Reception of Orthodox Church

In 988, Vladimir the Great of the Rurik dynasty of Kievan Rus' was baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church. Before his baptism, he studied the teachings of Islam, Judaism, Catholicism and the Orthodox Church, but it is said that he chose Orthodox Christiany because it best fit the customs and habits of the people of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of Constantinople, the capital of Orthodox Christianity, in 1453, Greek Orthodox Christianity in Russia further developed into an independent Russian Orthodox Church. The sculpture shows Vladimir the Great encouraging his people to be baptized in the Dnieper River.