Sivershchyna Travel Guide

The town of Pryluky was first mentioned in 1085 by Volodymyr Monomakh as a place where he sheltered his troops from the Polovtsians attack. Though Pryluky was already mentioned as the fortress that record in the chronicles was considered the date of the town foundation.
Thus this year the town is going to celebrate its 925 year anniversary.
To provide the deserved celebration of this date the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
issued an order # 114-p of the 27th of January, 2010 “About preparation and celebration in 2010, 925-year anniversary of Pryluky town in Chernihiv region” .
A tentative plan of preparation calls for repair and restoration of the cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the facades of the buildings of Jewish synagogue (present-day music school) and former estate of Skoropadsky, the monument to Volodymyr Monomakh, park area next to the Square of Eternal Glory and Memorial to the Victims of Fascism, the stadium “Sputnik”, as well as the clean-up of the Udai river. The National Bank was offered to issue a commemorative coin.

Rowing on a Dragon Boat is an ancient and exotic sport that is gaining popularity in the world.

The history of this sport started more than 2000 years ago in China where everything connected with Dragon has a magical sense and is very venerated. The boat externally resembles a large canoe with the head and tail of a dragon.

A boat team consists of 20 rowers, ten from each side, the steering at the stern, which manages a large steering oar and a drummer at the bow of the boat, which determines the rhythm of the oarsmen.

The accessibility of this type of boating that does not require any special skills has resulted in its popularity on all continents.

Large-scale involvement, security and cohesion are the main advantages of this type of rowing.

Sports, team spirit, fun and health – all these attract in dragonboat.

People of all ages, gender and level of fitness can be engaged in this type of rowing. Anyone can find their place in the team. In addition, Dragonboat racing is a popular corporate sport, ie teams of employees of one company can compete with each other. Dragon boat rowing tournaments among bankers as well as schools are regularly held in Chernigov.

Dragonboat is perfect for team building within a large commercial structure as well as simply for leisure small group of friends. The minimum required number of people in a boat crew is ten. There are 2 Dragonboats currently avaliable in Chernihiv.

The Dragonboat rent also includes boat safety vests, instructor and a drummer. At your request, the Federation can bring the boat in any water body that is suitable for rowing and for any number of days.

Federation can also provide the necessary equipment for rest in nature: tents, barbecues, etc. and help you to cook fish soup.

The International Archeological Expedition started excavating the largest in the Central-Eastern Europe fortified Viking camp of the 9th – 13th centuries and their burial cemetery near the village of Shestovitsa on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Northern Ukraine in 1998.

The expedition is organized by the Institute of the Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (O. Motsya, Doctor of History); Chernihiv Institute of History, Ethnology and Jurisprudence named after O.M.Lazorevskyi (V. Kovalenko, Associate Professor of History); Norwegian University of Technology and Sciences and Norwegian Institute of Archeology (A. Stalsberg, Doktor of History), with the participation of Nizyn Gogol State Pedagogical University, Bryansk Petrovsky State University, Gomel Skorina State University, Chernihiv Tarnovski Historical Museum. The consultant of the Program is Academician P. Tolochko, Director of the Institute of the Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

During some archaeological seasons nearly 4500 m2 of the Hillfort (its area is nearly 2,5 acres) and nearly 10000 m2 of the trading quarter (its area is about 75 acres) have been excavated. The investigations showed that at the end of the 9th century the rampart was spread over the whole perimeter of the ground. In the middle of the 13th century the Hillfort perished and life on it never resumed.

More than 200 tumuli with burial chambers, urn burials, inhumations in grave pits, cenotaphs and others were excavated on the burial cemetery near Shestovytsya. Among them there were many Viking’s graves with arms, horses, women-slaves and valuable burial things.

It is planed to proceed the work of the expedition in the nearest years. The number of the participants is about 120. Languages for communication are Ukrainian, English and Russian.

Everyone interested in history and archaeology is invited to participate in the expedition. Any cooperation and sponsorship are welcome.