Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra - Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine

Golden domes and white walls crown the hilltop at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra (Почаївська Лавра), in Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine, and this camera looks over the monastery's courtyards, churches and soaring bell tower.

The first written record of the monastery dates from 1527, though tradition says monks fleeing the Mongol invasion founded it about three centuries earlier. It stands on a hill about 200 feet (60 m) high above the town of Pochaiv.

Its Dormition Cathedral was built between 1771 and 1783, and the bell tower beside it, put up in the 1860s, rises about 213 feet (65 m), one of the tallest in Ukraine. Pilgrims come from across the region.

Did You Know? Legend says the Virgin Mary appeared here in a pillar of fire and left her footprint in the rock, which is kept inside the cathedral.

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