Each mosaic and fresco had its allotted position according to Byzantine decorative schemes, turning the church into a giant 3D symbol of the Orthodox world order. There are explanations in English of individual mosaics, but the one that immediately strikes you is the 6m-high Virgin Orans dominating the central apse. The Virgin Orans is a peculiarly Orthodox concept of the Virgin as a symbol of the earthly church interceding for the salvation of humanity. Having survived this long, this particular Orans is now thought indestructible by Orthodox believers. (Unesco was slightly less certain, adding the cathedral to its protective World Heritage list in 1990.)

Less obvious, but worth seeking out, are two secular group portraits of Yaroslav and family, one on either side of the central nave. Prince Yaroslav himself was buried here, but his remains are believed to have been smuggled into the US by a collaborationist priest, who left Kyiv with the retreating German army during WWII. The Ukrainian government is engaged in negotiations about their return. The prince’s empty tomb can be found on the ground floor, in the far-left corner from the main entrance.

Other highlights of the cathedral include the cast-iron tile floors, which date from the 18th century; an awesome model depicting Kyiv at the time of the Kyivan Rus; and art galleries upstairs containing ancient icons and fragments of original frescoes rescued from nearby St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery before the Soviets demolished it in 1937.

Additional museums on the cathedral grounds are of little interest. Just before the bell tower lies the ornate tomb of Kyiv Patriarch Volodymyr Romanyuk. Religious disputes prevented him from being buried within the complex.

In front of the cathedral complex on pl Sofiyska is a statue of Cossack hero Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

As you journey into Kyiv from the airport, at some point this giant statue of a female warrior will loom up on the horizon and make you wonder, ‘What the hell is that?’ Well, it’s Rodina Mat – literally ‘Nation’s Mother’. Inaugurated by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1981, it was the second and last Nation’s Mother monument erected in the USSR. Today it houses the excellent Great Patriotic War Museum in its base, and has a pair of viewing platforms. The top platform is all the way up at the top of her shield at 91m, but it’s subject to weather-related closures and long lines, as the elevator can only accommodate two visitors at at time. There’s a lower platform at 36.6m, served by a separate, larger elevator.

Although initially designed by the same artist as the iconic Rodina Mat in Volgograd, this version completely lacked its sister’s appeal and became a subject of ridicule, especially when the communist authorities reduced the size of the sword so that it doesn’t rise over the cupolas of Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra. Even if you don’t like such Soviet pomposity, don’t say too much; you’d be taking on a titanium woman carrying 12 tonnes of shield and sword.

The grounds around Rodina Mat are popular for strolling and contain a number of intriguing relics of the communist era, including an eternal flame in memory of WWII victims; various old tanks, helicopters and anti-aircraft guns; and a veritable garden of Soviet realist sculpture in and around the underpass leading towards the Lavra.

Rodina Mat is an easy stroll from the Lavra, or take bus 24 or trolleybus 38 from the stop opposite Arsenalna metro.