Sivershchyna Travel Guide

Ancient Sedniv is located 25 km to the North of Chernigov on the bank of the Snov-river which is the inflow of the Desna-river. And in ancient times the settlement was called Snovsk by name of the river. This is some special place that has been attracting peoples since ancient times. Scientists have determined that the earliest settlement discovered here dates back to the Bronze Age. For the first time chronicles mentioned Snovsk under 1068. That year Chernihiv prince Svyatoslav (future Grand Prince of Kyiv) with his army of 3000 warriors defeated the 12 thousands army of Polovtsians. The battle took place not far from Snovsk. That was the first victory of Rus troops over Polvtsians’ tribes (other names Kipchaks and Cumans).

After that Snovsk was mainly mentioned by chronicles only in connection with internal wars of the princes. And in 1239 it was ruined by the Mongols. Perhaps since those very times the story about “great Sedniv fight (in Ukrainian SICH)” in which there were many enemies hewed has been passing on from generation to generation. This enabled historian O.Rigelman to state that the very first Cossack Sich appeared in Sedniv and afterwords moved to the Dnieper rapids.

Old Rus chronicles gave us the description of the Snov river which still fascinates with its beauty. Thus 900 years ago the book «Life and pilgrimage of Daniel the Father-Superior of Rus land» was the first to describe the biblical Jordan-river to our ancestors. The pilgrim compared the Jordan-river to the Snov river stating that both the rivers were very similar. Even the length of both rivers is 252 km.

In the mid of the 14 century Snovsk passed into the ownership of Lithuanian Principality and gradually got restored. And within a century it managed to withstand a long siege of the Crimean Tatars. Having good provisions in a store and underground passage from citadel to the Snov-river the people «just sat and waited» when the raid would finish. Because of that they got nickname “sedni” (those who prefer to sit and wait). And in the 16th century the nickname became applied to the whole town – Sedniv.

Later on the history of Sedniv was closely related to the Lyzogubs family and especially to the name of Chernigiv Cossack colonel Jacob Lyzogub. He was a hero of seizure of Turkish fortress of Azov. For his services he assumed possession of Sedniv in 1687. By XIX the Lyzogubs became big landowners still residing in Sedniv. Prominent Ukrainian artist and poet Taras Shevchenko used to visit the Lyzogubs’ estate and even painted some of Sedniv architectural monuments and create some of his lyrics there. In Sedniv’s park there has even preserved an old linden in the shadow of which great poet created. One of the Lyzogub family was an active revolutionary and spent all his riches on the needs of the revolution. He was executed for his revolutionary activities in 1879 in Odessa. Sedniv can boast of the Lyzogubs’ stone building in Gothic style of 1690 г., main building of the estate of XIХ century and park with rotunda on the edge of the river steeps. The place has a tremendous view down the meadows and river valley.
There is old Resurrection church (1690) in the very center of Sedniv and the wooden church of St.George on the site of ancient settlement and fortress.

Sedniv has been existing or better say slumbering for nine centuries already. The buildings in the settlement are mostly one-storey and wooden ones decorated with shutters with fretwork. The settlement has retained its attraction since ancient times and practically has not changed for the previous centuries. It is a kind of a preserve! One should just imagine Sedniv without wires and couple of brick houses in the center and it is difficult realize what century You are in. And if You combine this atmosphere with mysterious stories about Sedniv mummies and underground tunnels, picturesque barrows of the Severas ancestors and astonishing scenery observed from the steeps You have excellent reason to visit Sedniv!