Attractions of Nizhyn district

The church of Kostyantyn and Olena at the Greek (Trinity) cemetery of Nizhyn is one of three Greek churches in the city.

It was built in 1819-1820 (according to other sources - in the second half of the 18th century) in the Baroque style at the expense of wealthy Greek merchants, the Zosyma brothers, possibly their ancestral tomb. Under the altar walls of the church, one of the three legendary brothers of Zosyma is buried - Anastasiy, a nobleman and a knight of the Greek Commandery Order of the Savior. The brothers became famous not only for their wealth, but also for their vow of celibacy, which they swore to keep until the liberation of their homeland Greece from the Ottoman yoke.

Mykola Hohol described the consecration of the church of Kostyantyn and Olena at the Greek cemetery in the youth satire "Something about Nizhin, or The law is not written for fools."

Currently, the church of Kostyantyn and Olena in Nizhyn belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Kruty Heroes Memorial was opened in 2006 at the railway station "Kruty" (Pamyatne village near Kruty), where on January 29, 1918, an unequal battle took place between the 4,000-strong Bolshevik army of Mykhaylo Muravyov and several hundred Kyiv cadets and students who took up defense on the approaches to Kyiv.

The student group, formed from students of Saint Volodymyr Kyiv University, Ukrainian National University and Cyril and Methodius Gymnasium, was sent by the Central Council of the Ukrainian People's Republic to help the Bahamian garrison, which consisted of cadets of the cadet school. The battle lasted 8 hours. Ukrainian troops repelled several attacks by the Bolsheviks, but were forced to retreat, having previously dismantled the railway track.

There are no exact data on the number of dead on the Ukrainian side (historians give different figures - from several tens to three hundred). One reconnaissance platoon (about 30 men) was captured and executed by the Bolsheviks. The bodies of those shot were later buried at the Askold grave, history has preserved the names of only 18 of them.

In the course of military operations, the battle near Kruty was not of decisive importance, but the feat of Kyiv students is heroized as an example of patriotism and self-sacrifice of Ukrainian youth. Oleksandr Vertynskyi's song about the fallen cadets "I don't know why and who needs it..." and Pavlo Tychyna's poem about the thirty martyrs "They were buried at the Askold grave" became a symbol of the era.

The central element of the Kruty Heroes Memorial is a monumental stele in the form of a column of the Red Corps of Kyiv University, crowned with a trident.

The museum exposition is housed in old railway carriages collected from all over Ukraine.

Festive events take place on January 29 every year.

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.

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.

Separate buildings that were part of the citadel complex of the Nizhyn fortress in the 17th-19th centuries have survived on the territory of the current central city market.

The fortress in Nizhyn was built during Polish rule on the site of early fortifications, reconstructed in 1749 according to the Western European model. The citadel was surrounded by an earth rampart with 4 gates, 11 wooden towers and bastions. However, after a great fire at the beginning of the 19th century, the ramparts were torn down, and the territory was set aside for a bazaar.

The castle Church of the Epiphany (1721), a powder cellar (13th century), as well as a two-story ostrog (prison) building, which now houses an ambulance station (Bazarna Street, 18), have been preserved. The remains of the northern rampart of the fortress are visible from the river side.

Currently, the territory of the fortress is occupied by the Nizhyn Market with 19th-century shophouses. In particular, you can buy the famous homemade Nizhny cucumbers here.

Nizhyn Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan  Spasky is located in an old house that belonged to the merchant Dyachenko in the XIX century.

The funds have 30,000 exhibits that tell the history of the city from ancient times to 1945. An interesting collection of archaeological finds obtained during excavations in the old part of the city, things of the Cossack era (cold steel and firearms, hetman's universals), exhibits characterizing the multinational nature of Nizhyn (including the history of the Greek community).

Of particular interest is the numismatic collection, the collection of orders and medals, the philatelic collection.

The first Soviet HTZ tractor was installed in the yard of the Nizhyn Museum of Local Lore.

Obyrok Art Island is an eco-settlement near Baturyn, open for cultural and health events, master classes, schools, retreats, exhibitions, camps and meetings.

The art village was founded by director and traveler Leonid Kanter in 2007 on the site of the abandoned Obyrok farm. In 2018, Leonid Kanter committed suicide. His wife Diana announced the continuation of the village's artistic activities.

The settlement consists of three tiny hamlets with 30 houses, which are located at a fairly large distance from each other. "House of the Sun" is a restored hundred-year-old mud house with an earthen floor. The dining room has several tables and benches under a canopy and a sink. Nearby is the "Kinosaray", where film screenings, discussions and presentations are held. There is also an old club for 100 people on "Obyrok Island".

The grave of scientist-beekeeper Petro Prokopovych is located on the outskirts of the village of Palchyky, where he opened a beekeeping school in 1830, previously founded by him in the neighboring village of Mytchenky.

Prokopovich is considered the founder of rational beekeeping and the inventor of the modern frame beehive.

A monument to Petro Prokopovych was erected on his grave in Palchyky in 2008, but the original sculpture was soon stolen. Two tombstones have been preserved (Prokopovych's successor Stepan Velykdan is buried nearby), a beautiful entrance has been equipped, and two beautiful gazebos have been built.

The Museum of the Foundation of Academician Petro Tronko was opened in the village of Vepryk in the country house of a close friend of the scientist-historian Anatoliy Serykov.

The main sections of the exposition: the magazine "Souvenirs of Ukraine" - a national project of Academician Petro Tronko; the family of the Decembrist Serhiy Volkonsky and the culture of Chernihiv Region; Petro Tronko's memorial room.

The railway station in Bakhmach, built in 1954 according to the project of the architect "Mosgiprotrans" Oleksandr Kulahin, is considered one of the most beautiful on the Konotop railway.

The building is made in a neo-Gothic style unusual for the region.

The steam locomotive Em736-17 is installed at the station.

The Resurrection Church in Baturyn is the family tomb of the last hetman of Ukraine, Kyrylo Rozumovsky.

The temple in the style of classicism was built at the expense of Rozumovsky in 1803 at the same time as the Hetman's palace. Named in the same way as the wooden church that was located until 1708 on the territory of the Baturyn fortress.

In 1805, over the grave of the hetman, his son Oleksiy Rozumovsky installed a marble tombstone in the shape of a pyramid by the sculptor Ivan Matros. Under the bas-relief with the image of the deceased, the epitaph and family coat of arms of Rozumovsky with the motto: "To multiply glory with deeds" were engraved.

The Resurrection Church was restored and consecrated in 2009.

Sait Michael's Church was built in the village of Bezuhlivka in 1805-1835.

The architecture of the stone temple in the style of classicism is attributed to the provincial empire. A tombstone on the grave of Bezuhlivka landowner Mykhaylo Sydorenko has been preserved on the church circuit.

The Greek Church of Saint Michael the Archangel is the scariest church of the Greek community preserved in Nizhyn.

Built in 1719-1729 in the Greek quarter of Nizhyn. Since then, it has never been rebuilt, thanks to which it has preserved the archaic forms of Balkan architecture.

Currently, Saint Michael's Church is closed, services are not held. The temple does not catch the eye, as it is hidden behind the larger church of All Saints.

Saint Peter and Paul Church in Petrivka near Novyi Bykiv was built in 1838.

Unique in terms of architecture, the temple with Neo-Gothic elements has original domes. One of them is shaped like a strongly flattened bulb, and the other is a ball.