Chernihiv


Let’s visit an old city of Kyiv Rus, with churches, architecture memorials and the grave of the famous ancient Russian hero Illya Muromets. Let me introduce You to Chernihiv (Chernihiv Region).

 The long history of this beautiful town (which started in VII AD) is being kept safely in local “bylinas” (epic Slavic legends) and conceals many riddles, secrets and miraculous stories.
You are awaited by the “old town”: the prince’s court, mighty fortress with impregnable wall upon Desna, where the twelve dreadful cannons are placed (be aware, the local girls often make a date by the 13th cannon). Here You will take a look at the main city temples: the Borysoglibskyj Cathedral (now – the Museum of Architecture) and the majestic five-domed Spaso-Preobrazhenskyj Cathedral, which is the memorial of the monumental art of Kyiv Rus. And furthermore You will meet the majestic Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Mother of God, the Church of Elias the Prophet and the Svyato-Uspenskyj Eley Monastery (a group of cathedrals and churches with the only wooden building from Cossack times).

Visit the complex of the Troyicko-Iljinskyj Monastery with the largest underground temple in Ukraine – the Antoniy Caves (a long underpass connected it with the caves of Kyiv Pecherska Lavra). You will have a chance to look at narrow cells of recluses and the monks – protectors of the temple. After that You can enjoy the sight of Chernihiv from the highest place in town – a 60-meter high monastery belfry, erected upon 20-meter high hill. This is such an interesting place, that it is gladly visited by preschoolers (the youngest “cave tourist” was just 2 years old).

All is extraordinary there – the monumentally romantic rail-way station, the creative multi-store buildings of the Soviet era without external finishing, the original monument of T. Shevchenko (in the image of a young painter with a folder of etudes) and the popular Ukrainian beer “Chernihivske” (there are 20 charges of beer brewed every day – 5500 liters each). And what’s more – there are many treasures with ancient jewelry hidden on the territory of the city.

You are awaited by an old town with an enigmatic ward Semargl – the fantastic beast with dog’s head, wings of a bird and a tail of a snake, living on ancient temple and incorporating the underground, earthly and heavenly worlds! He is eager to meet You to tell the secret how to unite these capricious spheres into the Universal Tree of Life!

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