Home
Ukraine can boast of hospitable people, amazing nature and huge cultural and historical layer. But somehow in the minds of many foreigners and even our closest neighbors, Ukraine is associated only with Kyiv and Crimea, well, and maybe even with Lviv and Truskavets. And it should be admitted that Ukrainians themselves are usually better aware of attractions in Egypt or Rome than those not the least interesting ones but located in the immediate vicinity. And thus our aim is to change such state of things. The present resource is completely devoted to SIVERSHCHYNA – the historical region in the north of Ukraine.
Historically Sivershchyna consisted of 5 parts:
1. Sivershchyna (in narrow sense) was the territory with such towns as Novgorod-Siverskyi, Hlukhiv, Starodub and Mglyn.
2. Chernigivshchyna (the territory of Chernigiv principality). Though Chernigiv was attributed to Rus but Sivershchyna was strongly influenced by Chernigiv and was a part of Chernigiv principality. That is why Chernigivshchyna and Sivershchyna almost always went side by side and meant the same.
3. Eastern Sivershchyna was the territory with towns of Bryansk and Sevsk. Since 1618 these lands have belonged to Russia.
4. Southern Sivershchyna was the territory with towns of Putivl, Kursk and further to Oskol and Samara in present Russia.
5. Western Sivershchyna was the territory that stretched till the line between the town of Poltava and ancient town of Glynsk (present-day Zolotonosha).
All those lands above were inhabited by ancient Iranian tribe called SIVER. This tribe founded the town of Chernigiv on Yeletsky hills in the 7th century. And Chernigiv principality was the largest in territory at the times of ancient Rus occupying an area equal to to the territory of present-day Great Britain. The borders of Chernigiv principality spread from the Dnieper in the west till Moscow in the east and from Southern Belarus till the Black sea. And Chernigiv-Sivershchyna was the most populous territory among other twelve ancient Rus principalities. Chronicles inform us of about 60 towns by mid 13the century that is one fifth of all known ancient Rus towns.
Cossack epoch is also closely tied with Chernigiv-Sivershchyna. A lot of famous Cossacks’ families lived and acted here. The last Hetman of Ukraine, Kyrylo Rozumovsky was borne in the village of Lemeshi which is not far from the town of Kozelets. And he was buried in Baturin. And two of Hetman Capitals (Baturin and Hlukhiv) were also located on the territory of Chernigiv region.
Rich history preserved us a lot of places of interest on the territory of Chernigiv-Sivershchyna dating back to 11th-13th as well as 17th-19th centuries. More then 200 monuments are of universal importance. Among others we can mention Spassky (Our Savior and Transfiguration) cathedral 11th century), Pyatnitska church (13th century) in Chernigiv. Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral in Kozelets (18th century). Settlements of Vikings are discovered next to the village of Shestovitsa and the oldest musical instruments in the world were found near Mezin village. There are lots of monasteries and cave complexes as well as palaces and beautiful parks in the region. About 20% of the territory has recreational importance. There are more than 600 natural preserves, 13 health resorts and rest houses, a lot of recreational complexes on the banks of the rivers and lakes with possibility for fishing and hunting.
All these make ancient Chernigiv-Sivershchyna attractive for tourists to spend short and long-term various holidays. WELCOME!
