Attractions of Chernihiv region

The male gymnasium building appeared in the center of Novohorod-Siverskyi at the end of the 19th century, although the educational institution itself was founded in 1804 on the basis of an even older public school.

For a long time, the gymnasium was the center of education of the entire Chernihiv province. Among the graduates are the historian, the first rector of Kyiv University Mykhaylo Maksymovych, the Ukrainian writer Panteleymon Kulish, the revolutionary-populist Mykola Kybalchych, as well as the famous teacher Kostyantyn Ushynsky.

The state gymnasium, which currently occupies the premises, is named after the latter.

On the night of May 12, 2022, in the course of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian aviation dropped missiles on the center of Novhorod-Siverskyi. As a result of the Russian airstrike, the entire complex of buildings of the male gymnasium was damaged - the windows were broken, the roof and part of the facade of the building were completely destroyed.

Memorial Museum of Mariya Zankovetska was opened in 1964 in the village of Zanky, in the estate of the Adasovsky family.

It was here in 1854 that the outstanding Ukrainian actress, representative of the luminaries of the Ukrainian theater, Mariya Zankovetska (Adasovska), the first People's Artist of Ukraine, was born. She spent her youth here and returned here many times as an adult.

In the house restored after the fire, where Mariya lived as a child, photos of members of the Adasovsky family and Zankovetska's personal belongings are presented: a casket, a mirror, a handbag, dishes, lace woven by her hands. Of particular interest are her stage costumes, as well as the grand piano presented to the actress by the composer Mykola Lysenko.

An ethnographic collection and an exhibition of medicinal herbs are presented in the adjacent building of the old school. The museum organizes a tea party upon the order of tourist groups.

A monument to Mariya Zankovetska has been installed in the courtyard of the museum.

The memorial to the heroes-defenders of Ukraine was opened in 2023 in the center of Nizhyn city, in the former square named after Hubina, next to the All Saints Cathedral.

The memorial complex in the form of a Cossack cross was built from Ukrainian granite according to the project of architect Zhanna Balanyuk and sculptor Serhiy Oleksienko.

In the center of the composition is a sculpture of the Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Matsiyevskyi, who went to the Russian-Ukrainian war from Nizhyn and died on December 30, 2022 at the hands of the Russian invaders, boldly throwing into their eyes before being shot: "Glory to Ukraine!" His figure symbolizes the feat of all men and women who defended Ukraine against Russian aggression.

In front of the memorial, an interactive information stand has been installed with information about all citizens of Nizhyn who gave their lives defending Ukraine.

The Mena Museum of Local Lore was founded in 1950 as a museum room of local lore materials on the initiative of teacher Volodymyr Pokotylo and local historian and collector of antiquities Dmytro Kalibaba. In 1968, it received the status of "People's Museum", in 1972 it became the historical department of the Chernihiv Historical Museum. since 1982 - the Mena Museum of Local Lore. In 2011, the museum was named after one of the founders - Volodymyr Pokotylo.

The museum funds include about 17 thousand exhibits, which are located in four halls with a total area of ​​120 square meters. The archaeological collection contains over 2 thousand items, including two bronze hinged neck hryvnias (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD), bronze bracelets and a fibula of the 6th-7th centuries, a fragment of a sword of the 10th century. The museum houses interesting numismatic and ethnographic collections (everyday objects of peasants, landowners, as well as samples of clothing and embroidery of the 18th–19th centuries).

The exposition "Spiritual Shrines of the Mena region" is dedicated to the history of the Domnytskyi and Maksakivskyi monasteries and churches of the Mena region. There are sections dedicated to prominent compatriots and famous figures whose lives and activities are connected with the Mena region.

Mezyn National Nature Park, also known as "Mezyn Switzerland", was created in 2006 on the basis of several landscape reserves along the right bank of the Desna River.

The area of the Mezyn National Nature Park is 31 thousand hectares. It stretches from Mezyn in the north to Horodyshche in the south and from Ponornytsia in the west to Rozlyoti in the east. In the floodplain of the Desna, many old houses and lakes have been preserved, the largest of which is Lake Khatyn (50 hectares). The park is home to 149 species of vertebrates: 25 species of fish, 9 species of amphibians, 3 species of reptiles, 93 species of birds and 19 species of mammals. Of these, 24 species are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. Among the monuments of archeology is the Mezyn Paleolithic site, the age of which is estimated at 20 thousand years.

The Mezyn National Nature Park Visitor Center is located in Desnyansk. A nature museum has been created here, where collections of insects, mosses and geological materials are exhibited. Also presented is a panorama of the Mezyn parking lot, a small ethnographic exposition, the museum room of Vasyl Kurylenko, the founder and permanent director of the Mezyn Archaeological Research Museum.

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 museum complex "Cossack Manor" was opened in Baturyn in 2021 as part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Hetman's Capital". It is located in the historical center of the city next to Hetman's Glory Square.

The preserved 20th-century hut recreates the life of a Baturyn Cossack family of the second half of the 19th century, which was engaged in traditional Baturyn crafts (milling, distillery, trade). You can see a four-chamber hut with a porch, a living room and a pantry, a well, and outbuildings (barn, cellar).

The exhibition, located in the barn, tells about the Baturyn milling complex from the times of Hetman Ivan Mazepa and Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky to the second half of the 19th century. Here are presented millstones from Baturyn mills of the late 17th - early 20th centuries, agricultural implements, carpentry tools, a hand mill that were used by a Cossack family in the 19th century.

In the courtyard of the estate there is a garden of medicinal herbs and a vegetable garden.

The museum complex of Nizhyn State University named after Mykola Hohol is located in the main university building, built in 1820 for the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences.

This university-type higher education institution was opened in Nizhyn on the initiative of Counts Oleksandr and Illia Bezborodko. Oleksandr Kushelev-Bezborodko, grandson of Illia Bezborodko, became the trustee. In 1821-1828 the writer Mykola Hohol studied here. Graduates of the gymnasium were also a writer-biker Yevhen Hrebinka, artist Andriy Horonovych, patron Vasyl Tarnovsky and others.

In 1909, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Hohol's birth, the Mykola Hohol Museum was founded at the then Nizhyn Historical and Philological Institute.

In addition, the museum complex of Nizhyn University includes the Museum of the History of Nizhyn University, the Museum of Soviet Life "Homo sovieticus", as well as a unique art gallery, in three halls of which are paintings of different eras.

The basis of the art exhibition is paintings of the Renaissance and classical European schools, which were donated to the school by its trustee Oleksandr Kushelev-Bezborodko in 1845 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary. Of particular value is one of the largest in the country collections of paintings by Ukrainian artist Serhiy Shyshko, which he personally donated to the school. 36 paintings represent different stages of creative growth and development of the artist.

The possibility of visiting the museum on weekends must be coordinated with the university administration in advance.

Museum of Local Lore "Ukrainian Svitlytsya" opened in the village of Kamka in 2021 at the initiative of a local historian.

The exposition in the form of a village room, arranged in the premises of the former mayor, introduces visitors to the ancient life of locals.

Presented antique tables, benches, towels, embroidered shirts, pottery, household items, paintings, antique clothing.

The museum complex "Lisohrad" in the forests in the north of Chernihiv region is dedicated to the local partisan movement during the Second World War.

In 1942-1943, the Chernihiv partisan units of Mykola Popudrenko and Oleksiy Fedorov operated in the Yelino forests. Near the village of Yelino, there was a whole partisan town made of dugouts, which was called "Lisohrad". From here, the partisans went on combat operations to destroy enemy garrisons and carry out sabotage on railways.

In 2010, enthusiasts recreated the partisan camp, restoring 3 dugouts and building 2 more. The partisan oven was also recreated, and the partisan well and trenches were cleared.

The exhibits in the dugouts allow you to feel the spirit of partisanship, to see in what difficult living conditions people had to live and defend their land.

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.

A monument to the famous Ukrainian painter Mykola Ge was erected in 1981 on the grave of the artist, who lived the last years of his life in Ivankivskyi farm (now the village of Shevchenka) near Fastivtsi.

Mykola Ge graduated from the 1st Kyiv gymnasium, studied at Kyiv and St. Petersburg universities, the Academy of Arts. He was one of the founders of the Association of Peredvishniks. In 1876, he moved to Ukraine, where he bought a small Ivankivskyi farm. A number of sketches of the Ukrainian peasantry and the nature of Ukraine belong to his brush.

Illya Repin, Lev Tolstoy, and Pavlo Tretyakov visited Mykola Ge's farm. Later, Mykhaylo Vrubel lived and worked on the farm (he was married to the artist's relative).

Mykola Ge died in Ivankivskyi in 1894, buried in the eastern part of the farm.

The monument was erected for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the artist and his wife, who is buried nearby. The current state of the monument raises serious concerns, because in the absence of care, it gradually decays.

The world's first monument to the outstanding writer Mykola Hohol was erected in Nizhyn in 1881.

It was here that the future writer received his education, graduating in 1828 from Prince Bezborodko's Gymnasium of Higher Sciences.

The author of the monument to Mykola Hohol was the famous sculptor Parmen Zabila, who himself was from Nizhyn. It is believed that the sculptor immortalized his profile in the folds of Hohol's cloak on the section of the bust, leaving his autograph in this unusual way.