Vasylkiv

Fragments of the ancient Rus settlement Vasyliv earthworks have been preserved on the hill to the west of the Cathedral of Anthony and Theodosius.

The current city of Vasylkiv was founded in 988 by Prince Volodymyr the Great, who received the name Vasyl at baptism. The old name of the city Vasyliv (Vasylyev) comes from the Christian name of the prince. It was a well-fortified fortress with earthen ramparts and ditches, often used as a stronghold in times of strife. The city was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240. Remains of an ancient wooden temple and princely palace were found on the territory of the cub.

Later, the settlement of Vasyliv was included in the system of Cossack fortifications of the 16th and 17th centuries. The remains of ramparts can be traced throughout the city center. The best preserved is the rampart behind the cathedral, the crest of which can be climbed by stairs from the temple courtyard.

The Baker Synagogue in Vasylkiv was built at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of a wooden Jewish prayer house.

The two-story brick building of the synagogue has characteristic features of a Jewish religious building, richly decorated using elements of medieval architecture.

In 1927, the "Baker" synagogue was closed, the building was handed over to the South-Western Railway and rebuilt under the "Vasylkiv-2" railway station.

Currently, the building is in communal ownership, until recently several families lived in it.

The Cathedral of Anthony and Theodosius in Vasylkiv is an example of Ukrainian Baroque architecture.

The cathedral in honor of Saints Anthony and Theodosius was built in the middle of the 18th century by the serf of the Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, Stepan Kovnir, by order of the Lavra Archimandrite (according to legend, an underground passage was laid from the Vasylkiv Cathedral to the Lavra).

From the outside, it resembles the Kozelets Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. Gables with cornices of double curvature are considered a characteristic detail of architecture (sculptor Talyanets).

Paintings by Vasyl Bibibkov have been preserved in the interior. The main shrine is the miraculous icon of the Three-Handed Mother of God.

The oldest administrative building of Vasylkiv is the County Present Place, built at the beginning of the 19th century. The headquarters of the Chernihiv regiment, which on January 10, 1826, joined the Decembrist uprising against the Russian autocracy and for the abolition of serfdom, was located here.

The uprising of the Chernihiv regiment, organized by the Southern Society of Decembrists, was led by lieutenant colonel Serhii Muravyov-Apostol and battalion commander Mykhailo Bestuzhev-Ryumin. The uprising was crushed within a week, and the organizers were later convicted and executed. A monument to the Decembrists was erected on the square opposite the building.

The building of the headquarters of the Chernihiv regiment is two-story, brick, plastered. The facade is typical of Russian classicism. The building was rebuilt several times. It housed the places of attendance, then the district police headquarters.

The local history department of the "Decembrists in Vasylkiv region" museum, which covered the activities of the Vasylkiv administration of the Southern Society (now under renovation), still worked in the two rooms. In particular, the cell in which Serhii Muravyov-Apostol and Mykhailo Bestuzhev-Ryumin were kept after the arrest was preserved.

The monument to Decembrists was installed in the center of Vasylkiv, on the square in front of the city council.

In 1825, an uprising of the Chernihiv regiment began in Vasylkiv, led by the Decembrists Serhiy Muravyov-Apostol and Mykhaylo Bestuzhev-Ryumin. The uprising was organized by the Southern Society after the performance of the Decembrists on Senate Square in St. Petersburh. The Decembrist nobles, who opposed serfdom, tried to overthrow the autocracy by force. In Vasylkiv, the rebel troops seized weapons and the regimental treasury, after which they marched on the Bila Tserkva, on the approaches to which they were defeated by government troops. The instigators of the uprising were later executed.

The memorial sign in Vasylkiv depicts the profiles of five executed Decembrists: Pavlo Pestel, Kindrat Ryleev, Serhiy Muravyov-Apostol, Mykhaylo Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Petro Kakhovsky. Authors of the monument: sculptor Makar Vronskyi, architect Vasyl Hniezdilov.