Attractions of Kozelets

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 church.

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

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 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 Kozelet Museum of the History of Weaving of the Chernihiv Region was opened in 1988 in the premises of the Resurrection Church, in 2017 the museum finally got its own premises.

In the exposition, in addition to carpets, embroidered fabrics and towels, you can see photos of old Kozelets and a family tree of the Rozumovskys.

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.

Kozelets Lyceum No. 1 was established in 1996 on the basis of a secondary school, which in turn was established in 1912 as a Higher Primary School for girls.

Arithmetic, writing, reading, embroidery, cutting and sewing were taught there for 4 years. Teaching was conducted in Russian.

During the First World War, the building was used as a hospital. In 1919, the 1st Congress of Councils of the Kozelets district took place in the premises of the lyceum, at which Soviet power was proclaimed. During the Second World War, the Germans used the premises as a granary.

In 1943, training resumed.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in Kozelets is considered one of the most beautiful Ukrainian Baroque monuments in the country.

This magnificent temple with a magnificent decoration and a beautiful iconostasis was built in 1752-1763 by the order of Nataliya Rozumovska (Rozumikha) to thank God for the happy fate of her sons Oleksiy and Kyrylo, who occupied a high position at the court of Empress Elizaveta.

The authors of the project are considered to be the students of the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli - Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi and Andriy Kvasov, but it is possible that Rastrelli himself had something to do with the project. It is possible that the grandiose seven-tiered carved iconostasis 27 meters high was created with his participation.

In the lower part of the temple is the warm church of Adrian and Nataliya - the tomb of the Rozumovskys, where its founder is buried.

The five-domed church impresses with its size and rich decoration, uncharacteristic for the Ukrainian hinterland. According to legend, in clear weather you can see Kyiv and Chernihiv from the 50-meter-high belfry at the same time, but the ascent to the belfry is not allowed recently due to the emergency condition of the stairs.

Saint Nicholas Church in Kozelets was built in 1781-1784 on the site of an old wooden church.

The stone single-domed Saint Nicholas Church is located in the historical center of Kozelets on the banks of the Oster River, not far from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. The location of the temple marks the southern border of the Kozelets fortress of the XVII-XVIII centuries.

The church has well preserved its original architectural forms in the late Baroque style, with the exception of the bathhouse, the completion of which was replaced by a spherical dome in 1811.

In 1981-1989, restoration works were carried out and the lost finish of the bath was restored. Recently, a new iconostasis was created, the basis of which was the painting of the Volodymyrsky Cathedral.

Today, the Saint Nicholas Church is a working temple.