Kiev – the cradle of the Eastern Orthodox Church – is a holy city for many pilgrims both from Ukraine and abroad, who travel to Kyiv to visit its old majestic churches and golden-domed monasteries. Its principal shrine – the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Caves) Monastery – was built almost one thousand years ago. For many devout Eastern Orthodox Christians it is next to a second Jerusalem where they worship the relics of 123 holy men preserved in the underground caves. Similar cave monasteries are to be seen in the cities of Chernihiv, Poltava and Pochaiv.