Location: Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv is located in the Chernihiv region, in
the northern part of Ukraine. An ancient Slavic city, one of the
most significant in Kievan Rus, which has preserved a number of
ancient Russian monuments.
The administrative center of the
Chernihiv region of the country. 1st place in the ranking of the
most environmentally friendly cities in Ukraine.
The first
mention of the city dates back to 907. The center of the historical
Chernihiv principality. In the early Middle Ages, the city was the
center of the Severyan tribe, and from the 9th century it became
part of Kievan Rus, becoming the most important and richest city of
the state along with Kiev and Novgorod.
The climate is
temperate continental, the average annual air temperature is +6.7
degrees C, the lowest is in January (-7.1 °C), the highest is in
July (+18.7 °C).
Orientation
There is no historical part in Chernihiv, since the
city was completely destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. The
restored ancient temples are located on the territory of the former
Kremlin (Detinets Park) in the area of Preobrazhenskaya Street. From
here to the north-west goes the wide boulevard of Prospekt Mira with the
parade post-war buildings. South-west of the Chernigov "Kremlin" begins
a wooden suburb with the Yelets Monastery and Boldina Gora, where the
Trinity-Ilyinsky Monastery and the Anthony Caves are located. From this
place to the Kremlin 2.5 km.
Chernihiv Kremlin or
Detinets (Черниговский Детинец)
Boldin mountains
Anthony
caves
Red Square
Kurgan Black Grave
Mounds Bezymianny and
Gulbishche
House of Tarnovsky
Mazepa's house
The building of
the women's gymnasium
House of NBU
Collegium
Archbishop's House
Yelets Assumption Monastery
Trinity-Ilyinsky Monastery
Chernihiv
printing house
Glebov's estate
Train Station
Reserve "Ancient
Chernihiv"
Planetarium
"Siveriansk opinion"
Remains of the
Siversky Monastery
Temple architecture
Assumption Cathedral of
the Yelets Monastery.
Trinity Cathedral of Chernihiv
Transfiguration Cathedral of Chernihiv
Boriso-Glebskaya Church.
Eletsky Monastery
Pyatnytska (Friday) Church of Saint Paraskevi
Monuments
Monument to Pushkin.
Monument to Bogdan
Khmelnitsky.
Monument to Hetman Mazepa
Museums
1 Chernihiv Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve
of G. Kotsyubinsky, vul. Kotsiubinsky, 3. ✉ ☎ +380(4622)
4-04-59, 4-10-03, 4-43-26, 4-13-45, fax: +380(4622) 4-04-59.
9.00-17.30 (Sat, Sun - 10.00-17.30) seven days a week.
12 Chernihiv Historical Museum. V. Tarnovsky, vul. Gorky,
4 - the territory of the Val. ✉ ☎ +380(462) 699-930. 9.00 to
16.30 (day off - Thursday).
2 Chernihiv Regional Art
Museum. G.P. Galagana, st. Gorky, 6 - the territory of the
Val. ✉ ☎ +38(0462) 676715, ordering excursions: +38(0462)
774616. Tuesday-Sunday from 9.00 to 17.00.
Chernihiv
State Architectural and Historical Reserve Ancient Chernihiv
(Preobrazhenskaya St., 1)
Branch of the reserve "Sofia
Museum" (Prospekt Mira, 15)
Theaters
3 Chernihiv
Regional Philharmonic, Mira Avenue, 15. ☎ (+38 0462)
675-893.
4 Chernihiv Youth Theatre, vul. Rodimtseva, 4. ☎
(+38 0462) 77-49-53, 77-89-48, fax: (+38 0462) 77-89-48.
5 Puppet Theatre, Ave. Victory, 135.
6 Chernihiv
Regional Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theatre, Mira
Avenue, 23. ☎ (+38 0462) 699-360.
Cinemas
Druzhba
(Prospect Mira 51, tel. 0462 675-800, 675-801). Very
comfortable renovated 3D cinema.
Kinopalats them. Shchors
(St. Magistratskaya 3, tel. 774-730). Worth a visit only if
you want to go back 30 years in the past, to the USSR,
because nothing has changed in 30 years
Pobeda (2
Rokossovsky St., (0462) 610-595). Has not been active since
April 2012. The building houses the Institute of Economics.
Parks
City Park of Culture and Leisure
Forest Park
Elovshchina
Park of Culture and Leisure. M. M.
Kotsiubinsky
Birch Grove
Marina Grove
Square of
Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Square them. powdered
Other
Visit the Chernihiv planetarium.
A trip to Chernigov is almost unequivocally combined with a visit to
Kyiv, which is located 140 km to the south and is connected to Chernigov
by frequent bus services. The nearest airport to Chernihiv is located in
Kyiv.
By train
Chernigov stands on the Nizhyn-Gomel line and
therefore does not have a normal railway connection with Kiev. You can
go by train with a change in Nizhyn, which takes 4.5-5 hours. The
Kiev-Slavutich express trains running 1-2 times a day, reaching
Chernigov in 3 hours, are somewhat faster, but even they lose in time to
minibuses.
In the direction of Belarus, only long-distance trains
run, such as Minsk-Odessa and St. Petersburg-Kyiv - they all run not
every day, so there will hardly be more than one train per day. To Gomel
about 3 hours, taking into account the passage of the border.
Railway station, at the beginning of Peremogi Ave. A large post-war
building with elements of Russian architecture - a huge tent in the
center of the building. The best Soviet building in the city. The
station has a large and usually empty waiting room, there is practically
no infrastructure.
By bus
The main way to Chernihiv is by
minibus from Kyiv. In Kyiv, minibuses depart from the Chernihivska or
Lesnaya metro stations, and in Chernigov from the Ukraina Hotel or the
Seversky supermarket (in front of McDonald's). Some minibuses run
according to the schedule, others - according to the filling, and they
randomly alternate flights to Chernihiv and Lesnaya. Minibuses depart
from Kyiv from 6:30 to 22:00. From Chernihiv - from 5:00 to 20:30 (there
are few flights after 18:00, check in advance). The official travel time
is 2 hours, although drivers, violating all conceivable and unthinkable
rules, manage to get there in one and a half. Directions: 150 UAH.
(2019)
Bus station, Peremogi Ave., 3 (next to the railway
station). 24/7, waiting room: 7:30 AM–8:30 PM. A two-story building with
a ticket office, a waiting room, and a diner-style buffet (8:00–20:00)
on the ground floor. On the second floor there is another buffet, more
reminiscent of a dining room (8:30–16:30).
By car
From Kyiv to
Chernigov 140 km along the M-01 highway to Gomel. The road is four-lane
throughout, except for the entrance to Chernihiv; from the eastern
border of Kyiv to Chernigov no more than 2 hours. To the north, the road
continues towards the Belarusian border with the Novye Yarylovichi
border checkpoint, 110 km to Gomel.
The main transport is minibuses for 6 UAH (2019). There are 9 trolleybus routes; travel in a trolley bus costs 5 UAH - payment to the conductor. (2019)
There are a lot of catering places in the city - cafes, restaurants,
pizzerias. You can also buy food in many shops. There is a chain of
supermarkets where you can find a large selection of products at a
relatively low price (all-Ukrainian: ATB, Eco-market; local: Soyuz,
Kvartal, Sedam). There are also several markets.
Cheap
Pizzeria Basis. ☎ Pizza delivery 607-607 (10:00 - 19:00). The most
famous, cheapest, and possibly the most delicious pizza. Pizza
Margherita costs only 5 hryvnia - small in size (like a cheesecake), but
very tasty. In addition, the menu also includes broths, dumplings, maxi
- pizza, Basis - pizza (30 types from 5 to 37 hryvnias), soft drinks,
beer. Addresses:
Prospekt Mira, 42 (center) Phone: 699-302
st.
Shevchenko, 22 Phone: 666-315
st. Rokossovskogo, 42 Phone: 951-664
st. Pukhovaya, 142 Phone: 671-900
Average cost
Restaurant
Predslava
Pizzeria Marconi. from 25 to 128 UAH. Two pizzerias:
Prospect Mira, 30-A, tel. 678-804
st. Rokossovsky, 16-A, tel.
606-820
Pizzeria Carlucci, st. Rokossovsky, 70. from 25 to 128
UAH. Opened December 25, 2012, so very fresh and brand new. Often there
are free places, because not everyone knows about it yet.
Expensive
Velyurov Prospekt Mira, 17.
Lovka Cafe Chernyshevsky
street, 3.
Senator Magistrate 1.
Buba (Georgian cuisine) Mira
Avenue, 21.
Night life
Diamond Club on Pobedy Avenue is the
largest nightclub in the city.
There are about a dozen hotels in the city:
Cheap
Hostel
"Leo" Tolstoy street, 151
Hostel "Papas" Hetmana Polubotka street, 6
Hostel "Hola" Tolstoy street, 147А
Hotel of the enterprise
"Educational and Methodological Center" of the Federation of Trade Union
Organizations of the Chernihiv Region, st. Shevchenko, 105a.
Average prices
Hotel "Gradetskaya", Prospekt Mira, 68a. Closed for
complete renovation.
Hotel "Sport", st. Shevchenko, 21.
Sports and
fitness complex, st. Quay, 31.
Hotel "Bryansk", st. Shevchenko, 103.
Hotel "Pridesnyanskaya", st. Shevchenko, 99a.
Hotel of the tourist
complex "Golden Coast", st. Coastal, 30.
Hotel "Berezki", st. Ring,
16.
Expensive
Hotel "Ukraine", Prospekt Mira, 33 (the minibus
from Kyiv stops in front of the hotel Ukraine).
Park-hotel
"Chernihiv", vul. Shevchenko, 103-a. ✉ ☎ + 38 (050) 381 35 36. New
hotel. Built in 2012.
City transport normally operates only until 20-21-00 pm. Trolleybuses after 20-00 massively go to the depot. In the evening and at night it is better to use a taxi. Calling a taxi by phone can cost only 35 hryvnia instead of 55 if you hail a taxi on the street (as of 2018).
Kievan Rus
The city was first mentioned in The Tale of Bygone
Years under the year 907, when the Kiev prince Oleg, after a successful
campaign against Byzantium, obliged the Greeks to pay tribute to the
largest cities of Rus'. Chernihiv was mentioned in the treaty as the
second after Kyiv. In the middle of the 10th century, in the treatise of
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus “On the Management of the Empire”, the
city of Τζερνιγῶγα is mentioned as one of the settlements of “outer”
“Russia”, in which Chernihiv is easily guessed.
The ditch of the
Roundabout castle was built in the 10th century - in the same period of
time when the Chernigov citadel was built. Borzhivoy Dostal, noting the
similarity of inventory, wrote about the complete identity of the
retinue graves in Kyiv and Chernigov with burials in Great Moravia. T.
G. Novik and Yu. Yu. Shevchenko believe that in the case of Chernigov,
we are talking about an independent one in relation to the Kyiv,
“Chernigov dynasty”. Before the appearance of the first Chernigov prince
Mstislav known from the annals in 6532 (1024), about 30 thousand people
lived in Chernigov, and in terms of area it may have exceeded the then
Kyiv.
In 1024, after the Battle of Listven, Chernigov became the
capital city of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, brother of Yaroslav the
Wise. Mstislav begins to rebuild the capital city, which even then
consisted of a citadel (Kremlin), a roundabout city and a suburb. Under
Mstislav, around 1035, the Spassky Cathedral was laid in the center of
the citadel. In the second half of the 11th century, during the reign of
Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, the growth of the city continued. At this time,
the Yeletsky (1060) and Ilyinsky (1069) monasteries were founded, which
became the spiritual centers of the Chernigov-Seversk land. During the
fragmentation of Rus', the Chernigov principality was assigned to the
Olgovichi dynasty (the founder of the dynasty was Oleg Svyatoslavich,
the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise), during the reign of which ancient
Chernigov reached its greatest prosperity: the total area of the
city was 450 hectares, the population was about 40 thousand inhabitants,
which allows us to count its one of the largest at that time in Europe.
Chernigov possessions stretched far to the east and south, to Murom
(then to Kolomna) on the Oka and to Tmutarakan on the Black Sea.
Chernihiv is mentioned in the Novgorod birch-bark charter No. 1004,
found at the Troitsky excavation site and dated 1140-1160: “I won’t
change my son and wife.”
The development of Chernigov was
interrupted by the Mongol invasion of Russian lands. In October 1239,
the Mongol army led by Chingizid Möngke attacked Chernihiv[19]. An army
led by Prince Mstislav Glebovich came to the aid of the city, a fierce
battle unfolded under the walls of the city, in which the Mongols won.
On October 12, the encircled city fell. The Resurrection Chronicle
reports: “and many from the howl [soldiers] beat him up and took hail
and set it on fire.” After the Mongol devastation, the significance of
the center of the Chernihiv-Seversky lands passed to Bryansk.
The
Principality of Bryansk was captured in 1356 by the Lithuanian prince
Olgerd.
Russian state
Following the results of the
Russian-Lithuanian war (1500-1503), as a result of the defeat of the
Lithuanian troops in the battle of Vedrosha and the conclusion of the
Blagoveshchensk truce, Chernigov became part of the Russian state.
Since Lithuania was not going to put up with the loss of the Seversk
land, Chernihiv now and then became the object of Lithuanian military
campaigns that took place during the numerous Russian-Lithuanian wars.
The old wooden and earthen fortress of Chernihiv, built back in the time
of Vitovt in 1380, was not suitable for defending the city and was badly
damaged during the Lithuanian campaign of 1506, as well as the attacks
of the Cossacks led by Evstafiy Dashkevich in 1515. In order for the
city to fulfill its important function of a border fortress, under
Vasily III in 1531, the construction of a new wooden citadel with five
high towers, a deep moat and an underground passage to the Strizhen
River, which was located on the site of a citadel of ancient Russian
times, was completed. Inside the fortifications there were temples,
administrative and residential buildings, provisions and powder
warehouses, the fortress was armed with 27 guns, and its garrison
numbered about 1000 people.
In 1534, the garrison of Chernihiv
successfully repelled an attempt by the Kyiv voivode Andrey Nemirovich
to take the city. During the sortie, many of the besiegers were killed,
and their guns were captured. At the initial stage of the Livonian War,
the Lithuanian-Russian commanders Filon Kmita and Mikhail Vishnevetsky
tried to storm the fortress, but despite the devastation of the district
and the settlement, they failed to take the city. The garrison led by
Prince Vasily Prozorovsky successfully repelled both assaults. The
attempt to storm the city by the army of the Lithuanian-Russian magnate
Konstantin Ostrozhsky in 1579 also ended in failure, although the
districts, including the Yelets Assumption Monastery, were again
devastated.
In 1604, Chernihiv opened the gates to False Dmitry
I. In March 1610, the crown troops (the troops of the subcommittee of
Samuil Gornostai) took the city by cunning, almost completely burned it
and destroyed many of the inhabitants. In terms of its devastating
consequences for the city, this pogrom was comparable to the
Mongol-Tatar invasion. The city became almost deserted for more than a
decade.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
In 1618, according to
the Treaty of Deulino, the city went to the Commonwealth, under whose
authority it was until the Khmelnytsky uprising. Its new settlement came
from the Little Russian lands subject to Poland. In 1623, by the letter
of the Polish king Sigismund III, Chernigov was granted the Magdeburg
Law and the Chernigov magistrate was established. In 1623, in Chernihiv,
gentry zemstvo zemstvo city courts were established, equal in rights
with those in Kyiv, and the voivodeship was divided into two povets:
Chernihiv and Novgorod-Seversky. A coat of arms is established with the
image of a double-headed eagle on one crown. The Orthodox population
living in the Commonwealth was subjected to national and religious
oppression by Catholic Poles. The ancient Borisoglebsky and Uspensky
(passed under the control of Dominican monks) cathedrals are turning
into churches.
Hetmanate
In 1648, a major uprising broke out
under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. In 1648, the Chernigov
regiment was created, which from 1649 was headed by Martyn Nebaba, who
died in 1651. In memory of this struggle, a monument to Bogdan
Mikhailovich Khmelnitsky (sculptors I. Kavaleridze, G. Petrashevich,
architect A. Karnabed, 1956) was erected in the central part of the city
in the square that bears his name. According to the results of the
Pereyaslav Rada of 1654, Chernigov again became part of the Russian
state, this time as part of the Hetmanate.
Russian empire
During the Northern War, the Chernigov Cossacks took part in the Battle
of Poltava on the side of the troops of Peter I. After the victory,
Peter I visited the Chernigov fortification on the way to the northern
capital. At his direction, additional guns were installed. According to
another version, Peter I did not want to drag obsolete guns to St.
Petersburg. In 1899, the guns that remained in the city were mounted on
carriages delivered from Kyiv and placed on the edge of the rampart,
where they still stand.
Until the early 1780s, Chernigov remained
the center of the regiment (as an administrative-territorial unit).
After the liquidation of the regimental division in the Dnieper Ukraine,
in 1781 it became the center of the Chernigov governorship, the first
ruler of which was General Miloradovich[22]. In the same year, the
privileged Little Russian estates were granted the highest rights of the
Russian nobility. Two years before the end of the 18th century, the
Chernihiv fortress was abolished as unnecessary, the fortifications were
liquidated.
Since 1801, Chernihiv became a provincial city of the
then formed Chernihiv province.
Civil War
After the February
Revolution of 1917, detachments of the Free Cossacks were created in
Chernihiv, and power passed into the hands of the Ukrainian Central
Rada. Under the Ukrainian government, Ukrainization began (publishing
house "Siveryanskaya thought", diary of the provincial zemstvo
"Chernigovshchina", organ of the provincial Council of Peasants'
Deputies "Narodnoye Slovo", Ukrainian schools, etc.).
On February
1, 1918, Soviet power was proclaimed in the city, but already on March
12, 1918, the Austro-German troops captured Chernihiv and the city
returned to the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic. In May
1918, an underground provincial committee of the Bolshevik Party and the
provincial committee were created in Chernigov, and the underground
newspaper "Worker and Peasant" began to be published. On December 14,
1918, an armed uprising of the inhabitants of Chernihiv began, which was
brutally suppressed. Soon the Petliura Directory came to replace the
Hetmans. On January 10, 1919, the Bogunsky regiment under the command of
Nikolai Shchors took up positions northeast of the city, and the
Tarashchansky regiment under the command of Vasily Bozhenko took up
positions from the southeast. As a result, on January 12, 1919, the city
was taken by the Bolsheviks.
In the summer of 1919, detachments
of the Volunteer Army under the command of A. I. Denikin entered the
territory of Ukraine. On August 30, Denikin's troops captured Kyiv. On
September 10, units of the Red Army launched a counteroffensive from
Chernigov to Kyiv - Kozelets was occupied. But having received
reinforcements, Denikin's troops again went on the offensive and
captured Chernigov on October 12. However, already on November 7, 1919,
units of the Red Army recaptured the city and finally established Soviet
power.
The Great Patriotic War
The battles for Chernihiv began
on August 28, 1941, when the 2nd Wehrmacht Army (commander: M. von
Weichs) launched an offensive from the Gomel region against the units of
the 5th Army of the Southwestern Front (commander: M. I. Potapov)
defending the city. At the same time, holding the 21st Army of the
Bryansk Front in a vise, parts of Guderian's tank group moved eastward,
in the direction of Konotop. At the same time, German aviation subjected
Chernihiv to massive bombardments. All industrial enterprises, cultural,
educational and medical institutions, many architectural and historical
monuments, over 70% of the housing stock were destroyed.
The
Soviet 5th Army, which directly participated in the battles for the
city, included: the 15th Rifle Corps (commander: Colonel M.I. Blank),
the remnants (without tanks) of the 9th Mechanized Corps (commander:
Major General A. G. Maslov), as well as units of the 1st Airborne Corps
transferred to reinforce, in particular, the 204th Airborne Brigade.
On the night of September 9, 1941, the Nazis captured Chernihiv. A
two-year occupation began, accompanied by mass executions and sending
civilians to forced labor in Germany.
The battles for the
liberation of Chernigov began in mid-September 1943 and were carried out
by formations and units of the armies of the Central Front: the 13th
Army of Lieutenant General N.P. Pukhov, the 61st Army of Lieutenant
General P.A. Belov (transferred to the front from the Stavka reserve VGK
on September 6), with the support of the 16th Air Army, Lieutenant
General of Aviation S. I. Rudenko. The Chernigov-Pripyat front-line
offensive operation of the Soviet troops of the Central Front under the
command of Army General K.K. Rokossovsky was carried out as an integral
part of the Chernigov-Poltava strategic operation - the first stage of
the battle for the Dnieper in the Great Patriotic War.
On
September 8, the 76th Guards Rifle Division set out from the Orel region
near Chernigov. For three days of continuous offensive, she advanced 70
km and at dawn on September 20 approached the village of Tovstoles,
three kilometers northeast of Chernigov, and then, on September 21,
1943, having captured the city and after three days of stubborn battles
in the region, continued the offensive to the west. By order of the
Supreme Commander-in-Chief of September 21, 1943, No. 20, the division
was thanked and given the honorary name "Chernihiv".
The names of
warrior-heroes and famous military leaders are immortalized in the names
of the streets of the city.
The war turned Chernihiv into
complete ruins. 50 industrial structures were completely destroyed and
57 were severely destroyed, the railway facilities, an electric power
station, a radio center, and telephone communications were destroyed. As
a result of hostilities, the city lost 70% of its housing stock. All
this needed to be restored. The call to raise Chernigov from the ruins
found a warm response and support among the population - the regional
center began to rebuild almost anew. Already at the end of 1943, classes
began in schools, and in 1944 - at a teacher's institute. In 1946, the
exhibits of the museum of M. M. Kotsiubinsky returned to Chernihiv,
evacuated to Ufa. In 1948, the population of the city was served by 91
doctors and 279 workers from among the nursing staff. 1949 - the factory
of musical instruments started working again. In 1950 a railway bridge
across the Desna was built, and in 1951 a railway station was opened. In
1956, Chernihiv began to receive natural gas, and in 1957, the
construction of a plant for the production of chemical fibers began.
After the Second World War, Chernihiv was rebuilt according to the
general plan (1945, 1958 and 1968) and reconstructed. The city center
was completely rebuilt in 1950-1955 (architects P. Buklavsky, I.
Yagodovsky): new streets appeared, new quarters were built, new
boulevards, squares and parks were greened. The main highways of the
city are built up with 3-5-storey buildings.
During the fourth
five-year plan, the shops of the city's industrial enterprises were
raised from the ashes and ruins, new enterprises were created, the
railway station, bridges over the Desna River, and the river port were
recreated. Chernihiv's industry reached pre-war levels in the early
1950s.
An important event in the cultural life of the city was
the opening in 1959 of a new theater building. T. G. Shevchenko
(architects S. Fridlin and S. Tutuchenko).
In December 1959, the
Chernigov Synthetic Fiber Plant (Chernigovkhimvolokno) began its work.
In September 1960, he made the first set of students in the Chernihiv
branch of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (now the Chernihiv National
Technological University). In 1961, the first turbine of the new
Chernihiv CHPP was put into operation. In 1970, the new Palace of
Pioneers (now the Palace of Schoolchildren) opened its doors. In 1975,
the shopping center "Druzhba" was opened, in 1976 - a puppet theater.
The industrial growth of the city led to the fact that by 1979 the
population had increased to 240 thousand people.
In 1980, a new
plan for the reconstruction of Chernihiv was developed. During its
implementation, the Gradetsky hotel and restaurant complex (1981), the
Pobeda cinema (1984) were erected, the construction of secondary school
No. 12 and the Desna publishing complex began.
The population of
Chernihiv grew rapidly: 1959 - 90 thousand (Ukrainians accounted for
69%, Russians - 20%, Jews - 8%, Poles - 1%), 1970-159 thousand, 1980-245
thousand people. By 1982, the population reached 257 thousand people.
In 1986, the most terrible tragedy occurred that Chernihiv
experienced in the entire post-war period - the accident at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The distance from the city to the nuclear
power plant is only 80 km. And although Chernihiv did not fall into the
zone of radioactive contamination, many residents of the city, having
taken part in the liquidation, gave their lives and health. To
commemorate the tenth anniversary of this nationwide tragedy, a bronze
monument was erected on the Alley of Heroes.
Russian-Ukrainian
war
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Chernihiv became
one of the hardest hit cities in Ukraine. From the very beginning of the
war, Russian troops approached the city and, not being able to capture
it, began a massive shelling of its civilian infrastructure with
aircraft and artillery. On March 3, a Russian airstrike on Chornovola
Street killed 47 civilians in Chernihiv. On March 6, President of
Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in order to celebrate the feat, mass heroism
and resilience of citizens in repelling the armed aggression of the
Russian Federation, awarded Chernihiv the honorary title of "Hero City
of Ukraine". On March 16, shelling by Russian troops in Chernihiv killed
at least 17 people standing in line for bread. The shelling continued
the next day.
Due to the Russian invasion, the city was forced to
leave two-thirds of the inhabitants. On March 23, the last bridge was
destroyed and the evacuation stopped. As of March 26, more than 200
civilians in Chernihiv were killed by the actions of Russian federal
forces. As of April 17, 2022, 54 children have died in the Chernihiv
region due to the Russian invasion. According to The New Yorker
magazine, about 50 people per day were killed in Chernihiv. According to
the mayor of the city Vladislav Atroshenko, the city is destroyed by
70%. During the hostilities, there was water only in some areas of the
city, there was no electricity anywhere.
Chernigov has its own coat of arms, flag, anthem and tourist logo,
which reflect the status of the city.
Coat of arms of the city of
Chernigov, approved on December 1, 1992 by the Chernigov city council.
It consists of a silver shield, on which is a black crowned eagle with a
golden beak and paws. The eagle holds a golden cross diagonally with its
left paw. The coat of arms of Chernihiv and the entire Chernihiv region
of the 18th-19th centuries became the basis for the coat of arms.
The flag of Chernigov was approved on June 26, 2008 by the Chernigov
City Council. It is a rectangular white cloth with a ratio of 2 to 3, in
the center of which is a black single-headed crowned eagle, which holds
a golden cross with its left paw. The author of the flag is Boris Dedov,
Honored Art Worker of Ukraine. As conceived by the artist, the flag
reflects the historical epochs of the city's development from the
Cossack times and contains the main element of the coat of arms of
Chernihiv. The flag is used at all official city events.
The
anthem of Chernihiv, approved in 2010, was determined based on the
results of a citywide competition that lasted more than a year. The best
sample of the city's anthem was selected from 20 applications. The
authors of the Anthem of the territorial community of Chernihiv are the
musician Anatoliy Tkachuk and the poet Ivan Burenko.
The climate of the region is Atlantic-continental with short
moderately mild winters and long warm summers.
The highest
monthly precipitation is 119 mm (1947), the average amount of
precipitation in the warm period is 359 mm, and in the cold period 180
mm. The total evaporation from the land surface is 540 mm. A stable snow
cover is observed from November 2 to February 9, the height of the snow
cover varies from 7 to 42 cm (average - 19 cm). The number of days with
snow cover is 95-110. The depth of soil freezing is from 24 to 141 cm.
Dominant winds: in the warm period - northwest (17.7%), in the cold
period - southeast (15%). The maximum possible wind speeds: 17 m/s -
annually, 20-21 m/s - 1 time in 5-10 years, 22-23 m/s - in 15-20 years.
According to calculations, the temperature of the coldest five-day
period is -22 ° C, the duration of the heating period is 191 days, with
its average temperature being -1.7 ° C.
The maximum air
temperature for this region was recorded in July 2010 - +40.8 °C.
The minimum air temperature was recorded in January 2003 - -32.4 °C.
Industry
Leading branches of the industrial sector of Chernihiv:
chemical, light, food, building materials and woodworking
The
main Chernihiv enterprises:
"Chernigov Plant of Radio Devices
"CheZaRa"";
Chernihiv Automobile Plant (buses of the Dolphin, Etalon
brands).
Chemical industry
OJSC "Chernigov Khimvolokno";
TOV "Vitrotex";
ATZT "Chernihivfilter".
Light industry
JSC
"Chernigovsherst";
PJSC Factory "Yaroslavna" - the former Sewing
Factory named after A. March 8;
CJSC KSK Cheksil;
CJSC firm
"Siverianka";
Chernihiv shoe factory "Bereginya".
food
industry
Chernihiv distillery;
ChPTP "JN-El" [source not specified
518 days];
CJSC brewery "Desna";
JSC "Confectionery factory
"Strela"";
CJSC Chernihiv Meat Processing Plant (closed);
ZAO
Ritm;
CJSC "Chernigovryba";
TOV "Nyvky" (closed, bankrupt);
PJSC Food Company Yasen
TOV "Chernihiv maslosyrbaza"
EPESUS "Our
Bun"
Building materials industry and construction
TOV
"Chernigov Plant of Building Materials";
CJSC "Chernihivstroy";
CJSC Brick Plant No. 3;
CJSC "UkrSiverStroy"
Other enterprises
Chernigov plant of special vehicles;
OJSC Boiler Plant
Kolvienergomash
NPO "Group of Companies MAGR"
CJSC Cardboard and
Printing Factory
TOV "Ukrainian woodworking factory"
Fuel and
energy
Chernigovtorf;
Chernihiv CHPP;
PJSC
"Oblteplokommunenergo";
Chernigovoblenergo;
Chernigovgaz.
Service sector
The main hotels of the city (as of January 1, 2012):
Hotel "Profsoyuznaya" (St. Shevchenko, 105 a);
Park-hotel
"Chernihiv" (Shevchenko street, 103 a);
Hotel "Gradetsky" (Prospect
Mira, 68 a);
Hotel "Ukraine" (Prospect Mira, 33);
Hotel "Sport"
(St. Shevchenko, 21);
Sports and recreation complex (Naberezhnaya
St., 31);
Hotel "Bryansk" (St. Shevchenko, 103) is completely closed.
Nationalized in 2015, transferred to the penitentiary service, according
to unverified data, there will be a police school;
Hotel
"Pridesnyanskaya" (St. Shevchenko, 99 a);
Hotel of the tourist
complex "Gold Coast" (Beregovaya St., 30);
Hotel "Birches"
(Koltsevaya St., 16).
Transport
The city has a river port and
a railway station, an airport, 2 stations (bus and railway), 2 bus
stations, a car park (JSC Chernigovavtoservis), a taxi fleet (JSC
Taxoservice), a trolleybus depot (Chernihiv trolleybus department).
Passenger traffic is characterized by an extensive route network: 46 bus
and 9 trolleybus routes. Since 2000, private entrepreneurs have been
included in the cohort of carriers. The route network has expanded
significantly and covered all areas of the city, which can be reached
almost without transfers.
Railway transport
The station
"Chernigov" and the depot "Chernigov" of the South-Western Railway
carries out transportation in three directions to: Nizhyn, Gomel and
Ovruch (Yanov - after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant). According to the data for 2006, the volume of cargo
transportation is 84,737 wagons per year. More than 4.5 million
passengers are transported every year.
Automobile transport
Modern automobile transport of Chernihiv carries out international,
intercity, suburban and intracity passenger transportation. It is
represented by buses of the brands Etalon, LAZ, Ikarus, PAZ, Mercedes,
Neoplan, Karosa and others.
The bus station (Prospekt Pobedy, 3),
convenient for passengers, is located on Privokzalnaya Square next to
the railway station - international communication to Belarus, intercity
communication (direct and transit);
bus station No. 2 (Murinson
Street, 27) - provides suburban traffic in the north-west direction;
bus station number 3 (Vsekhsvyatskaya street) - provides suburban
communication in east and west directions.
Public transport
In
2018, there are 47 routes in the city - 10 trolleybus and 37 bus routes.
On November 5, 1964, a trolleybus was launched in the city - the
movement of 4 cars was established for two MTBES and ZiU-5 on a
22-kilometer section. The new, environmentally friendly and cheap mode
of transport appealed not only to residents, but also to the leaders of
the city. In subsequent years, the network steadily grew and developed,
the rolling stock was regularly updated, it was planned to open a second
trolleybus depot. In 2018, there were 10 trolleybus routes in the city.
Currently, 70% of the total volume of passenger traffic falls on the
share of the Chernihiv Trolleybus Administration, which transports all
privileged categories of the population.
River transport
Chernihiv is located on the right bank of the Desna River, the navigable
part of which is 315 km. The city has a river station and a cargo port.
In 2006, 356.2 thousand tons of cargo and 22.1 thousand passengers
were transported.
Air Transport
The first in the city was
equipped with an unpaved airfield "Kolychevka", from the airfield of
which direct and transit flights of small aircraft (An-2, An-24, etc.)
were carried out to Moscow, Kiev and the regional centers closest to
Chernigov. At first, passengers traveled to Kolychevka on their own, but
over time, special buses began to run from the new building of the
Aeroflot city agency along the Chernihiv-Airport route. However,
registration was still carried out in a small one-story building of the
Kolychevka airport. From the airfield, flights of sanitary and
agricultural aviation were carried out in the region. The weak point was
the unpaved runway (runway). The An-24B and An-24RV flights from Moscow
were received by the military airfield of the Chernigov Higher Military
Aviation School of Pilots during the muddy season, and passengers (in
view of the secrecy of the facility) were put on a bus supplied to the
aircraft gangway and taken non-stop to the building of the Aeroflot
agency in the center Chernigov.
The population of the regional
center was growing and the old airport could no longer provide the
proper volume of traffic, and the unpaved runway contributed to the
frequent cancellation and delay of flights. In the 1980s, a new airport
was built in Shestovice. Due to the intersection of the air routes of
civilian aircraft with a military airfield, for safety purposes, flights
were directed by a military air traffic controller from his command
post. The airfield in Shestovitsa - a modern structure with a solid
runway, sandwiched between two major roads, had a modern air terminal,
which in good times was used half of its capacity, and the subsequent
collapse of the USSR and the proximity of Kiev completely destroyed the
airfield. The airfield in Kolychevka was the first to “fall” -
agricultural flights became expensive, and air ambulance was
“transferred” to vehicles. The delivery time for patients from the
Novgorod-Seversky district (and not only) has increased. The Shestovitsa
airport fought with all its might, but the unfortunate location did its
dirty deed - the airport was mothballed. The closure of the flight
school practically buried all hopes for the resumption of air travel (a
military airfield is better equipped than a civilian one, but it has not
found application in civilian life either).
By 1940, a network of medical institutions had been established in
the city. New buildings of the city hospital were built and equipped, 6
polyclinics and 13 first-aid posts were opened.
In the post-war
years, the network was not only restored, but also multiplied. In 1951,
the Chernihiv Regional Hospital and others were built.
By the
beginning of 2010, the city deployed:
Chernihiv military
hospital;
the junction hospital of the Chernihiv railway station (on
the balance sheet of the South-Western Railway);
hospital and
outpatient department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (on
the balance sheet of the Ministry of Internal Affairs).
Health
Department of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration The Ministry
of Health of Ukraine in Chernihiv has the following structure:
Chernihiv Regional Hospital (opened in 1951);
Chernihiv Regional
United Maternity Hospital (for the population of the city and region);
Chernihiv Regional Children's Hospital (opened in 1974);
Regional
center (special dispensary) for radiation protection of the population;
Chernihiv Regional Oncological Dispensary;
Chernihiv Regional
Cardiological Dispensary;
Chernihiv Regional Psychoneurological
Dispensary;
Chernigov Regional TB Dispensary;
Chernihiv Regional
Dermatovenerologic Dispensary;
Chernihiv regional narcological
dispensary;
Chernihiv Regional Blood Transfusion Station;
Chernihiv Regional Sanitary and Epidemiological Station;
Regional
polyclinic (at the Chernihiv regional hospital);
Regional Children's
Polyclinic (at the Chernihiv Regional Children's Hospital);
Central
regional hospital (for the population of the Chernihiv region, the
regional center Chernihiv does not belong to the Chernihiv region);
Chernihiv district maternity hospital (for the population of the
Chernihiv region);
Regional sanitary and epidemiological station;
District polyclinic of the Chernihiv region (at the central district
hospital).
Department of Health Protection of the Chernihiv City
Council
Chernihiv ambulance station;
Chernihiv City Sanitary
and Epidemiological Station;
City Hospital No. 1;
City Hospital
No. 2;
City Hospital No. 3 (former medical and sanitary unit of the
Chernihiv Radio Instrumentation Plant, Medical Unit of ChRPZ);
City
Hospital No. 4 (former medical unit of the association "Khimvolokno");
Polyclinic No. 1 (the first polyclinic department) - an architectural
monument, an institute of physical methods of treatment of the beginning
of the 20th century;
Polyclinic No. 2 (polyclinic department as part
of the city hospital No. 2);
Polyclinic No. 3 (polyclinic department
as part of the city hospital No. 1);
Polyclinic No. 4 (polyclinic
department as part of the city hospital No. 4);
Polyclinic No. 5;
Polyclinic of the medical unit ChRPZ;
Women's consultation number 1;
Women's consultation No. 2 (as part of the united maternity hospital,
reorganized into a family planning center);
Children's City
Polyclinic No. 1;
Children's city polyclinic No. 2.
Of the ancient churches of Chernigov, the Assumption Cathedral of the
Yelets Monastery and the Transfiguration Cathedral, built in the 11th
century, as well as the Borisoglebsky Cathedral (XII century), which
housed a Catholic Dominican monastery in the 17th century, are
noteworthy.
The relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (d. 1696),
canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1896, as well as St.
Lawrence (1868-1950), canonized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in
1993, and Archbishop Philaret (Gumilevsky ), which was canonized by the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church in November 2009.
In addition to
religious associations of the UOC-MP, communities of the Orthodox Church
of Ukraine are registered in Chernihiv. The city has a temple of the
Roman Catholic Church. Protestant congregations: Baptists, Charismatics,
Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists. Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jewish synagogue. The Buddhist center of the Karma Kagyu school is also
registered.