Attractions of Chernihiv region

A large settlement of ancient people of the Late Paleolithic era was discovered near the village of Mezyn by Fedir Vovk, a Ukrainian scientist and associate professor of the St. Petersburg University in 1908.

Archaeologists have excavated dwellings made of mammoth bones covered with bison hides. The Mezyn settlement lot gained worldwide fame thanks to unique finds, among which were rare examples of ancient art: figures of bird women made of mammoth tusk and decorated with carved ornaments, as well as iconic bracelets. Later, the oldest musical instruments and the lunar calendar were found.

Part of the archaeological materials is stored in the Mezyn Archaeological Museum, created in 1965 on the initiative of the local historian Vasyl Kurylenko.

The museum is located on the site of an archaeological excavation in a wooden house of the 18th century.

The Art Department of the Nizhyn Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Spassky 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.

The Borzna Memorial Art Museum "Manor of the People's Artist of Ukraine Oleksandr Sayenko" was opened in 1996 in the house of the Sayenko family in the town of Borzna, Chernihiv Region.

The exposition highlights the life and work of the famous Ukrainian decorator, whose name is included in the UNESCO list of outstanding figures of world culture.

Oleksandr Sayenko was born in Borzna in 1899. Due to an illness, he lost his hearing and speech as a child, but thanks to the patronage of the Sayenko neighbor, the writer Hanna Barvinok (wife of Panteleymon Kulish), he entered the St. Petersburg Imperial School for the Deaf and Dumb. He became most famous for his works in the field of monumental and monumental-decorative art in the straw inlay technique.

The exposition of the museum presents such famous works as "Kozak Mamay", "Semen Paliy" and others. Also on display are carpets, tapestries, scraps of Sayenko's work, a collection of Ichnya tiles collected by him, and family memorabilia.

The Ascension Church was built in Korop in 1764 at the expense of the Cossack chieftain Petro Yurkevych, who commanded the artillery unit stationed in the city, the General Armata.

The temple has a tower-like shape with an octagonal drum. Samples of easel oil painting of the end of the 18th century have been preserved inside.

The Assumption Cathedral is the oldest of the buildings of Novhorod-Siversky that have been preserved in their original form.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built approximately in 1671 on the site where, according to legend, in ancient times there was a pagan temple with Slavic idols. The temple is five-domed, cross-shaped in plan. Made in the classic Ukrainian baroque style.

In 1701 reconstruction was carried out, in 1820 the baths were replaced and the bell tower was added.

Today, the Assumption Cathedral is an active temple of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The small brick Assumption Church of the so-called diocesan architecture is the "youngest" in Sedniv. Located on a hill on the outskirts of the village.

The temple was built in 1860. Then throughout the Russian Empire old wooden churches were replaced by stone structures. The basis was "exemplary" (tested) projects, which diocesan architects adapted to a specific place. Decorative elements of Russian architecture of the XIV-XVI centuries were used to decorate these temples. Such is the Assumption Church in Sedniv.

On the western side there is a tented belfry. In the post-war period, it was the only active church in the entire district.

The wooden Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in Voloskivtsi was built in 1765 next to the ancient castle.

Forms are characteristic of Ukrainian Baroque architecture. The temple is cruciform in plan, at the intersection of four high lateral log cabins, an octagonal top is placed. The sides of the sleeves have a pronounced slope towards the center of the structure. In this way, the masters strengthened the perspective and created the illusion of a higher building.

From the western side, the temple is combined with a three-tiered wooden bell tower, added in the middle of the 19th century.

The Church of the Assumption in Voloskivtsi is an architectural monument of national importance.

The Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary was built in Novyi Bykiv in 1801-1804 in the Empire style by order of Count Kyrylo Rozumovsky, the last Hetman of Ukraine.

The cruciform structure has an elongated western vestibule, which is combined with a two-story belfry. The western, southern and northern entrances are decorated with four-column porticoes of the Tuscan order with triangular pediments. The church is crowned by a hemispherical dome with a hollow lantern.

In its forms, the church is identical to the Church of the Resurrection in Baturyn, the residence of Rozumovsky.

Assumption Church belongs to the community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Bakhmach Historical Museum named after Mykola Hnatovych Yaremenko offers to get acquainted with the history of one of the oldest Slavic cities.

The exposition covers all epochs: Ancient Rus, the Liberation War, the hetmanship of Ivan Mazepa, the construction of the Kursk-Kyiv railway.

The estate of Baron Mykola Meyendorf (Mayendorf) was built in Novyi Bykiv at the end of the 19th century, when a sugar factory was opened in the village.

The two-story neo-Gothic palace is decorated with a decorative tower.

Currently, the building is in a dilapidated state.

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 Baturyn Krupytsky Saint Nicholas Monastery was probably founded before the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

It is believed that the first temple was built at the place of the appearance of the icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (the present territory of the hermitage).

According to legend, it was called Krupytsky after the monks were saved from starvation during the Mongol-Tatar siege thanks to the cereal that fell from the sky.

In the 17th century, the monastery was revived as a men's monastery, was under the patronage of Ukrainian hetmans and Russian tsars. It was burned by the Russians during the Baturyn massacre in 1708, but was soon revived.

In 1922, the Krupytsky Monastery was closed, all buildings were dismantled.

In 1999, a new stage of revival began, the accidentally found miraculous icon of Saint Nicholas was returned to the church. It is part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Hetman's Capital".

The complex of trade and commercial buildings on Bazaar Square was built in the center of Novhorod-Siverskyi throughout the 19th century.

The oldest building - Shopping Rows with warehouses, which, despite their status as an architectural monument, are still used for their intended purpose.

On the corner of Hubernska Street is the historic two-story building of the Central Hotel (1898), which has also retained its functionality.

On the square there is an original equestrian monument to Ihor Svyatoslavovych, the hero of "The Tale of Ihor's Campaign" (the bullet above the rider's head symbolizes the solar eclipse, which foreshadowed the prince's defeat in the battle with the Polovtsy).

The "Black Grave" mound is located in the park near the Builders PC.

According to legends, the legendary founder of Chernihiv, Prince Chorny (Black), was buried at this place.

According to an ancient legend, the prince's daughter threw herself out of the window of the princely tower in order not to become the wife of the Khazar Khagan, who surrounded the city.

In 1872-1873, archaeologist Dmytro Samokvasov excavated the burial mound, discovering a 10th-century burial with a rich treasure of weapons: two helmets, chain mail, two swords, a saber, more than ten spears, arrowheads, an axe, stirrups, and clubs. 2 gold Byzantine coins from the time of Basil I of Macedonia allowed us to date the burial.

A memorial obelisk has been installed on the "Black Grave" mound.

The flooded sand quarries near Oleshnia in Chernihiv region are called "blue lakes" (high-quality quartz sand is mined in Oleshnia).

It is believed that the crystal clear water of four lakes located in the middle of a pine forest has certain healing properties. The area of the largest lake is 25 hectares, the depth is about 20 meters. The water in the lakes has a bright blue and even azure color, because their bottom is covered with deposits of special quartz sand.

These picturesque places are a popular recreation area with clean air and comfortable beaches. More than 250,000 tourists come to Oleshnia every year to rest on the "Blue Lakes". But even this amount of space on the shores of the lakes is not always enough for a large number of people willing to breathe in the fresh air of the pine forest and enjoy a rest near the crystal clear, blue water. These places also attract fishermen and hunters.