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Is spelling as Varlaam in whatever language (English, Ukrainian, Russian).
==History==
The Venerable [[Anthony of the Caves|Anthony]] is credited with founding the monastery when he settled in one of the caves that is now part of the Far Caves (also called the Caves of Theodosius). This occurred most probably in the year 1051 which is the traditional date for the foundation of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. As the community grew to twelve [[monk]]s new cells were excavated. Among those who joined Anthony in the early years were [[Theodosius of the Kiev Caves|Theodosius]] and the Venerable BarlaamVarlaam. In 1057, Anthony, who desired a life of seclusion, named Barlaam Varlaam as the first [[hegumen]] ([[abbot]]) and withdrew from the community to new cave in a hill that today is part of the Near Caves (also called the Caves of Anthony).
During the early times when Theodosius was abbot (1062-1074), a wooden structure was built over the Far Caves and the brethren, whose number was reaching one hundred, moved out of the caves. As the monastery grew the need for rules that would govern the life of the community was recognized. Theodosius decided to use the statute of the [[Studion Monastery]] in Constantinople as the model for the Caves monastery's rules and sent one of his monks to Constantinople to obtain a copy. Meanwhile, Metr. George arrived in Kiev accompanied by a monk from the Studion Monastery who provided a copy of the monastic statute to the monastery. The Statute of the Pechersk Monastery was then drafted on the basis of these two versions from the Studion.
