Tourist attraction The Boldin Hills The Boldin Hills
The first glimpse of Chernigov to greet a traveler driving up the Kiev highway are the Boldin Hills, crowned with the golden cupolas of churches.The Boldin Hills are a calling card of our city, witnesses of its ancient times. Their name originated from the old Slav word "bold,".which meant "oak". The remains of the venerable oak forest are preserved in the western part of the Boldin Hills in the locality Malyev Rov.
Rising over the Desna River floodlands to a height of more than 35 meters and embracing them in a wide arch, the Boldin Hills dominate Chernigov’s landscape.
As far back as pagan times, they were a sacred place to local inhabitants.
Down to the present day, the hills have preserved one of the biggest ancient Rus burial grounds, which consists of more than 200 barrows. The first of them were constructed here in the IX-th and the X-th centuries. The biggest among them are described in all books of local history, and they bear the names Gulbishche and Besymiany.
The legend about the epic hero Illya Muromets - the defender of the Rus-land who became the prototype of prodigious strength - is connected with the first of these burial mounds.
The basis for the association with the legendary Ilya Muromets came from the results of excavations of the Gulbische barrow. It is known that the heathens cremated their dead. Archaeologists discovered in Gulbische traces of cremation and an unusually big sword - the biggest one ever found in Rus - as well as some other unusually large pieces of the deceased rider's equipment.
From the Boldin Hills where the barrow Gulbishche rises one can the Holy Grove below on the flood-lands of the Desna. There is a lake in that grove where Chernigovites were baptized at the end of the X-th century.
In the course of time Chernigov became a major center of spiritual life in Rus.
In 1069 the famed founder of Kiev’s Pechersky .monastery, the monk Anthony arrived here and
created the underground monastery on the
southern outskirts of Chernigov. This cloister changed its name
several times. At first it was called the Boldin monastery, then the
monas¬tery of the Virgin, and finally the Illynsky monastery. Now as a
museum it is called Anthony's caves.
How many monk-hermits lived underground in the first period of the monastery’s history nobody knows, but we know that they lived separately, each in his own small cave.
They gathered in the underground Church of the Virgin only for common prayer.
At the end of the Xl-th-beginning of the Xll-th centuries a small stone church named after the prophet Illya was built at the entrance of the caves. At first it was one-cupola temple with the lead roofing. The interior was decorated with frescoes, the floor covered with ceramic tiles.
In 1239 Chernigov was captured and destroyed by Tatar-Mongol invaders. No known written sources mention the underground monastery for the next 400 years, but archaeologists have found evidence that life continued in the caves.
1649 became the year of the second birth of the monastery and of St. Illya Church. They were restored by Cossack Colonel Stepan Podobailo, who recognized St. Illya as his patron saint. The temple changed its appearance and acquired three cupolas.
Stepan Podobailo, who was the hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine, was killed in the battle with the Poles for Ukrainian independence on September 20,1654. He was buried near St. Illya's Church.
Now a memorial stone stands to honour him in the front of the bell-tower of St. Illya's Church.
At the end of the XVII-th century Archbishop Lasar Baranovich concerned himself with the underground monastery and St. Illya Church. He wanted to convert the Illynsky monastery into the residence of the Ukrainian metropolitan. That is why he transferred his printing-house from Novgorod-Seversky to the Illynsky monastery in 1679.
Two years earlier, in 1677, Archbishop Baranovich had begun construction of a
grand architectural ensemble on the hill westward
from St. Illya's Church. The first building completed was the refectory
Vedenskya Church (1677- 1679), and was followed by three cell buildings
erected on a large property. Two years later the building of the
grand Trinity Cathedral was started. After Lasar Baranovich's death his
work was continued by his successor, Archbishop Theodosius Uglitsky.
The building of the Trinity Cathedral was finshed in 1695. That year the new temple was consecrated, and since that time both monasteries have been joined under the name Trinity Illynsky monastery.
In the XVIII-th century the monastery complex was expanded. Two corner towers and the house for a Father-Superior were built (1750). Later in 1775 a five-tier bell-tower 58 meters tall was erected.
The Trinity Illynsky monastery was a mighty feudal estate. In the middle of the XVIII-th century it possessed 10 thousand serfs, 24 villages, 30 mills and many arable lands, forests and lakes. It also owned the printing-house and a library of 11304 books.
The reconstruction and expansion of the underground monastery took place with the intention of attracting more pilgrims. Separate caves were connected with galleries and a new large underground complex was created.
It was named after Anthony. The total length of the explored underground complex is 350 meters. It includes three churches and a chapel, which were strengthened with masonry, and a few earthen galleries and some cells.
At one time Anthony's caves were connected by an exterior wooden gallery with another large underground complex, which exists in the depth of the hill on the opposite side of the ravine that separates St. Illya's Church from the Trinity Cathedral.
It was discovered by archaeologists not long ago and is awaiting restoration.
The caves, which are situated on the both sides of the ravine, are only a part of a peculiar cave town created in the depth of the Boldin Hills in the course of ages.
Even in the enlightened and atheistic the XX-th century, new underground temples and cells as well as tombs appeared here. For example those of the monks Alipy and Lavrenty as well as the Maleyev Rov monastery.
Nowadays Lavrenty is canonized and his relics as well as those of St. Theodosius Uglitsky are exposed in the interior of the Trinity Cathedral. They are the principal Christian relics of Chernigov land.
The Boldin Hills are the resting place of the honoured dead. The people who glorified the Chernigov region lie buried in various corners of the hills. Among those buried here are representatives of the famous familes that were known far behind the borders of Ukraine - the Kochubeys, the Miloradoviches, the Scoropadskys - as well as the diplomat and polyglot L. Shcherbina, a well-known fabulist L. Glibov, the ethnographer A. Marcovich, and a classic author of Ukrainian literature M. Kotsubinsky, who lived in Chernigov for 15 years (died 1915) and here wrote his best novels such as "Fata Morgana" and "The Shadows of; Lost Ancestors," among others.
On the cape of the hill near the intersection of Tolstoy, G. Uspensky and Lescovitskay Streets, a grand monument stands over the Grave of the Unknown Soldier to glorify the liberators of Chernigov who fell in the battle to free their Motherland from the German-fascists occupants.
One more monument was established in the locality of Maleyev Rov, where fascists executed 1200 Chernigov residents during the period of occupation.
Nowadays all above-mentioned historical places on the Boldin Hills attract many tourists who visit Chernigov.
Down to the present day, the hills have preserved one of the biggest ancient Rus burial grounds, which consists of more than 200 barrows. The first of them were constructed here in the IX-th and the X-th centuries. The biggest among them are described in all books of local history, and they bear the names Gulbishche and Besymiany.
The legend about the epic hero Illya Muromets - the defender of the Rus-land who became the prototype of prodigious strength - is connected with the first of these burial mounds.
The basis for the association with the legendary Ilya Muromets came from the results of excavations of the Gulbische barrow. It is known that the heathens cremated their dead. Archaeologists discovered in Gulbische traces of cremation and an unusually big sword - the biggest one ever found in Rus - as well as some other unusually large pieces of the deceased rider's equipment.
From the Boldin Hills where the barrow Gulbishche rises one can the Holy Grove below on the flood-lands of the Desna. There is a lake in that grove where Chernigovites were baptized at the end of the X-th century.
In the course of time Chernigov became a major center of spiritual life in Rus.
In 1069 the famed founder of Kiev’s Pechersky .monastery, the monk Anthony arrived here and
created the underground monastery on the
southern outskirts of Chernigov. This cloister changed its name
several times. At first it was called the Boldin monastery, then the
monas¬tery of the Virgin, and finally the Illynsky monastery. Now as a
museum it is called Anthony's caves.How many monk-hermits lived underground in the first period of the monastery’s history nobody knows, but we know that they lived separately, each in his own small cave.
They gathered in the underground Church of the Virgin only for common prayer.
At the end of the Xl-th-beginning of the Xll-th centuries a small stone church named after the prophet Illya was built at the entrance of the caves. At first it was one-cupola temple with the lead roofing. The interior was decorated with frescoes, the floor covered with ceramic tiles.
In 1239 Chernigov was captured and destroyed by Tatar-Mongol invaders. No known written sources mention the underground monastery for the next 400 years, but archaeologists have found evidence that life continued in the caves.
1649 became the year of the second birth of the monastery and of St. Illya Church. They were restored by Cossack Colonel Stepan Podobailo, who recognized St. Illya as his patron saint. The temple changed its appearance and acquired three cupolas.
Stepan Podobailo, who was the hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine, was killed in the battle with the Poles for Ukrainian independence on September 20,1654. He was buried near St. Illya's Church.
Now a memorial stone stands to honour him in the front of the bell-tower of St. Illya's Church.
At the end of the XVII-th century Archbishop Lasar Baranovich concerned himself with the underground monastery and St. Illya Church. He wanted to convert the Illynsky monastery into the residence of the Ukrainian metropolitan. That is why he transferred his printing-house from Novgorod-Seversky to the Illynsky monastery in 1679.
Two years earlier, in 1677, Archbishop Baranovich had begun construction of a
grand architectural ensemble on the hill westward
from St. Illya's Church. The first building completed was the refectory
Vedenskya Church (1677- 1679), and was followed by three cell buildings
erected on a large property. Two years later the building of the
grand Trinity Cathedral was started. After Lasar Baranovich's death his
work was continued by his successor, Archbishop Theodosius Uglitsky.The building of the Trinity Cathedral was finshed in 1695. That year the new temple was consecrated, and since that time both monasteries have been joined under the name Trinity Illynsky monastery.
In the XVIII-th century the monastery complex was expanded. Two corner towers and the house for a Father-Superior were built (1750). Later in 1775 a five-tier bell-tower 58 meters tall was erected.
The Trinity Illynsky monastery was a mighty feudal estate. In the middle of the XVIII-th century it possessed 10 thousand serfs, 24 villages, 30 mills and many arable lands, forests and lakes. It also owned the printing-house and a library of 11304 books.
The reconstruction and expansion of the underground monastery took place with the intention of attracting more pilgrims. Separate caves were connected with galleries and a new large underground complex was created.
It was named after Anthony. The total length of the explored underground complex is 350 meters. It includes three churches and a chapel, which were strengthened with masonry, and a few earthen galleries and some cells.
At one time Anthony's caves were connected by an exterior wooden gallery with another large underground complex, which exists in the depth of the hill on the opposite side of the ravine that separates St. Illya's Church from the Trinity Cathedral.
It was discovered by archaeologists not long ago and is awaiting restoration.
The caves, which are situated on the both sides of the ravine, are only a part of a peculiar cave town created in the depth of the Boldin Hills in the course of ages.
Even in the enlightened and atheistic the XX-th century, new underground temples and cells as well as tombs appeared here. For example those of the monks Alipy and Lavrenty as well as the Maleyev Rov monastery.
Nowadays Lavrenty is canonized and his relics as well as those of St. Theodosius Uglitsky are exposed in the interior of the Trinity Cathedral. They are the principal Christian relics of Chernigov land.
The Boldin Hills are the resting place of the honoured dead. The people who glorified the Chernigov region lie buried in various corners of the hills. Among those buried here are representatives of the famous familes that were known far behind the borders of Ukraine - the Kochubeys, the Miloradoviches, the Scoropadskys - as well as the diplomat and polyglot L. Shcherbina, a well-known fabulist L. Glibov, the ethnographer A. Marcovich, and a classic author of Ukrainian literature M. Kotsubinsky, who lived in Chernigov for 15 years (died 1915) and here wrote his best novels such as "Fata Morgana" and "The Shadows of; Lost Ancestors," among others.
On the cape of the hill near the intersection of Tolstoy, G. Uspensky and Lescovitskay Streets, a grand monument stands over the Grave of the Unknown Soldier to glorify the liberators of Chernigov who fell in the battle to free their Motherland from the German-fascists occupants.
One more monument was established in the locality of Maleyev Rov, where fascists executed 1200 Chernigov residents during the period of occupation.
Nowadays all above-mentioned historical places on the Boldin Hills attract many tourists who visit Chernigov.
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