Ukrainian Nationality Room

Like the rest of the University of Pittsburgh’s 31 Nationality Rooms, the Ukrainian room on the third floor of the university’s Cathedral of Learning is part active classroom and part museum. The room, one of the smaller nationality rooms, is largely modeled after a 17th-century svitlytsia, a living room where a Ukrainian nobleman would receive his guests. The svitlytsia emphasizes hospitality and faith, key concepts in Ukrainian culture; signage inside the room cites an Eastern European proverb: “When a guest enters the home, God enters the home.”

Iconostasis of St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church

As one of the most distinctive features of an Orthodox or Eastern Rite Church, the iconostasis is a wall that separates the sanctuary, which houses the altar, from the rest of the church and is made up of many different icons and religious symbols.