More info: Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra is a monastery in Pochayiv, Kremenets Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. The monastery belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For centuries, it has been the foremost spiritual and ideological centre of various Orthodox and Eastern Catholic denominations in Western Ukraine
Pochayiv Lavra is one of the three most beautiful Orthodox monasteries of Eastern Europe. It is located on a rocky hill, standing over 75 meters above the town. Believers come because of the Lavra’s reputation for making miracles happen. Regular tourists come to see the architecture and the unusual energy of t Pochayiv Lavra.
A legend claims that the cloister appeared in the 13th century, when Orthodox monks fled from the Mongol-Tatar invasion, going west and settling on the mountain. The monks called it ‘Pochayiv’ in memory of the river Pochayna, where their monastery used to stand. The cloister’s first cells were caves deep inside the mountain; the first building was the wooden Church of Assumption. Soon after they settled, Virgin Mary appeared and left her footprint in a rock. Pious believers think that healing water started to pour from the spot, and ‘The Footprint of Our Lady’ became the first miracle of the Pochayiv Lavra and its main relic.