“Kyivan Christianity”: The New Concept of Early Modern Religious History of Central and Eastern Europe

Ivan Almes (Ukrainian Catholic University)

The presentation focuses on the concept and publishing series Kyivan Christianity, which aims to reconceptualize the religious history (and broader cultural history) of Central and Eastern Europe from Kyiv’s perspective. During the event, the historian from Lviv will present the research project implemented at UCU since 2012, which has resulted in a 40-volume series published by UCU Press and aims to release 100 volumes. At the very heart of such research stands Kyiv as a religious center, not Rome, Constantinople, or Moscow. From Kyiv, the culture was spread to the north (up to the territory of Courland – modern Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), to the south (Slavo-Vlachia – modern Moldova and Northern Romania), to the west (Peremyshl and Mukachevo eparchies), and to the East (for example, the Bilhorod eparchy). This tradition or culture has been preserved not only in visible forms such as St. Sophia Cathedral, but also in narratives, images, songs, architecture, etc, investigated by researchers from the perspective of Kyiv.

Ivan Almes is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the Ukrainian Catholic University, where he also serves as Director of the Ihor Skochylias Center for Religious Culture and Coordinator of the research program Kyivan Christianity. He is the editor-in-chief of the Kyivan Christianity publishing series, issued by UCU Press. Almes has co-organized several international scholar conferences in Rome: in 2021 on the Zamość Sobor; in 2023 on St Josaphat Kuntsevych; and in 2024 on Kyivan Metropolitan Yosyf Veliamyn Rutsky. His most recent volume is In Search of Centres: Early Modern Kyivan Christianities (co-edited with Svitlana Potapenko, Oksana Prokopyuk, Vitalii Tkachuk, and Valerii Zema; Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, 2026). Currently, he is a visiting scholar at the Nanovic Institute of European History at the University of Notre Dame, IN.

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