Baturyn
Encyclopedia
Baturyn is a historic town
in the Chernihiv Oblast
(province
) of northern Ukraine
. It is located in the Bakhmatskyi Raion
(district
) of the oblast, on the banks of the Seym River
. The current estimated population is 3,066.
era, with Bronze Age
and Scythian remains also having been unearthed. According to some modern writers, the earliest fortress at Baturyn would have been created by the Grand Principality of Chernihiv in the 11th century. The contemporary name for the settlement, however, was first mentioned in the 1625, likely referring to the fortress of Stefan Batory
, King of Poland, Prince of Transylvania, and Grand Duke of Lithuania, which was built and named in his honor. The area had been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
(in the Kijów Voivodeship
of the Crown of Poland) since before the Union of Lublin
. Control of the town was wrested from the Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising
, after which natives of Ruthenia
gained some degree of autonomy under Hetman
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
and his Cossack
state. In 1648, Baturyn was transformed into a Cossack regional center (sotnia
), first hosting the Starodub Cossack Regiment, and then the Nizhyn Regiment
.
By 1654, Baturyn, home to 486 cossacks and 274 villagers, was granted Magdeburg Rights
. As the settlement grew, more merchants flocked to it, and great fairs were held quarterly. The capital
of the Cossack Hetmanate
, an autonomous Cossack republic in Left-bank Ukraine
, was located in Baturyn from 1669–1708, and from 1750-1764. It was in Baturyn that Hetman
Ivan Briukhovetsky
signed the Baturyn Statutes in 1663, which further elaborated the treaty with the Tsardom of Russia
which Khmelnytsky had initiated with the Treaty of Pereyaslav
in 1654.
The area prospered under the rule of Hetman Ivan Mazepa
(1687–1708), increasing in size and population (with upwards of 20,000 residents). Baturyn boasted 40 churches and chapel
s, two monasteries
and a college
for government officials and diplomats (the Kantseliarsky Kurin). In 1708, the Zaporozhian Cossacks
were caught in the midst of the Great Northern War
, in which Hetman Mazepa supported Sweden and its war with the Russian Empire and for Ukraine’s independence
. On Nov.13 1708 Baturyn was sacked and razed by the Russia
n army of Alexander Menshikov
, and all of its inhabitants were slaughtered. Dmytro Chechel, the commanding officer of the Baturin garrison, was broken at the wheel
. Historian Serhiy Pavlenko estimates that 6-7.5 thousand civilians and 5-6.5 thousand military personnel were murdered. The population of the city in 1708 was 20,000. By 1726 the city was a ghost town.
The town was rebuilt in the 1750s, and served as the capital for Hetman Count Kirill Razumovsky, whose palace was designed by Andrey Kvasov
in the Baroque
style (later rebuilt in the Neoclassical style
by Charles Cameron
in 1799-1803). The home of the famous Cossack Vasily Kochubey
, which was constructed some 50 years earlier, is surrounded today by a park in his name (although this building was devastated during World War II
, it was restored during Soviet
times).
Following Hetman Razumovsky's death, the town lost most of its political stature. In 1756, a textile plant was founded with 12 weaving machines, but quickly grew to include 76 machines. When Russia
n empress Catherine II abolished the Ukrainian Cossack state and incorporated its territories into the Russian Empire
, Baturyn continued manufacturing textiles, feeding a growing demand for carpets. In 1843, Taras Shevchenko
stayed in the town, marking his time by painting many of the architectural sights.
In June, 1993, the Ukrainian government
declared Baturyn the center of a national site of Ukrainian history and culture. In August, 2002, at the prodding of President Viktor Yushchenko
, a government program was approved to restore Baturyn to its former glory.
On January 22, 2009, Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko
officially opened the "Hetmans' Capital" Monumental complex with the newly renovated Razumovsky Palace.
Baturyn at Castles of Ukraine Постанова Кабінету Міністрів України від 14 червня 1993 р. №445 «Про державний історико-культурний заповідник "Гетьманська столиця"» (Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from June 14, 1993 No. 445 "On the State Historical-Cultural Site 'Hetman Capital'") Постанова Кабінету Міністрів України від 17 серпня 2002 р. №1123 «Про затвердження Комплексної програми збереження пам'яток Державного історико-культурного заповідника "Гетьманська столиця" і розвитку соціальної та інженерно-транспортної інфраструктури смт Батурина (Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from August 17, 2002 No. 1123 "On the Approval of the Complex Program of Protecting Monuments from the State Historical-Cultural Site 'Hetman Capital' and the Development of Social and the Engineering-Transportation Infrastructure of the Town of Baturyn)
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv.-Geography:The total area of the province is around 31,900 km²....
(province
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
) of northern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It is located in the Bakhmatskyi Raion
Bakhmatskyi Raion
Bakhmatskyi Raion is a raion of Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Bakhmach....
(district
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
) of the oblast, on the banks of the Seym River
Seym River
Seym is a river in Russia and Ukraine. Its length is 748 km and its basin area about 27,500 km². It is the largest tributary of the Desna....
. The current estimated population is 3,066.
History
Evidence of settlement in the area of present-day Baturyn dates back to the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era, with Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Scythian remains also having been unearthed. According to some modern writers, the earliest fortress at Baturyn would have been created by the Grand Principality of Chernihiv in the 11th century. The contemporary name for the settlement, however, was first mentioned in the 1625, likely referring to the fortress of Stefan Batory
Stefan Batory
Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
, King of Poland, Prince of Transylvania, and Grand Duke of Lithuania, which was built and named in his honor. The area had been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
(in the Kijów Voivodeship
Kijów Voivodeship
The Kiev Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1471 until 1569 and of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1793 as part of Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown....
of the Crown of Poland) since before the Union of Lublin
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
. Control of the town was wrested from the Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
, after which natives of Ruthenia
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
gained some degree of autonomy under Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
and his Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
state. In 1648, Baturyn was transformed into a Cossack regional center (sotnia
Sotnia
Sotnia was a traditional division of the Cossack regiments. For example from earliest records of the Zaporizhian Sich, and means 'a hundred'. It is equivalent to company ....
), first hosting the Starodub Cossack Regiment, and then the Nizhyn Regiment
Nizhyn Regiment
The Nizhyn Regiment was one of ten territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Cossack Hetmanate. The regiment's capital was the city of Nizhyn, now in Chernihiv Oblast of central Ukraine. Other major cities of the regiment were Pryluky, Hlukhiv and Baturyn....
.
By 1654, Baturyn, home to 486 cossacks and 274 villagers, was granted Magdeburg Rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
. As the settlement grew, more merchants flocked to it, and great fairs were held quarterly. The capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of the Cossack Hetmanate
Cossack Hetmanate
The Hetmanate or Zaporizhian Host was the Ruthenian Cossack state in the Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1782.The Hetmanate was founded by first Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising . In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav,...
, an autonomous Cossack republic in Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of the Kiev and Cherkasy....
, was located in Baturyn from 1669–1708, and from 1750-1764. It was in Baturyn that Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Ivan Briukhovetsky
Ivan Briukhovetsky
Ivan Briukhovetsky was a pro-Russian hetman of Left-Bank Ukraine from 1663 to 1668. For background see The Ruin...
signed the Baturyn Statutes in 1663, which further elaborated the treaty with the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
which Khmelnytsky had initiated with the Treaty of Pereyaslav
Treaty of Pereyaslav
The Treaty of Pereyaslav is known in history more as the Council of Pereiaslav.Council of Pereyalslav was a meeting between the representative of the Russian Tsar, Prince Vasili Baturlin who presented a royal decree, and Bohdan Khmelnytsky as the leader of Cossack Hetmanate. During the council...
in 1654.
The area prospered under the rule of Hetman Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa , Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708. He was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine and replace him...
(1687–1708), increasing in size and population (with upwards of 20,000 residents). Baturyn boasted 40 churches and chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
s, two monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and a college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
for government officials and diplomats (the Kantseliarsky Kurin). In 1708, the Zaporozhian Cossacks
Zaporozhian Host
The Zaporozhian Cossacks or simply Zaporozhians were Ukrainian Cossacks who lived beyond the rapids of the Dnieper river, the land also known as the Great Meadow in Central Ukraine...
were caught in the midst of the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
, in which Hetman Mazepa supported Sweden and its war with the Russian Empire and for Ukraine’s independence
Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa , Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708. He was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine and replace him...
. On Nov.13 1708 Baturyn was sacked and razed by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n army of Alexander Menshikov
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimus, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora , Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Cosel. A highly appreciated associate and friend of Tsar Peter the Great, he was the de facto ruler of...
, and all of its inhabitants were slaughtered. Dmytro Chechel, the commanding officer of the Baturin garrison, was broken at the wheel
Breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death...
. Historian Serhiy Pavlenko estimates that 6-7.5 thousand civilians and 5-6.5 thousand military personnel were murdered. The population of the city in 1708 was 20,000. By 1726 the city was a ghost town.
Andrey Kvasov
Andrey Vasilievich Kvasov was a notable Baroque architect who worked in Russia and Ukraine. Very little is known about his life, and its dates are still uncertain. Only a handful of his buildings, though much altered, still stand....
in the Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
style (later rebuilt in the Neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
by Charles Cameron
Charles Cameron (architect)
Charles Cameron was a Scottish architect who made an illustrious career at the court of Catherine II of Russia. Cameron, practitioner of early neoclassical architecture, was the chief architect of Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk palaces and the adjacent new town of Sophia from his arrival in Russia in...
in 1799-1803). The home of the famous Cossack Vasily Kochubey
Vasily Kochubey
Vasily Leontiyovych Kochubey was a Ukrainian nobleman and statesman of Tatar descent. His great-grandson was the eminent imperial statesman Viktor Kochubey. The family name is also spelled Kotchoubey and Kotschoubey Between 1687 and 1704 Kochubey was a close associate of the Ukrainian hetman...
, which was constructed some 50 years earlier, is surrounded today by a park in his name (although this building was devastated during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was restored during Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
times).
Following Hetman Razumovsky's death, the town lost most of its political stature. In 1756, a textile plant was founded with 12 weaving machines, but quickly grew to include 76 machines. When Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n empress Catherine II abolished the Ukrainian Cossack state and incorporated its territories into the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Baturyn continued manufacturing textiles, feeding a growing demand for carpets. In 1843, Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
stayed in the town, marking his time by painting many of the architectural sights.
In June, 1993, the Ukrainian government
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
declared Baturyn the center of a national site of Ukrainian history and culture. In August, 2002, at the prodding of President Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
, a government program was approved to restore Baturyn to its former glory.
On January 22, 2009, Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
officially opened the "Hetmans' Capital" Monumental complex with the newly renovated Razumovsky Palace.
External links
- Baturyn article in Encyclopedia of Ukraine
- Mezentsev, Dr. Volodymyr: "Baturyn: historic capital of the Kozak Hetman state," in The Ukrainian WeeklyThe Ukrainian WeeklyThe Ukrainian Weekly is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America.Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies of the newspaper are available at leading libraries in the...
on March 3, 2003 - Baturyn coat of arms (17th Century)
Baturyn at Castles of Ukraine Постанова Кабінету Міністрів України від 14 червня 1993 р. №445 «Про державний історико-культурний заповідник "Гетьманська столиця"» (Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from June 14, 1993 No. 445 "On the State Historical-Cultural Site 'Hetman Capital'") Постанова Кабінету Міністрів України від 17 серпня 2002 р. №1123 «Про затвердження Комплексної програми збереження пам'яток Державного історико-культурного заповідника "Гетьманська столиця" і розвитку соціальної та інженерно-транспортної інфраструктури смт Батурина (Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from August 17, 2002 No. 1123 "On the Approval of the Complex Program of Protecting Monuments from the State Historical-Cultural Site 'Hetman Capital' and the Development of Social and the Engineering-Transportation Infrastructure of the Town of Baturyn)