Attractions of Chernihiv region

The Baturyn Archeology Museum was opened in the reconstructed premises of the Resurrection parish school (1904), which is located next to the Resurrection Church, not far from the Citadel of the Baturyn Fortress.

The Baturyn Archeology Museum  is part of the "Hetman's Capital" National Reserve.

The exposition is unfolded in three halls according to the chronological and thematic principle. The Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age periods are represented by fragments of ceramics and silicon products. Ancient Rus material: dishes, glass bracelets, jewelry made of non-ferrous metals, iron and bone products. The date of construction of the Polish fortifications is indicated by a silver thaler minted in Basel in 1622.

Rebel weapons tell the story of the liberation movement of the Ukrainian people: battle axes, pitchforks, etc. Baturyn's hetman period is characterized by Cossack derivatives and household objects, copies of documents and maps, craftsman's products, in particular, original tiles with images of the coats of arms of Ukrainian hetmans Ivan Bryukhovetskyi, Ivan Mazepa, and Pylyp Orlyk.

Relics of the heroic defense of the city in 1708 found during the excavations deserve special attention - body icons and crosses of massacre victims, fragments of a cannon and a bell. The symbol of the tragedy was the burnt icon of the Mother of God with the Child on a copper plate with traces of gilding by the masters of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at the end of the 17th century, found by archaeologists in the grave of an elderly woman with a crushed skull.

Chernihiv Rampart is the oldest part of the city, a hill on the high bank of the Desna River, where the prince's hillfort and a complex of city defense structures (Dytynets) were located.

Remains of princely temples and boyar residences were discovered here. Two churches of the XI-XII centuries, the later building of the Collegium (1700), the Regimental Office (XVIII century), known as the "Lyzohub stone house", other buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries have been perfectly preserved.

After the liquidation of the Chernihiv Fortress in the 19th century, the defensive rampart over the river was converted into a park area, and monuments to Taras Shevchenko and Pushkin were installed (dismantled in 2022 during the active de-Russification of Ukraine, which began as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine).

There are 12 cast-iron bastion cannons of the 17th century on the Chernihiv Rampart, which are considered the hallmark of the city.

The palace of the last hetman of Ukraine, Kyrylo Rozumovsky, rises impressively on a cliff above the Seim River in the town of Baturyn, which served as the hetman's capital in the 17th and 18th centuries.

It is an outstanding architectural monument of the era of classicism of national significance, the only preserved Hetman's palace and the only architectural structure in Ukraine, built according to the project of architect Charles Cameron. It is part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Hetman's Capital".

The construction of the palace and park complex lasted from 1799 to 1803, already after the hetmanship together with the remnants of Ukrainian independence was liquidated by the government of the Russian Empire. In fact, Rozumovsky did not have time to live in his new palace, as he died the year construction was completed. His descendants did not use the palace for its intended purpose, it was badly damaged by a fire, was in a dilapidated state for a long time, and was partially restored several times.

The revival began at the initiative of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko at the expense of patrons. On August 22, 2009, the restored palace of Kyrylo Rozumovsky with the exposition of the Museum of the Hetmanship was solemnly opened for visitors.

On the first floor of the palace, you can familiarize yourself with the historical past of Hetman Baturyn through the prism of Kyrylo Rozumovsky statesmanship, as well as with the history of the construction and restoration of the palace and park ensemble. The interiors of the second floor have been restored according to the analogues of the preserved works of Charles Cameron and are luxuriously decorated with paintings of scenes from ancient Greek mythology, plant ornaments and Hetmanian kleinods.

Furniture and interior items, paintings, icons of the 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited in the halls. The Hetman's Hall, where the "Stone" table with a marble board inlaid with semi-precious Ural stones is exhibited, is particularly magnificent. Among the things that personally belonged to Kyrylo Rozumovsky and his family, you can see the hetman's life company sword, the seal of Rozumovsky's cloth factory, the hetman's station wagon and fragments of Rozumovsky's tombstone.

A regular French park is laid out around the palace, restored according to the scheme of the master plan of the palace-park ensemble. The original palace outbuildings have not survived, their reconstruction is frozen.

Lyzohub Kamyanytsya in Sedniv is called a defensive-type building with a two-story crenellated tower and buttresses that give the structure a romantic look.

Kamyanytsya (stone house) was built in the 17th century by Colonel Yakiv Lyzohub from Chernihiv on the high bank of the Snov River, on the territory of the main estate, which for a long time belonged to this ancient Cossack family. The building is one-story, with large basements. In plan, it resembles a traditional Ukrainian house with halls to which two small rooms adjoin from different sides.

Initially, the Lyzohub Kamyanytsya was residential, simultaneously performing defensive functions. Then it began to be used as a utility room, when in the 19th century the brothers Andriy and Illya Lyzohub reconstructed the manor and built a new residential manor house. At the same time, a pseudo-Gothic crenellated tower was built above the tenement house, which turned the building into a decorative architectural element of the manor park.

Currently, Lyzohub Kamyanytsya belongs to Chernihivoblenergo OJSC. Restoration has been carried out, but there is no access inside.

Kachanivka Palace and Park Complex is one of the best preserved landed estates in Ukraine with a luxurious palace in the style of classicism and one of the largest landscape parks in Europe.

The Kachanivka estate got its name from the first owner, the court singer Fedir Kachenovskyi. The creation of the palace and park complex was started in 1770 by the Governor-General of Little Russia Petro Rumyantsev-Zadounayskyi. His palace in the pseudo-Gothic style was radically rebuilt in 1808-1824 by the landowner Hryhoriy Pocheka.

In 1824 the estate became the property of the Tarnovsky family, who owned it until the end of the 19th century and turned it into a center of culture and arts. Taras Shevchenko, Mykola Hohol, Panteleymon Kulish, Mykola Kostomarov, Mykhaylo Maksymovych, Marko Vovchok and Dmytro Yavornytskyi visited them at different times. Mykhaylo Hlinka wrote the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in the altanka, which now bears his name. And Illia Repin was helped to create his most famous painting "Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish sultan" by a collection of Cossack weapons collected by Vasyl Tarnovskyi.

The last owners of the estate were sugar manufacturer Pavlo Kharytonenko and his daughter Olena, who married Baron Mykhaylo Oliv. In Soviet times, a sanatorium operated on the basis of the estate, which severely damaged the palace.

In 1981, the historical and cultural reserve "Kachanivka" was established. It includes a central palace with two outbuildings and a stylized water tower, service houses, Hlinka's Pavilion, Saint George's Church, and a complex of outbuildings.

On the territory of Kachanivka Park with an area of 560 hectares you can see a number of ponds, park bridges, slides of Love and Faithfulness, Romantic ruins and other park structures.

In the restored palace halls there is a museum exposition that tells about the history of the palace, its former owners and famous guests.

The service houses are equipped with hotel rooms, a souvenir shop and a cafe. On the territory of the park you can arrange a picnic - gazebos and barbecues for rent.

The building of the Chernihiv Regimental Chancellery, also known as "Mazepa House" or "Lyzohub Stone House", is located on Val in Chernihiv.

The building on the territory of the Chernihiv Fortress was built by Colonel Yakiv Lyzohub, then it belonged to Hetman Ivan Mazepa, then it served as a regimental chancellery, a city hall, and an archive. The only monument of residential architecture of the 17th century in Chernihiv with well-preserved rich decorative decoration of the facades.

Currently, the building houses the funds of the Chernihiv Historical Museum.

The legend about the ghost of Motrya Kochubey, who was cursed by her mother for having a sinful relationship with Hetman Mazepa, is connected with the "Mazepa House".

The Ascension Church in Kozelets is considered a unique example of a cross-shaped five-bay church in the general features of Baroque with signs of architectural historicism. The side tops resemble defensive towers.

Since Soviet times, the Kozelet Museum of the History of Weaving of Chernihiv Region has been housed in the Ascension church.

In 2017 the church was returned to the Orthodox Church, currently owned by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The wooden Cossack fortress in Baturyn on the Seim River was reconstructed in 2009 on the same site where from 1669 to 1708 the fortified residence of three Ukrainian hetmans was located: Demyan Mnohohrishny, Ivan Samoylovych, Ivan Mazepa.

The life and activity of Pylyp Orlyk and Kyrylo Rozumovsky are also connected with the hetman's capital in Baturyn (a monument "Hetmans. Prayer for Ukraine" has been erected).

Baturyn Fortress was founded in 1625 on the ancient Russian settlement by Polish magnate Oleksandr Pyasochynsky. In 1664, when Baturyn was already a hundredth Cossack town, the fortress could not be captured by the troops of Polish King Yan Kazymyr.

Baturyn fortress consisted of external urban earthen fortifications with a fence and a citadel (castle), where the residence of the hetmans was located. There was a stone hetman's house and a wooden Resurrection Church, an entrance gate and three towers.

In 1708, all the buildings of the Baturyn Fortress were completely destroyed during a punitive operation by Russian troops under the command of Oleksandr Menshikov on the orders of Tsar Peter I of Moscow in revenge for Hetman Ivan Mazepa for siding with Swedish King Charles II during the Moscow-Swedish War. In memory of the Baturyn tragedy, during which almost the entire population of the city was destroyed (5-6.5 thousand soldiers, 6-7.5 thousand civilians), in 2004 a memorial was erected on the site of the north-eastern tower of the citadel. cross.

By 2009, the reconstruction of three defensive towers, wooden fortress walls, a stone hetman's house, a treasury and the castle Resurrection Church, which were included in the exposition "Citadel of Baturyn Fortress" of the Hetmanate History Department of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve, was completed Hetman's capital ".

An exhibition of three-dimensional figures "Light Hetmans. Life for Ukraine" has been opened in the Hetman's house.

From the observation deck of the gate tower of the Citadel of the Baturyn Fortress, the best panorama of the Seim Valley opens.

The historical area known as Boldyni Hills is located 1.5 kilometers southwest of Chernihiv Dytynets. This is a chain of hills from 20 to 35 meters high, which in ancient times were covered with oak forest (the ancient Rus word "bold" means "oak").

Since pagan times, Boldyni Hills have had an important sacred meaning. Here is one of the largest Old Rus burial mounds, numbering over 200 burial mounds dating back to the 9th-10th centuries. The largest of them are Gulbyshche and Bezimennyi.

With the advent of Christianity, Saint Anthony's Caves appeared on the slopes of the mountain, and the Trinity-Elijah Monastery with the Holy Trinity Cathedral was founded. During Soviet times, a monument to the Unknown Soldier was erected on Boldyna Mountain with the Eternal Flame at its foot.

Now the hills are home to the park-monument of local landscape art "Boldyna Hora". Monuments have been erected on the graves of the Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi and the Ukrainian folklorist and ethnographer Opanas Markovych.

In March 2022, during the Russian-Ukrainian war, Boldyna Mountain was shelled by Russian troops. As a result of a Russian shell hit, a gazebo was destroyed, which was installed at the beginning of the 20th century before the arrival of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II in Chernihiv.

Boldyni Hills is part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

The Pryluky City Cultural House is one of the most prominent buildings in the city.

As the first professional theater stage, Pryluky began to build it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the burgher Brodskyi together with the owner of the brick factory Shtonda, but they did not have enough funds to complete the construction. The central two-story part was completed only in 1930.

Currently, the People's Amateur Theater "Rampa" and several other creative groups perform on the stage of the House of Culture. Theater festivals are held here every year, gathering amateur groups from all over Ukraine.

In 2008, a monument to the famous Ukrainian theater and film actor Mykola Yakovchenko, a native of Pryluky, was erected on the square in front of the Brodsky Theater building.

The Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine solemnly greets everyone who enters Chernihiv from the Kyiv side, it is considered a symbol of the city.

It is located on the opposite hill from Dytynets, on the Alley of Heroes. The temple in the Ukrainian Baroque style was built on the site of an ancient temple from the period of Kyivan Rus at the expense of the brothers Semen and Yakiv Lyzohub, according to the will of their father Yukhym Lyzohub in memory of the heroism of their grandfather Yakiv Lyzohub and the Cossacks of the Chernihiv regiment, shown by them during the storming of the Turkish fortress of Azov.

During Soviet times, the Catherine Church was closed. In 1975-1980, the church was restored, and an exhibition of the Museum of Folk and Decorative Art of Chernihiv Region was placed inside.

In 2004-2005, the temple was restored. In 2006, the Catherine Church was handed over to the Cossack Orthodox community. In 2008, the church became the Cossack cathedral of the Chernihiv Diocese. Currently, it is an active church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

In 2009, the monument "Fighters for freedom and independence of Ukraine" was opened near the Catherine's Church.

Chernihiv Regional Art Museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan is located in the building of the former women's gymnasium (XIX century) on Chernihiv Rampart.

The museum`s collection includes about 8,000 works of fine and decorative arts, from the XVI century to the present. It was based on a unique collection of Ukrainian noble family Galagans, represented by works of Western European and domestic art of XVII-XIX centuries, folk paintings, including the famous Cossacks Mamay, portraits of eight generations of this famous Cossack family and their relatives - Rozumovskyi, Lamsdorf, Darahan, Markevych. 

The Chernihiv Art Museum has a collection of works by the outstanding Ukrainian folk artist Mariya Prymachenko. Works of decorative and applied art of Ukraine, a folk toy are also presented.

During the Russian invasion of 2022, when the city of Chernihiv was under fire, the Chernihiv Art Museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan was damaged, in particular, some exhibits were damaged.

According to legend, the "Pokorshchyna" estate of the Darahan family in Kozelets was named so in memory of the times when Empress Elizaveta Petrivna "submitted" to the shepherd Oleksiy Rozum (according to another version, the empress bowed her head (submitted) to her future mother-in-law, Nataliya Rozumykha).

Rozumiha bought the estate specially before the arrival of the empress. Probably, the secret wedding of Elizaveta and Oleksiy took place here. Later, the estate belonged to the sister of the Rozumovsky brothers, Vera, who married Colonel Darahan. The last owners were the Galagans.

The estate "Pokorshchyna" consists of a small one-story house with columns and a two-story tenement house, which was used to store weapons and treasury. A park was built around. Currently, the Kozeletsk Technical College of Veterinary Medicine is located near the manor.

The buildings are in very poor condition and need immediate restoration.

The stone bridge in the Gothic style is one of the few surviving small architectural forms of the Sokyryntsi palace and park complex.

It was built according to the project of the architect Pavlo Dubrovsky together with the rest of the objects of the complex before 1830. The bridge is three-arched, with pointed arches and four three-tiered pylons.

It has remained in ruins to this day.

The house-museum of the General Judge of the Zaporizhzhian Army Vasyl Kochubey in Baturyn is a rare example of civil architecture of the Ukrainian Baroque era.

This is the only building that has survived since the Baturyn Fortress after the destruction of the Hetman's capital by Moscow troops in November 1708.

The one-storey brick building of the General Court was built in the second half of the 17th century during the time of Hetman Demyan Mnohohrishny. He performed both administrative and housing functions.

From 1700 it was inhabited by Judge General Vasyl Kochubey and her family. His 16-year-old daughter Motrona (Motrya) was in love with her godfather, 58-year-old Hetman Ivan Mazepa, but the father was adamantly against their marriage. Kochubey and his associate Ivan Iskra tried to settle accounts with Mazepa by informing Tsar Peter I of Moscow about the hetman's secret negotiations with King Charles XII of Sweden. The tsarist government extradited the informers to Mazepa, and they were sentenced to death. After the execution of her father, Motrya went to the monastery. The monument, the Alley of Love and 500-year-old oaks in the manor park (there are the remains of the ramparts of the Baturyn fortress) remind of this dramatic story.

The house of Judge Kochubey has housed the Museum of History and Local Lore since 1975, which in 2006 became part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Hetman's Capital". The exposition acquaints with the history of the house and the Kochubey family, and also deeply reveals the theme of Motrya’s and Mazepa's love.

The interiors of the investigation and pre-trial detention rooms with an exposition of instruments of torture are recreated in the basements.

Part of the exhibition is dedicated to the beekeeper, inventor of the hive Petro Prokopovych, who lived in Baturyn.