Baturyin
 

          Baturyn is a city of Bakhmatskyi district in Chernihiv area located on the river Seym.In 1960 it got the status of a city type settlement. The status of a town - in 2008. According to the data of archaeological documents, it was founded in 10 century, on the lands of a village, the inhabitants of which must have controlled a situation on borders of Zadesennya subjected to Chernihiv princes and ferriages on the river Seym. However, a density of the modern Baturyn territory and its premises was rather high starting from neolith period. There were also found ancient articles of bronze epoch, early ferrous age, sights of Slavonic cultures of thousand A.D. and times of Kievan Rus.

          It is considered that the town was founded in 1575 by Polish king Stephen Batoriy, who after his electing carried out on Ukrainian lands an administrative reform. Cossacks were perted on regiments and hundreds. The new order of the legal proceeding and management was involved. A town-fortress was named Batoryn in honour of the king.

          In 1625 a powerful fortress on a high bank of Seym was founded by Poles on the territory of Baturyn. From three sides (the fourth one faced the steep bank of the river) it was surrounded by a ditch and earthen rampart with the oak paling, which was broken by 6 angular towers. An entrance to the fortress was guarded by 2 towers put over gates. On the whole there were 9 cast-iron harquebusiers set on towers. There was a "lordly court" (citadel), surrounded by a ditch, rampart and oak paling stood inside on a high hill. In 1664 Polish king Jan Cassimere failed to besiege it.

         The crown chancellor of Retch Pospolyta Y.Ossolynskyi possessed Baturyn in 1634. After him the town became a domain of Lyubomyrski family.

          A lot of Baturyn inhabitants took part in Yatsko Ostryanyn revolt during 1637-1638 years. And in times of war of Khmelnytskyi with Poland in 1648-1654, the Polish gentry were outcast from Baturyn fortress. In 1648 Baturyn becomes the hundred town of Chernihiv regiment, since 1649 - of Nizhynskyi, and later - of Starodubskyi one.

          In 1654 Baturyn gets status of a town with Magdeburg right and town council, 12 mills were there by then, shoe, blacksmith's, gold handicrafts were developing.

          In 1663 so-called Baturyn articles by left-bank hetman I.Bryukhovetskyi and Moscow government were signed in town. This agreement confirmed the March articles of 1654, but contained additional points about providing the Moscow army with foods and feed-stuff in Ukraine and about returning of peasants-fugitives to the Moscow squires. The Ukrainian merchants were also prohibited from importing and selling vodka and tobacco products in Moscoviya. These articles openated in 1665.

          In 1669 Demjan Mnohohrishnyi chose the town to be the Hetman residence. Baturyn became the official residence of Ukrainian hetmans such as Demjan Mnohohrishnyi (1669 - 1672), Ivan Samoylovych (1672-1687), Ivan Mazepa (1687-1708).

          In 1672 Ivan Samoylovychwas elected the hetman of Left-bank Ukrainian on Cossack council in the Cossack oakery. It was during his reign when Baturyn had developed considerably. A lot of buildings were erected, trade and handicrafts were prospering. The population of Baturyn made more than 20000 people, its territory occupied about 100 hectares, and there were already 40 churches and 2 monasteries.

          The Baturyn residence acquired the special status
    during the Ivan Mazepa reign (1687-1708), when Baturyn became a center of Hetmanship political life. The political, military and cultural elite of Ukraine lived and worked in Baturyn at that time. There were high state administration including General millitary office, General Count of Left-bank Ukraine situated. The court building has preserved to present days and called the House of Kochubey, named after Vasyl' Leontiyovych Kochubey, who served as a general judge.

          There is a large Kochubey park preserved around the General cour buildings, it was organized in a natural oakery. There are centenary oaks also preserved in this park. Presently there are a lot of different monument set in it. One of most interesting is a granite grave placed on the oak, the hollow of which served as a mailbox for Ivan Mazepa and Motria Kochubey's correspondence.

          Between 17 and 18 centuries the North war for the Baltic coast domain blazed up between Sweden and Russia. The expeditionary corps which entered the territory of Russia was led by young king Charles XII, a brilliant strategist and war-lord. Ivan Mazepa decided to take advantage of this opportunity and release Ukraine from Moscow oppression.

          At the end of October in 1708, the hetman sent to Starodub colonel Skoropadskyi a deed, in which he presented the reasons for passing to the side of Charles XII. Chnging a route, the Swedish troops moved to Starodub, and then to Novgorod-Siverskyi. The providence itself seemed to come to the side of Ukrainians. The modern mobile Swedish army which raided Poles and Danes was the best ally in war with Moscow.

          Finding out about that, the Russian tsar Peter Velykyi on October, 30 in 1708 ordered to destroy the hetman capital Baturyn. The Peter's favourite, honorary prince and Generalissimo Alexander Menshykov in future went to execute this mission.

          The defending of Baturyn was led by Serdyuk colonel Dmytro Chechel'. When Russians proposed to lay down arms, Cossacks answered that they would rather die, than dive the capital to an adversary. Once or twice Menshykov sent troops to assaulit the Cossack's stronghold, but a wellaimed gunfire struck the rows of warriors.

          Baturyn, a well fixed fortress with the proper supply of food and live ammunitions could survive a multimonthly siege. But at night on November, 2 in 1708 one of regimental petty officers of Prylutskyi regiment Ivan Nis sent to O.Menshykov his trusted person, who told him about a secret manhole which led into the fortress. Taking advantage of subterranean rassage, on November, 2 in 1708 a small detachment of Russian army opened gates of the town, which had already celebrated a victory.

          Breaking into Baturyn they possessed hetman treasury, artillery, food supplies and arranged terrible carnage, killing not only the deffenders of the town but also all civil population including babies. More than 20 thousand of brave defenders and habitants of the capital perished, the town itself was burned out and devastated. The greatest carnage took plact around the hetman palace and houses of Cossack petty officers, as show the present excavations in Baturyn. In April 2004 there was a monument set on the territory of Citadel on honor of victims of Baturyn tragedy - an enormous stone cross with the bronze figure of crucified Jesus Christ (an autor is Anatoliy Haydamaka, the laureate of the T.Shevchenko State prize of Ukraine).

          Leaders of Baturyn defense, including Colonel Dmytro Chechel', were taken to Hlukhiv where executed (according to Lizohubivskyi chronicle). Other defenders, according to the autor of "History of Ruses", were crucified on crosses set on rafts and were put on the water of the river Seym.

         In French press there was a vast array of article in November, 1708 under eloquent titles such as "Frightful carnage", "Rain of Ukraine", "Women put on the edges of sabres", ""All of Ukraine bathes in blod".

          After all these events thehetman residence was carried to Hlukhiv (closer to the Russian border). According to the tsar's order it was forbidden to settle in Baturyn for 18 years since its elimination, and in 1726 the town became uninhabited, and the survived dwellers lived in its suburbs (428 counts).

          Some after electing to the hetman government, Cyrylo Rozumovskyi decided to carry the capital of the Cossack state from Hlukhiv to Baturyn and in 1723 he attracted such wellknown architects as Antonio Rinaldi Dzhakomo Kvarengi, Olexandr Kvasov to project hetman palqace. In this period the industrial production developed in Baturyn actively. A brick factory with 450 wageworkers started working in 1751. A glazed tile production factory and a sawmill also worked there. And there were 44 mills operated on the river Seyme, a cloth manufactory worked Since 1757 a waxen candles production factory worked, up to 400 ponds of beeswaxon was redone there annually.

          According to the empress Katherine II decree of 1764 Ukraine hetmanate was abolished, and Baturyn lost the status of Ukrainian administrative centre.

          Under these circumstrances it was actually forbidden to visit a motherland for the ex-hetman. And only in 1794, when political passions calmed down, Cyrylo Rozumovskyi came back to Baturyn to create a fascinating palace-park complex here. For this purpose he invited one of the leading architects of those days Charles Kameron, using the project of whom great building workswere lasting during 1799-1803 years. A three-storeyed palace erected in classic style, was a dominant building of the whole complex, and it overpeered above wings, located on both of its sides, and over a large park. Every storeyof the palace had its functional setting. It was planned to place the cloakrooms and barns in a basement, library and cabinets - on a ground floor, living room and ball-room - on the second bedchambers - on the third one. An interior was decorated with modelling, paintings and plafonds, with pictures and sculptures of the best masters of those days.

          Everythinghad changed after the death of Cyrylo Rozumovskui in January, 1803. The decoration works were halted, and the palace soon remained without proper keeping. In 1824 there was a fire destroyed almost all of its interiors.

          Building of Voskresenska church in class style lasted during 1799-1803 on the costs of Cyrylo Rozumovskyi, columnar porticos which supported triangular frontons decorated its facedes. It is considered that Cyrylo Rozumovskyi personally pointed in the church, where he wanted to be buried, and a few months before his death examined a brick burial vault in which he soon rested forever. In 1805 there was a marble tombstone, made by a glorified sculptor Ivan Martos originated from town Ichnya due to the order of his son Andriy Rosumovskyi, set above the grave of hetman.

         Not far Baturim, there is an age-old spiritual cell - Mykolayivskyi Krupytskyi monastery. In 1680 the Stone fivebath Mykolayivskyi cathedral was erected on the costs of a generaljudge Ivan Domontovych. During 1801 - 1803 years lasted the constructing of the stone church of Lord Preobrazhennya. And the bellfry, built in the middle of 19 century, completed an ansamble. A large library was disposed in the monastery, the precise decoration of it was Ostroh Bible of Ivan Fedoriv. There was a ynique sinodyk of Mikolayivskyi Krupytskyi monastery preserved to these days. In time of soviet power the monastery was closed, and a church utensil and library was ransacked.

          In 1994 there was a state historical and cultural preserve "The Hetman's capital" created, and 39 objects of unique sights of history, architecture, archaeclogy and its collection.


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