About the city and region

Chernihiv was first mentioned in the Rus-ByzantineTreaty but is was considered to have existed at least in the ninth century, as uncovered by archeological excavations of a settlement that included the artifacts from the Khazar Khaganate. Till the end of the 10 th century the city probably had its own rulers. The Black grave, one of the largest and earliest royal mounds in Eastern Europe was excavated back in the 19th century.

In the Southern part of the Kyivan Rus the city was the second by importance and wealth. From the early XI century it was the seat of powerful Grand Principality of Chernihiv, whose leaders at times vied for power with Kyivan Grand Princes and often overthrew them and took the primary seat in Kyiv for themselves. The grand principality was the hugest in Kyivan Rus and included not only the Severian towns but even such remote regions as Murom, Ryazan and Tmutarakan. The golden time of Chernihiv when the city population reached 25 000 lasted until 1239 when the city was sacked by the horers of Batu Khan, which started a long period of relative odscurity.

Marble pillars of the Savior Cathedral provide the only glimpse to the Byzantine opulence of the original 1036 inner view.

The area was occupied by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1353. Chernihiv was burned again by Crimean khan Giray in 1497 and in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries it changed hands several times between Lithuania, Muscovy and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth where it was granted Mageburg rights in 1623 and in 1635 became a seat of Czernihow Voivodship.

Places of interest

All through the most struggling periods of its history, Chernihiv retained its importance as the seat of bishopric or archbishopric. At the outskirts of the modern city lie two ancient monasteries that are presented as caves that were previously used as residences for bishops.

The caves of the Eletsky Monastery precede those of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv). Its marvelous 6-pillared Cathedral was created at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries; some traces of its 750-year-old walls may still be seen in the inner view. After the domes fell down in 1611, they were reconstructed in the style of Ukrainian baroque. The wall and bell tower all date from the XVIIh century. The nearby mother superior's house is thought to be the oldest residential building in the left bank of Ukraine. The nunnery's holiest icon used to be that of Theotokos, which made her epiphany to Svyatslav in February 1060.

The nearby Cave Monastery of St Elijah and the Holy Trinity have the features of small eponymous church that was founded 800 years ago. The Trinity Cathedral, one of the most imposing monuments of the baroque style period, was created between 1679 and 1690.

How to get there:

By car - Can be reached from Kyiv by the Moscow highway. The city is located in about 2 hours of drive from the capital.
By bus - there are regular bus or mini-bus tours from Kyiv to this city. The start point is located at the metro station Lisova.