Attractions of Nizhyn district

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.

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.

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 complex of religious and civil buildings of the Greek community of Nizhyn is located to the left of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral.

The Greek churches of All Saints (1782), Saint Michael (1719-1729) and Trinity (1733) are located next to each other here. All three churches have been restored, services are held.

Next to them are the buildings of the former Greek Magistrate (1785), the Oleksandrivskyi College (1817) and the Women's Gymnasium (19th century). Opposite the bazaar is the oldest pharmacy in the city, founded in 1777 by a retired doctor of the Izyum hussar regiment, a Greek from Nizhyn Mykhaylo Lihda (active).

Many other public and residential buildings of the community have survived in the Greek Quarter of Nizhyn, some of which still bear inscriptions in Greek.

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.

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 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.

Nizhyn cucumbers, which made the city of Nizhyn famous, became popular during the reign of Empress Catherine II, who ordered to supply them to the imperial court, which was carried out until 1917.

In Soviet times, the products of the Nizhyn cannery also enjoyed constant popularity due to the special crunch and characteristic taste of local cucumbers, which is explained by the properties of the local soil and a special pickle, the recipe of which, according to legend, was brought to Nizhyn by the Greeks. Currently, Nizhyn pickles are exported to 70 countries around the world. 2

In 2005, a monument to the Nizhyn cucumber was erected in front of the central entrance to the Nizhyn Cannery. The vegetable sculpture is made of green Italian granite. He is depicted lying on a salting barrel standing in a cellar for preserving.

The "Post Office" department of the Nizhyn Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Spasky was opened in 1986 in a complex of buildings of the post office of the XVIII century, which is almost completely preserved.

Post offices in Kyiv, Nizhyn and Baturyn were established after the decree of Moscow Tsar Oleksiy Mykhaylovych on regular postal services between Moscow and Kyiv in 1669.

In 1787, a private estate built in the center of Nizhyn in the second half of the 18th century was converted into a post office. The complex consisted of a two-story post office building with the apartment of the Nizhyn postmaster and hotel rooms, two symmetrical outbuildings, a stable and a carriage.

At the beginning of the XIX century Nizhyn post office was one of the largest in the Left Bank of Ukraine. Mykhaylo Lomonosov, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Oleksandr Pushkin, Mykola Hohol, Taras Shevchenko, Marko Vovchok and others stayed at the local hotel.

The exposition of the museum "Post Station" is located in the preserved wing of the station supervisor. The interior of the waiting room has been restored, where you can see a map of the postal tracts of the Russian Empire in 1793, copies of "travelers" by Mykola Hohol (1851) and Taras Shevchenko (1859).

The exhibition also presents a collection of historical postage stamps of Ukraine and Russia, 30 old postcards with photos of Nizhyn streets, a layout of the post office in its original form.

The Museum of Rare Books named after Hryhoriy Vasylkivskyi has been operating in Nizhyn since 1985 on the basis of the fundamental library of Mykola Hohol Nizhyn State University.

It is located on the second floor of the university library in the ancient building of the Merchants' Assembly in the center of the city of Nizhyn. The museum bears the name of one of its founders, Professor Hryhoriy Vasylkivskyi.

The library is based on 2,500 volumes of the personal book collection of Count Oleksandr Kushelyev-Bezborodko, who was a trustee of the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, the predecessor of the current university.

The exposition presents many unique European and Slavic editions of the 16th - early 20th centuries, including rare copies of editions of the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (Venice, 1513), Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" (1544), "Aeneid" Virgil (1567), classic editions of the works of European thinkers of the 16th-18th centuries.

The special pride of the museum is the Holy Gospel of 1689 from the Nizhyn Annunciation Monastery, a gift of Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky. The huge tome weighs almost 18 kilograms, some pages are painted by hand, the titles are gilded.

Saint Nicholas Cathedral is the main temple of Nizhyn, one of the first examples of Ukrainian Baroque architecture.

The cathedral was built in 1658-1668 by Cossacks of the Nizhyn regiment at the expense of colonels Ivan and Vasyl Zolotarenko on the site of an old wooden temple. It repeats the classic techniques of Ukrainian wooden architecture in stone. A characteristic feature of the architecture of the five-domed temple is "comprehensiveness", that is, it looks the same from all sides. Inside, the carved iconostasis deserves attention.

In 1663, the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Nizhyn became the center of dramatic events associated with the "Black Council" - Ivan Bryukhovetskyi, the basket chieftain of the Zaporizhzhia Sich, was elected hetman of the Left Bank of Ukraine here, which is considered the beginning of the Ruin - the collapse of the hetman state.

According to local legend, in the same temple (still wooden) Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi married Hanna Zolotarenko, the sister of Nizhyn colonels, but in fact their wedding took place in Korsun.

In 1990, the Saint Nicholas Cathedral was restored and handed over to the religious community of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Warm Church of John the Baptist (1842), which was part of the complex, was rebuilt into the House of Culture (Batyuka Streetб 16).

Monuments to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Mariya Zankovetska have been installed in the park.

Historical and cultural center-museum "Maclay's Sails" (Vitryla Maklaya) was opened in Baturyn in 2014 for the 168th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding scientist-traveler Mykola Mykluho-Maklay.

This is the third museum created by the descendants of the scientist Oleksandr and Nadiya Mykluho-Maklay.

Mykola Mykluho-Maklay himself was not directly related to Baturyn, but he was a descendant of the Zaporozhzhian Cossacks, and his patron was Count Oleksiy Tolstoy, the great-grandson of Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky, who spent his best years in Baturyn.

In the second half of the 19th century, Mykluho-Maklay studied the indigenous population of Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania, wrote many works on zoology, zoogeography and physical geography.

The museum presents a gallery of portraits of Maklay and members of his family, a family coat of arms, materials from ethnographic expeditions, models of ships, statuettes of island natives, maps, and more.

In one of the rooms of the museum, there is a corner where you can try on 19th century costumes and take a picture near the ship's helm.

The Maklay Sails Museum in Baturyn is part of the hotel and restaurant complex of the same name.

The All Saints Cathedral is the main church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Nizhyn, the spiritual center of the city's Greek community. Located in the territory of the "Greek Quarter" next to the Greek Church of Saint Michael.

The All Saints Church was built in 1782 by the Nizhyn Greek brotherhood on the site of an earlier wooden Greek church. It was originally made in the archaic Balkan style. At the end of the 19th century, it was partially rebuilt, the facades were supplemented with classical porticos, which gave the church features of classicism.

The Church of All Saints stands on a basement, the vault of which rests on a central pillar. In the interior, you can see a carved linden iconostasis, made by modern Nizhyn masters based on sketches by the artist Oleksandr Koshel.

The Art Department of the Nizhyn Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Spasky was opened in 1991, and since 2021 it has been located in the former estate of the Makarov landowners of the 19th century.

A memorial plaque on the facade testifies that it was to this house in 1827 that Mykola Hohol read his first works. Taras Shevchenko, Yevhen Hrebinka, Marko Vovchok, and Mariya Zankovetska were also connected with the Makarov family. That is why the exposition of the museum demonstrates the transformation of the noble estate, its way of life in the period from the end of the XVIII to the beginning of the XX century.

There are plans to build a literary room, an exhibition of outstanding historical figures of Nizhyn.

The museum's art collection includes works by the outstanding Ukrainian artist Serhiy Shyshko, as well as Oleksandr Yakymchenko, Mykola Stratilat, Vadym Dobrolizh and others. Now the museum has an exhibition hall, which hosts exhibitions of contemporary Nizhyn artists.