Attractions of Chernihiv

The Black Grave Mound is located in the park near the Palace of Culture of Builders next to the Yeletskyi Monastery. This is one of the largest preserved ancient Russian mounds of the 10th century - its height reaches.  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.

The Black Grave Mound is part of the National Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv". A commemorative obelisk has been installed.

The Central Park of Culture and Recreation of Chernihiv is a popular leisure place for the citizens. Located on the banks of the Desna.

The park is home to an open-air Summer Theater, an amusement park, roller coasters, a circus, fountains, and a botanical monument of nature "Group of centuries-old oaks".

Mass cultural events and festivals are held throughout the year.

The Chernihiv Regional Philharmonic Center of Festivals and Concert Programs is located in the former building of the Nicholas Diocesan Brotherhood.

During construction, the Oleksandr Nevsky Chapel, built in 1870, was included in the general ensemble of the building. From 1932 until the beginning of World War II, the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater of Chernihiv was located in the building.

It was burned in August 1941 during German bombing. Restored in the post-war years with a 3rd floor superstructure over the former chapel.

An example of neo-Rus style architecture, common at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since 1964, the Chernihiv Regional Philharmonic Center has been located in the building.

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 of the History of Liskovytsya is located in the old premises of Chernihiv School No. 4 with more than a hundred years of history.

The museum is dedicated to the district of Liskovytsya, Chernihiv Podil, which has been known since ancient Rus times, where artisans and burghers lived. Various periods of its history are told by the exhibits in the sections "Liskovytsya in the period of Kyivan Rus", "Liskovytsya - one of the Christian centers of Chernihiv", "History of the school" and others.

One of the central exhibits is an ancient loom.

The estate of the leader of the Chernihiv nobility Hryhoriy Hlibov appeared on the outskirts of Chernihiv - on Bobrovytsa - at the end of the 19th century.

Deputy of the State Duma, wealthy landowner Hryhoriy Hlibov had the reputation of an eccentric person. He built his romantic palace in the Neo-Gothic style, decorating it with a somewhat clumsy watchtower. A linden avenue led to the manor, along which lay large boulders. Even then, local residents nicknamed the Hlibov Palace "castle".

Currently, the Institute of Agricultural Microbiology of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences is located in the Hlibov estate.

The Church of the Holy Martyrs of Chernihiv Prince Michael and his Boyar Fedir is located on the banks of the Stryzhen River, on the site of the estate of the famous Colonel Pavlo Polubotko.

Before the revolution, there was a theological seminary near the church - one of the oldest educational institutions in pre-revolutionary Chernihiv. Now the buildings of the military hospital are located here.

In the world, only three churches bear the name of the holy martyrs of Chernihiv prince Mykhaylo Vsevolodovych and his boyar Fedir, who refused to bow to the Mongol idols during the invasion of Batiy and were brutally executed by the Mongols. There are such temples in Chernihiv, Moscow and a small Canadian town.

Belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral with its bell tower is the main building of the Trinity-Elijah Monastery complex, founded on the Boldyni Hills of Chernihiv in the 11th century by Saint Anthony of the Caves (Pecherskyi).

After the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Trinity Monastery was revived in 1649 on the initiative of Colonel Stepan Podobailo. The ensemble of the Trinity Cathedral with its bell tower, the Introduction Church and the refectory was built in 1679-1695 at the expense of the Hetman of Ukraine Ivan Mazepa. The magnificent architecture in the Ukrainian Baroque style is the work of the talented Vilnius architect Ivan Baptist (Johann Baptist Sauer).

Since 1790, the Trinity-Elijah Monastery has served as the residence of the Archbishop of Chernihiv. Here is the Bishop's House, which now houses the Chernihiv Theological School of Psalm Regents.

Since 1790, the Trinity-Elijah Monastery has served as the residence of the Archbishop of Chernihiv - the so-called "Archbishop's House" is located here.

The monastery itself is closed, but the cathedral is open to parishioners. The relics of Chernihiv saints rest in the Trinity Cathedral: Saint Theodosius of Chernihiv, Saint Lavrenty, Saint Filaret (Humylevskyi), parts of the relics of some Kyiv saints.

The biker poet Leonid Hlibov is buried near the southern wall of the cathedral.

The 58-meter-high monumental bell tower is open for visitors (195 steps), the best panorama of Chernihiv opens from above.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral is part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

The Introduction (Vvedenska) Refectory Church is the first church of the Trinity-Elijah Monastery, which was started to be built on Boldyni Hills in Chernihiv by the Archbishop of Chernihiv Lazar Baranovych in the second half of the 17th century. It is the only two-bay refectory church among those preserved on the left-bank part of Ukraine. It is part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

The columnless refectory is a true masterpiece of the national architectural style. The church building is adjoined from the west by a dining hall, which in turn has auxiliary rooms for cooking and storing food.

The interior uses techniques derived from wooden architecture. One of the church's baths is intended to accommodate the altar, the second for those who pray. The refectory hall is covered with a cylindrical vault. The energetic vertical rhythm of the main facade has deep window openings in the thickness of the walls and characteristic triangular pediments above the windows.

Currently, the Introduction Church is a student temple of the Chernihiv Theological School of Regents-Psalmists, which is located in the neighboring building of the former Bishop's House. The four-tiered iconostasis was created in 19889 before the opening of the theological school.

The Military History Museum in Chernihiv is a department of the Chernihiv Regional Historical Museum named after Vasyl Tarnovsky.

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 National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv" unites 26 architectural monuments of national importance in the historical center of Chernihiv. Among them, six monuments of the pre-Mongol period are considered to be among the oldest in Eastern Europe. All of them are of exceptional historical, cultural, artistic and scientific value, which attracts the attention of tourists.

Most of the monuments are located compactly on the territory of the Chernihiv Rampart (Dytynets) and around, as well as on the nearby Boldyni Hills. Some of them house museum exhibitions. The open-air exposition is complemented by monuments to Hetman Ivan Mazepa and Prince Ihor of Chernihiv.

The administration of the reserve is located in the premises of the Chernihiv Collegium, which is an architectural monument of the 17th-18th centuries. The reserve staff conduct sightseeing tours of the territory of Dytynets and other historical places of the city.

The National Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv" includes, in particular:
- Chernihiv Rampart (Dytynets);
- Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral;
- Saints Borys and Hlib Cathedral;
- Chernihiv Collegium;
- Regimental Chancellery;
- Piatnytska Church;
- Catherine Church;
- Yeletsky Dormition Monastery;
- Black Grave Mound;
- Boldyni Hills;
- Saint Anthony's Caves;
- Saint Elijah Church;
- Holy Trinity Cathedral;
- Introduction Church.

Chernihiv Museum of Modern Art "Plast-Art" opened in 2010 on the basis of one of the first non-state art galleries of Ukraine "Plast-Art", founded in 1994.

It is located in the historical center of Chernihiv in the premises of the regional art museum named after Hryhorii Galagan in seven modernly equipped exhibition halls with a total area of ​​700 square meters.

The museum organizes many exhibition projects of various scales - from debut shows of novice artists to international festivals and conceptual expositions of famous masters in the techniques of painting, graphics, photography, sculpture, etc. Festivals of contemporary art are also held, which are aimed at presenting the work of the best contemporary artists, popularizing contemporary Ukrainian and foreign art, supporting young talented artists, sculptors, photographers.

Both personal and collective exhibitions were presented: by Mykhailo Shemiakin, Feodosii Humeniuk, Viktor Kovtun, Vasyl Lopata, Anatolii Haidamaka, Petro Lebedynets, Leonid Bernat, Olha Soloviova, Nataliya Papirna, Oleksii Kulakov, Mykola Nebylytsia, Anatolii Furlet and many other famous artists.

Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernihiv is one of the oldest Christian churches in Ukraine, a unique example of ancient Rus architecture. Located in the center of the former Dytynets, it was the main architectural dominant of the medieval city.

It was built in 1033-1034 for Prince Mstyslav Khorobryi, becoming his tomb. Ihor Svyatoslavovych, the hero of "A word about Ihor's campaign", is buried here.

Fragments of ancient Rus frescoes, a wonderful iconostasis of the 18th century have been preserved in the interior of the Transfiguration Cathedral. Part of the collection of gold and silver church utensils of the Transfiguration Cathedral is kept in the Chernihiv Historical Museum.

Chernihiv Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral is included in the UNESCO list of cultural values.

Nearby is the archbishop's house (1780), which now houses the archive.

Since 1967, the Transfiguration Cathedral has been part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

The Trinity-Elijah Monastery is an important spiritual center of Chernihiv and one of the most expressive architectural ensembles of Ukraine in the Baroque style. It is located on the Boldyni Hills, southwest of Chernihiv Dytynets. It consists of two parts, united by landscape and architecture into a single complex.

The oldest part of the complex is the former Elijah Monastery with the Saint Anthony's Caves, founded by the Saint Anthony of the Caves on the mountainside in 1069. The Saint Elijah Church above the caves was restored in 1649.

The Trinity Monastery in the Ukrainian Baroque style with the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the bell tower, the Introduction Refectory Church and three buildings of cells was built on the highest plateau of the Boldyni Hills during the years 1677-1780 on the initiative of the Archbishop of Chernihiv Lazar Baranovych and with the financial support of the Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Since 1790, the monastery has served as the residence of the Bishop of Chernihiv. For him, a classicist-style Bishop's House was built, which now houses the Chernihiv Theological School of Regents-Psalmists.

Since 1967, the Trinity-Elijah Monastery complex has been part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv".

The manor of Chernihiv colonel Vasyl Dunin-Borkovsky, general of the Hetmanshyna, was located on the outskirts of Chernihiv, in the village of Bobrovytsia (now a microdistrict of the city).

On the basements of the one-story colonel's house, built in the 1680s and 1690s, there is now a two-story house built later in the classicism style.

The facility is located on the territory of a military unit, access is limited.