Pliasheva

The National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Field of the Battle of Berestechko" was founded in 1912 on the site where the largest battle of the Liberation War took place in 1651 under the leadership of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

A 100,000-strong Cossack army supported by 30,000 Tatars of Khan Islam III Girey fought near Berestechko with a 300,000-strong Polish army of King Jan Casimir II. Due to the betrayal of the Tatars, the Zaporizzhhia were defeated, losing according to various estimates from 10 to 30 thousand killed. As a result of the defeat in the Battle of Berestechko, Khmelnytskyi was forced to conclude the unfavorable Bilotserkivsky Peace with Jan Casimir.

In 1912, in memory of the tragic battle, the wooden Saint Michael's Church (XVII century), in which Khmelnytsky prayed before the battle, was moved to Zhuravlykha Island. According to the project of architects Volodymyr Maksimov and Oleksiy Shchusev, a magnificent temple-monument to Saint George was built in the style of Cossack temples with nine baths and an iconostasis brought outside (artist Ivan Yizhakevych). The so-called "balcony" church of Borys and Hlib is located on the second floor.

An underground passage connects the Saint Michael's Church with the underground chapel-tomb of Paraskeva Pyatnytsya under Saint George's Church, where the remains of the dead Cossacks are buried (in particular, they fill the hollow central pillar).

In 1966, the museum-reserve "Cossack Graves" was created. Today it is the National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Field of Battle of Berestechko". The museum of the complex presents finds made by archaeologists on the battlefield.

In 1991, a monument to Cossacks and rebel peasants was opened (sculptor Anatoliy Kush).

The Saint George Men's Monastery of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine operates here.