Kitaevo Hermitage, Orthodox monastery in Holosiiv district, Kyiv, Ukraine

Kitaevo Hermitage is an Orthodox monastery in Kyiv's Holosiiv district. Its white brick Trinity Church, built 1763–1768 by Stepan Kovnir, has a green roof, green-framed windows and a small green onion dome with a gold cross. A white gateway with a rounded arch and black scrolled metal gate leads into the grounds.

Documented history begins in 1716; by the 19th century Kitaevo was a pilgrimage site known as the 'Kyiv Athos'. The Trinity Church was built in 1763–1768 by Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra master builder Stepan Kovnir, with architects Andriy Melensky and Volodymyr Nikolayev involved in the monastery's expansion. In 1930 the hermitage was closed and its buildings given to a fruit-growing research institute; the 45-metre bell tower was dismantled in 1932. Monastic life resumed in 1990, and the skete became an independent monastery in 1996.

Kitaevo was called the Kyiv Athos, and pilgrims came to consult the elders Dosifey and Feofil. In 1776 the young Prokhor Moshnin visited; Dosifey directed him to Sarov, where he became Seraphim of Sarov. Since the late 18th century Kitaev also drew summer residents, among them Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Mykola Lysenko and Mykhailo Hrushevsky.

The monastery is located at 15 Kitayivska Street, roughly 4.5 kilometers from Holosiivska metro station, and hosts regular religious services open to visitors. Timing your visit outside peak service hours helps you explore the grounds more freely and respectfully.

The caves at Kitaevo were home to hermit monks in the 16th and 17th centuries, long before the monastery's documented founding in 1716. After archaeological research in 1993–1994, they were fitted out and a church dedicated to Saint Dositheus of Kyiv was consecrated inside them.