Chernihiv Oblast

Chernihiv Oblast in northern Ukraine borders Belarus and Russia and preserves some of the oldest churches in Eastern Europe. Because of Russia's war of aggression, a travel warning is in effect and border areas continue to come under shelling; a trip to Chernihiv is described here as a portrait, for the time when conditions allow it again.

Chernihiv, City of Kievan Rus

Chernihiv on the Desna was one of the most important principalities of Kievan Rus. On the Val, the old fortress hill, stand the Transfiguration Cathedral from the 11th century – one of the oldest surviving churches of the East Slavs – and the Boris and Gleb Cathedral. The Yeletsky Monastery and the Anthony Caves at the Trinity Monastery round out the ensemble. In spring 2022, the city was besieged by Russian troops for weeks and heavily damaged, including the historic cinema and the library; in 2023, a missile struck the theater in the center.

Landscape and Towns

Most of the oblast belongs to Polesia: pine forests, meadows, and the broad floodplains of the Desna and Dnipro. In the southeast lies Nizhyn, famous for its pickled cucumbers, to which a monument is dedicated, and for the gymnasium where Nikolai Gogol studied. Near Ichnia stands the Kachanivka palace complex, a neoclassical country estate with a park that hosted Glinka and Shevchenko. Pryluky and Sokyryntsi have more noble residences, and in the northeast, villages preserve ancient wooden churches.

On the Dnipro near Liubech, one of the oldest settlements in the region, a museum commemorates the Council of Princes of 1097. In Baturyn, the capital of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, the citadel and the palace of Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky have been reconstructed. Pryluky has a small old town core and churches from the Cossack era.

Food and Getting There

Typical fare includes Nizhyn cucumbers, mushrooms from the forests, Desna fish, and buckwheat dishes. Chernihiv can be reached from Kyiv by bus or train in about two hours. The districts bordering Russia are regularly attacked and should be avoided. Current safety advisories must be followed without fail; in peaceful times, May through September is the best time to visit.