Attractions of Chernihiv district

The Military History Museum in Chernihiv is a department of the Chernihiv Historical Museum.

His expositions are dedicated to the participation of Chernihiv residents in the Second World War, in partisan detachments, tell about the fate of camp prisoners, the defense of Chernihiv region in 1941 and its liberation in the fall of 1943.

The exposition also reveals the contribution of Chernihiv residents to the liquidation of the Chornobyl accident and its consequences. In the courtyard of the museum there is a small exhibition of military equipment.

During the large-scale Russian invasion in 2022, the Military History Museum in Chernihiv was heavily damaged by shelling.

The monument to the fighters for the freedom and independence of Ukraine near the Catherine's Church in Chernihiv was erected in 2009 for the 13th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Back in the early 1990s, activists of national-democratic organizations installed a memorial stone here, near which various actions were held.

The author of the monument is Vinnytsia sculptor Volodymyr Smarovoz. The figure of a Cossack with a child in his arms represents young Ukraine.

The museum "Chernihiv region - a journey through the ages" was opened in the village of Kalitianske in 2018 on the site of the previously established museum of the famous scientist and traveler Mykola Mykluho-Maklay.

The museum exposition highlights the history of Chernihiv Region from the pre-Christian period, Kyivan Rus, the Hetmanshchyna to the imperial and Soviet times, as well as to the present day.

Models of the most famous historical buildings of the region are presented, in particular, the palace and park complex in Kachanivka, the Transfiguration Cathedral, Yeletsky Holy Dormition Monastery, etc.

The History and Local Lore Museum of the village of Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske was established in 1987.

The museum's exposition, which includes about 3 thousand exhibits, reflects the history of the origin and development of the village, tells about famous residents of Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske and Chernihiv districts.

Separate sections are dedicated to the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the village of Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske found itself in the zone of occupation of the Russian invaders. Having broken out the windows, the invaders broke into the museum and plundered the exposition of the ATO soldiers, damaged the ancient hand mill in the exposition of ancient household items and smashed everything inside the museum.

The National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv" unites 26 architectural monuments of national importance in the historical center of Chernihiv. Among them, six monuments of the pre-Mongol period are considered to be among the oldest in Eastern Europe. All of them are of exceptional historical, cultural, artistic and scientific value, which attracts the attention of tourists.

Most of the monuments are located compactly on the territory of the Chernihiv Rampart (Dytynets) and around, as well as on the nearby Boldyni Hills. Some of them house museum exhibitions. The open-air exposition is complemented by monuments to Hetman Ivan Mazepa and Prince Ihor of Chernihiv.

The administration of the reserve is located in the premises of the Chernihiv Collegium, which is an architectural monument of the 17th-18th centuries. The reserve staff conduct sightseeing tours of the territory of Dytynets and other historical places of the city.

The National Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv" includes, in particular:
- Chernihiv Rampart (Dytynets);
- Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral;
- Saints Borys and Hlib Cathedral;
- Chernihiv Collegium;
- Regimental Chancellery;
- Piatnytska Church;
- Catherine Church;
- Yeletsky Dormition Monastery;
- Black Grave Mound;
- Boldyni Hills;
- Saint Anthony's Caves;
- Saint Elijah Church;
- Holy Trinity Cathedral;
- Introduction Church.

The Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary was built in Kolychivka near Chernihiv in 1778, completed in 1885.

A five-story wooden building with a vestibule and a two-story belfry. A three-tiered iconostasis with icons of the 18th century has been preserved. Inside the bell tower you can see ancient inscriptions.

The Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin is a little-known example of the wooden monumental architecture of the Sivershchyna at the end of the 18th century.

The local history museum of the city of Oster is located in the former mansion of Lieutenant General Volodymyr Solonyna, a representative of the Cossack-Starshin family.

The first director was the well-known public figure Anatoliy Rozanov.

Currently, the museum has more than 16,000 exhibits. In 9 halls there are expositions dedicated to the nature, history and culture of Prydesennya.

Museum employees also conduct tours of the territory of the ancient Rus settlement with a visit to the Yuryeva Bozhnytsia.

The Kamyanytsya of Chernihiv colonel Pavlo Polubotko in Liubech is one of the few examples of stone civil architecture of the 18th century in Chernihiv region.

Previously, these lands belonged to Hetman Mazepa, but after his alliance with the Swedes, Peter handed over Ljubech to Colonel Polubotko for excellent service. Later, Polubotko became the commanding hetman of Ukraine, but as a result he was arrested and died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The Polubotko Kamyanytsya was located on the territory of the old fortress at the post of Liubech (near the current cultural center). In 2012, the tenement house was completely restored, and a temporary exhibition of exhibits from the collection of the Chernihiv Historical Museum opened in the premises. It is planned to create a museum of the Cossack era and hetman Pavlo Polubotko.

Nearby, on the steep banks of the Dnipro River, the second of the two Liubech cave temples attributed to Antoniy Pechersky, the so-called Near Cave, was recently discovered. According to archaeologists, the temple was created in memory of Antoniy Pechersky in the 19th century on the territory of the park of Count Miloradovych's estate.

The People's Friendship Monument, popularly known as the "Three Sisters", was erected in 1975 on a high mound at the triple border junction of the borders of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Three roads lead from the monument to the automobile checkpoints "Senkivka" (Ukraine), "Novi Yurkovichi" (Russia) and "Veselovka" (Belarus).

The monument was designed by Homel architect Leonid Stukachov with the participation of Chernihiv architect Mezhenny. It consists of three pylons, girded with a wide bronze ring. The bas-reliefs depict episodes from the history of the three peoples.

Every year on the last Saturday of June, the International Festival "Slavic Unity" was held near the monument. After the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea and part of Donbas in 2014, the holiday was no longer held.

In 2022, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops destroyed the Senkivka checkpoint and turned the Three Sisters monument into a firing position. On May 30 of the same year, the Russians blew up a section of the road near the Three Sisters monument on the Ukrainian side. In June 2022, the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration decided to remove the Three Sisters monument from the list of historical monuments of local importance.

Chernihiv Museum of Modern Art "Plast-Art" opened in 2010 on the basis of one of the first non-state art galleries of Ukraine "Plast-Art", founded in 1994.

It is located in the historical center of Chernihiv in the premises of the regional art museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan in seven modernly equipped exhibition halls with a total area of ​​700 square meters.

The museum organizes many exhibition projects of various scales - from debut shows of novice artists to international festivals and conceptual expositions of famous masters in the techniques of painting, graphics, photography, sculpture, etc. Festivals of contemporary art are also held, which are aimed at presenting the work of the best contemporary artists, popularizing contemporary Ukrainian and foreign art, supporting young talented artists, sculptors, photographers.

Both personal and collective exhibitions were presented: by Mykhaylo Shemyakin, Feodosiy Humenyuk, Viktor Kovtun, Vasyl Lopata, Anatoliy Haydamaka, Petro Lebedyntsya, Leonid Bernat, Olha Solovyova, Nataliya Papirna, Oleksiy Kulakov, Mykola Nebylytsia, Anatoliy Furlet and many other famous artists.

The two-story building of the Regimental Office is located in Kozelets in the park behind the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin.

It was built almost simultaneously with the cathedral by the same architects - Ivan Hryhorovych-Barsky and Andriy Kvasov. At that time, the Kozelets Hundred of the Kyiv Regiment was located in Kozelets, and the regimental office - the headquarters of the regiment - was also located there.

In the future, the building performed the functions of the Kozelets magistrate. Now it is the central library of Kozelets.

The Resurrection Church in Sedniv is the family tomb of the Lyzohub Cossack-senior family.

The church was built in 1690 by Yakiv Lyzohub in the Baroque style. The structure resembles Ukrainian wooden log churches. Rebuilt in 1796-1814. At the same time, a two-story belfry over the gate was added.

For centuries, representatives of the Lyzohub family were buried here. In Soviet times, the dungeon-crypts were destroyed, the mummified remains were used for anti-religious propaganda, but later one mummy, miraculously preserved in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, was returned to Sedniv and placed in a crypt.

Restoration was carried out in the 1980s. Today, the Resurrection Church is active.

Nearby is the grave of the local "non-canonized saint" Hryts Zolotyusenky, who is associated with many legends about prophecies and healings.

Ripky Historical and Local Lore Museum was opened in 1985 in a one-story building with a carved wooden porch in the center of the village of Ripky.

The museum has more than 7,000 museum items. Numerous documents, photographs, household items, fragments of military weapons reflecting the most important events, the development of the economy and culture of the Ripky region are exhibited in 5 halls. The collection of Cossack pipes of the XVII-XVIII centuries attracts attention in the historical exposition.

The ethnographic and household department recreates the interior of a Ukrainian house of the end of the 19th century. A collection of ceramics by local ceramists is presented.

Contemporary events are also covered: the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident, the Revolution of Dignity, the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The wooden church of the holy great martyr Dimitriy of Thessaloniki was built in Dobrianka in 1790.

This is the only Old Believer church in Chernihiv region. For a long time, according to the decree of Emperor Nicholas I, the bell was forbidden in the temple. The Bolsheviks closed the church before the Second World War, but it became active again under the Germans.

The parishioners consider the icon of the Mother of God "Calmation of Disease" to be the main shrine.

Recently, a belfry was added to the Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki Church.

The Saint Elijah Church (Illinska Church) in Chernihiv is a unique monument of Old Rus sacral architecture, the only temple of the columnless type of the Ukrainian-Rus era. Located at the foot of Boldyna Mountain, it is the oldest part of the Trinity–Saint Elijah's Monastery and is part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

Most researchers attribute the construction of the Saint Elijah Church to the end of the 11th century, when it served as a baptismal font. It acquired modern features of Ukrainian Baroque as a result of the reconstructions of the 17th-18th centuries. The three-tiered bell tower next to it was erected in 1908-1910.

The main feature of the interior is the use of elements of the Byzantine cross-domed system with a column-free composition of the church, which is characteristic of wooden architecture. The ancient interior decor has been lost, but now the church houses a museum exhibition, which presents fragments of plaster with the remains of fresco painting, Old Rus ceramic glazed floor tiles, etc. You can also see the carved iconostasis of 1774 in the Rococo style, which has seven tiers and is 12 meters high.

To the left of the Saint Elijah is the entrance to the Saint Anthony's Caves.