Erected to rival Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople (the symbol of the Orthodox Christian world), the church with the same name in the capital of the Kievan Rus', created in the 11th century in a region evangelized after the baptism of Saint Vladimir in 988, is one of the major edifices representing the culture of Eastern Christianity, inspired by Byzantine models. Dedicated to the Holy Wisdom, not to a specific saint named Sophia, it is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first patrimony on territory of Ukraine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List along with the Kiev Cave Monastery complex in 1990. Aside from its main building, the cathedral includes an ensemble of supporting structures such as a bell tower, the House of Metropolitan, and others.
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