Welcome to the reserve "Chernigiv Ancient"!

Today Red Square and its neighboring public gardens and boulevards are one of the most beautiful districts in Chernihiv, its cultural and administrative center. In this function this territory began to form between the 18th and 19th centuries, when the city lost its function of fortress and got a possibility to go outside the fortification buildings and develop in size.
However, it does not mean that by the 19th century the territory which is presently occupied by the Square had been deserted. It is known that the life seethed here as early as in the epoch of Kyiv Russ.
At that time Chernihiv was almost equal to “the Mother of cities of Russ” - Kyiv. It occupied a large territory on which, in opinion of historians, lived nearly 30 thousand people.
The centre of the city was “Dytynets” (Citadel) that was surrounded by deep ditches and high walls. From the northern field side the outer town which occupied a part of the old pagan burial ground joined up. The witness to that is the memory about a huge burial mound which was situated on the corner of present streets of Shevchenko and Kirponos as early as in the middle of the 19th century. This ground pyramid that was called “The Mound of Princess Chorna” was destroyed in 1851 year.
Outer town began to be populated in the 10th century and by the 12th century it had formed as a trade and handicraft district of Chernihiv.
The archaeologists found here the artifacts of living and household apartments, production complexes, they found a plenty of items of everyday life, jewelry, tools.
Near the T. H. Shevchenko theater they found an iron furnace, and nearby (in the street of Polubotok) blundered upon a complex on treatment of copper.
Over 200 fragments of amphorae of Black Sea region production became the demonstrational finds. They signify about rich trade relations of people, who lived there.
What was this district called in old days? The historian M. Markov who lived in Chernihiv at the end of the 18th – at the beginning of the 19th century called it Pyatnytsky field and asserted that it was a very old name. It originated from the name of the temple Paraskevy-Pyatnytsy that located there - one of few Old Russian monuments of architecture, which has survived till nowadays.
In the 17th – 18th centuries Chernihiv was a small provincial town, though it had a status of the center of the regiment, vicegerency, government. At that period its population was not more than 4 thousand citizens, and its area was much smaller than it had been before the
On the oldest plan of the city, which remained, - “Contour of Chernihiv”, made in 1706, the church of Paraskeva-Pyatnytsya was marked outside the city fortification.
At the beginning of the 19th century the market, which had been situated in a fortress before, was moved to Pyatnytsky field. According to the project of architect A.Kartashevskiy stone strip malls with colonnade-galleries (have not remained) and one-storey city council with a round rotunda in the center of the main facade were built.
Today in this reconstructed building the regional administration of the National bank of Ukraine is situated.

To those architectural buildings, which have remained in the central part of Chernihiv, the police-office that was built in 1860 (presently the city office of the public prosecutor) and governmental zemstvo (presently regional state administration) belong. In the latter building the classic of Ukrainian literature M. Kotsiubynskiy, the writers B. Hrinchenko and V. Samiilenko worked in their days.
At the beginning of the 20th century on the corner of Oleksandrivska (presently Kirponosa) and Magistratska streets the house of the state bank was built (presently the city executive committee).
Then in Magistratska street there were soldiery barracks (have not remained), and in the court-yard of the police-office there was the water-tower that was built in 1898 year.
All above-mentioned houses were arranged along the perimeter of Theatrical park (a modern public garden of M. Popudrenko), that was set up alongside with the city theater that was built as early as 1853 years. Made of wood, it had existed till the beginning of the 20th century. Then it was taken apart.
During a long period Red square did not have hard coverage. It drew certain inconveniences. In 1879 it was pavestoned and reshaped, a new form had saved till the 30s of the 20th century.
Exactly then the next reconstruction of the central part of Chernihiv began. According to the project the strip malls were taken apart, new modern buildings of the cinema of Schors, the hotel “Desna” and the department store “Lyuks” were built. The reconstruction of the house of former governmental zemstvo was carried out. The Red Square was covered with pavement of a clinker brick. In 1935 year the renewed area was named the square of Kuibishev.
During the World War II the houses around the square suffered very much from bombardments of German aviation. The department store “Lyuks”, cinema of Schors, Pyatnitska church and many other houses were destroyed.
On the 21st of November in 1959 the inauguration of a new theater of T. Shevchenko took place. This event completed forming the outfit of the main square in Chernihiv, which is presently called the Red Square.
It is enough to walk not more than 200 meters along the Myru avenue to get from the Red Square to the Rampart. This short distance of the longest city highway today was one of the main streets in Chernihiv in the 19th century. It got the name of Shoseina due to its springing from the Kyiv highway. Before the October revolution except dwelling-houses there had been shops, educational establishments, cinema and hotels along this street. A famous fable writer and public man L. Hlibov and a prominent diplomat H. Scherbyna lived there. In a hotel under the significant name of “Tsargrad” (presently in this place there is a shopping centre “Yantar”) T. Shevchenko, O. Pushkin, M. Hohol stayed in their days. By this time in the former Shoseina street Mykolaiv diocese fraternity (presently Philharmonic Hall) that was sanctified in 1911 and the building of hotel of Badayev (presently it is pedagogical university) that was built in 1910-1912 years have survived. the Alley of Countrymen stretches along Myru avenue from the square to St. Kathrine church. Along it the monuments to Chernihivtes who became famous during the years of civil war and Great Patriotic war, and also the monument to the heroes of Chornobyl were set. Memory of the last war is perpetuated in the central part of the city also by the monuments on the graves to a legendary partisan commander, Hero of Soviet Union M. Popudrenko and to warriors, who perished in fights for freedom of Chernihiv. A monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskiy rises near Pyatnytska church. The author is a famous sculptor I.Kavaleridze, who represented the greatest hetman of Ukraine in a stilly and confident pose as a symbol of will and courage of Ukrainian people.