Церква, Desiatynna Tserkva; Russian: Десятинная Церковь, Desyatinnaya Tserkov') was the first stone church in Kyiv.^[1] Originally it was built by the order of Grand Prince Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great between 989 and 996^[1] by Byzantine and local workers at the site of death of martyrs Theodor the Varangian and his son Johann. It was originally named the "Church of Our Lady", in honor of the Dormition of the Theotokos. The church was ruined in 1240 during the siege of Kyiv by Mongol armies of Batu Khan.

Vladimir set aside a tithe of his income and property to finance the church's construction and maintenance, which gave the church its popular name.

On an initiative of the Metropolitan of Kyiv Eugene Bolkhovitinov, the church was rebuilt in the mid-19th century, but in 1928 it was once again destroyed by the Soviet regime.^[1]