Chyhyryn

Chyhyryn
Чигирин

View of Chyhyryn from the city's Castle Hill.

Coat of arms
Chyhyryn
Chyhyryn

Location of Chyhyryn

Coordinates: 49°04′38″N 32°38′57″E / 49.07722°N 32.64917°E / 49.07722; 32.64917Coordinates: 49°04′38″N 32°38′57″E / 49.07722°N 32.64917°E / 49.07722; 32.64917
Country  Ukraine
Oblast  Cherkasy Oblast
Raion Chyhyryn Raion
City rights 1592
Government
 • Mayor Serhiy Oleksiiovych Tymchenko
Area
 • Total 14 km2 (5 sq mi)
Elevation 124 m (407 ft)
Population
 • Total 11,960
 • Density 854/km2 (2,210/sq mi)
Postal code 20900-20906
Area code(s) +380 4730
Website Verkhovna Rada - City of Chygyrin

Chyhyryn (Ukrainian: Чигири́н, Ukrainian pronunciation: [t͡ʃɪɦɪˈrɪn]) or Chigirin (Russian: Чигири́н), is a city and important historic site located in the Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine. From 1648 to 1669 the city was a Hetman residence, yet after a forced relocation of Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan see from Kiev in 1658 it became a full pledge capital of the Cossack Hetmanate. Chyhyryn also became a traditional place for the appointment to the office of Hetman of Zaporizhian Host.

Names

Chyhyryn (Ukrainian: Чигирин) or Chigirin (Russian: Чигири́н) Polish: Czehryń, Turkish: Çigirin or Çehrin

Location

Today the city resting on the banks of Tiasmyn River is the administrative center of the Chyhyryn Raion with its current population estimated at just over 10,000. The city lies at an altitude of 124 metres above mean sea level. Minor industries, such as food and furniture factories, exist in the town today.

History

The area (1320–1569) had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was ceded to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (in the Kijów Voivodeship of the Crown of Poland) before the Union of Lublin. It was granted Magdeburg Rights in 1592 by Sigismund III Vasa.

Chyhyryn on the Tiasmin River. A fragment of the Tractus Borysthenis Vulgo Dniepr at Niepr dicti map by Joannii Janssonii (Amsterdam, 1663)

Chyhyryn is first mentioned as a fortified Cossack winter station. In 1638, Bohdan Khmelnytsky became its starosta (regional leader), and in 1648 it became the newly elected Hetman's residence and the capital of the Cossack state, the Zaporozhian Host. During the Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681) it was the center of two bloody campaigns (1675–76 and 1677–78). In 1678 the castle of Chyhyryn was blown up by the retreating Russian garrison that was stationed there, while the Turkish forces sacked the rest of the city. After this, it gradually lost its significance. It remained the center of the Chyhyryn regiment until 1712 and upon the final incorporation into the Russian Empire (1793) it became part of the Kiev region.

In 1917 a congress of Free Cossacks took place in Chyhyryn. At that congress by tradition Pavlo Skoropadsky was elected as the Hetman of the Cossacks (later in 1918 in Kiev, he was elected the Hetman of Ukraine as well).

During World War II, Chyhyryn was occupied by the German Army from August 7, 1941 to December 12, 1943.

Landmarks

The Trinity Monastery, built near Chyhyryn in 1627, was later destroyed by the Soviet authorities. Other historical landmarks, such as the town hall and Khmelnytsky's palace, did not survive either. After Ukraine regained independence, Hetman's residence was restored and became a museum.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Chyhyryn is twinned with:

City Country Year of Signing
Sebastopol, California United States 1993
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