Best of Ukraine
Title: Pereyaslav
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Printed on  06.10.2024



Pereyaslav - National preserve

Voznesensky (Ascension) Monastery
Voznesensky (Ascension) Monastery

The oldest city of the Kyiv region is Pereyaslav (Pereyaslav-Khmel'nyts'ky), first mentioned in 907 as one of the three largest cities of Kyivan Rus. It is located on the banks of the Trubizh River, 95 kilometers south from Kyiv.

Pereyaslav played a significant role in the history of Ukraine. It was a well-fortified fortress on the Southern limits of the state and an important craft and trade centre. From the middle of the 11th century until its demolition by Tatars in 1239 the city was a capital of the Principality of Pereyaslavl'. In the second half of the 16th century it became a center of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Bohdan Khmel'nyts'ky called the "Council of Pereyaslav" here, where the Ukrainian Cossacks had voted for a military alliance with Muscovy and accepted the Treaty of Pereyaslav. In 1943 Pereyaslav was renamed to Pereyaslav-Khmel'nyts'ky to honour this event.

St. Michael's Church
St. Michael's Church

Pereyaslav-Khmel'nyts'ky is often described as a living museum. The whole city was proclaimed a historical sanctuary and became a part of the Pereyaslav Preserve. There are 26 thematic museums, in whose collections there are over 160,000 exhibits. The museum collections have medieval icons, rare books and manuscripts, Cossack weapons and traditional dresses. Pereyaslav-Khmel'nyts'ky boasts 371 historical and architectural landmarks, many of which are of the 11th and 12th centuries. Local monuments make the city the National Historical and Ethnographic Preserve Pereyaslav (Zapovidnyk Pereyaslav in Ukrainian), which occupies 3,050 hectares. It is one of the biggest of its kind in Ukraine.

Among the landmarks there are 11 churches, 16 windmills several centuries old, pieces of ancient sculpture. A number of artifacts of the Pereyaslav Preserve date from the millennia-old Trypillian culture and from the Scythian times.

Andrushivs'ka Church of St George, 1768, Scansen
Andrushivs'ka Church of St George, 1768, Scansen

Pereyaslav largest tourist attractions are:

The museum of folk architecture, presenting the architecture and traditions of Ukrainians from ancient times up to the 19th century.
Excavated ruins of buildings from the 10–11th centuries.
St. Michael's Church (1646-1666) and Ascension Monastery (with Cathedral built in 1695-1700).

Among its well-known museums are: Museum of Bread, Museum of Land Transportation, Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Towels, Museum of Sholem Aleichem (Solomon Rabinowitz, a nineteenth-century Yiddish humorist), Museum of Space Exploration, Museum of Postal Services, Museum of Beekeeping, Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts, Museum of Ukrainian Traditional Rituals, Museum of Archeology, Museum of the Cossack Glory, Museum of Trypillya Culture, Museum of Ukrainian Traditional Dress, etc.

All photos are taken from www.oko.kiev.ua Please, feel free to see more pics there.



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