Kyiv Caves Patericon

The Kyiv Caves Patericon or the Kyiv-Pechersk Patericon (Ukrainian: Києво-Печерський патерик), full title: Patericon, or the Life of Saint Fathers of Kyiv Caves, is a monument of Old Russian and Old Ukrainian literature, a collection of tales about the monks of the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, later Lavra. The patericon is considered one of the most original works of Old East Slavic hagiography; it contains little recycling of previous writings and introduces much new material. Its basis consists of texts written by bishop Simon of Suzdal and Vladimir, and the monk Polycarp of Pechersk of the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, supplemented over the centuries with additional biographies of the monks.