NOVHOROD-SIVERSKY, Chernihiv Oblast — After passing through the deep woods, our shabby bus reached the peaceful town of Novhorod-Siversky in Ukraine’s far north. Here, the very concept of time seemed to fade away along with the trees outside the windows. There, a walk that seemed to last half an hour, turned out to have taken just a few minutes, and a day felt like a week.
This is just the place to visit for a weekend in a sleepy Ukrainian town.
Home to some 14,000 residents and located off the beaten path in northern Ukraine, kilometers away from any main road, some 1,000 years ago Novhorod-Siversky was an important city of the medieval state of Kyivan Rus.
In 1097 it became the center of the big Novhorod-Siversky princedom. It was also the place where in 1885 Prince Igor started his tragic expedition against the Polovtsi nomadic tribe that was described in the famous epic “Song of Igor’s Campaign.”
As a commemoration to those old and heroic times there is a monument to Prince Igor on horseback with a sword in his hand in the town’s main square. There is also a monument to Igor’s wife, Princess Yaroslavna, on the bank of the Desna River, a popular place for picnics often filled with locals and tourists.
But the most significant relic of ancient times is the stunning Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery complex, with its wooden houses and golden crosses atop church domes, as well as a magnificent view of the Desna valley as seen from its high walls. Founded in the 11th century, the monastery has been reconstructed several times since, and is now in better condition than most of this old town’s buildings.
Those who love churches would appreciate the nearby huge Uspensky Cathedral constructed in the late 17th century in the Ukrainian baroque style, as well as the charming wooden Mykolayivska Church built in the 18th century.
Nearby, a massive triumphal arch constructed in 1786–1787 to honor the visit of Russian empress Catherine II is a legacy of the epoch of Russian governance. One more reminder of those times is a former gymnasium building that used to house the main educational institution in the region in the early 19th century.
But perhaps the most impressive building from that period is the shopping arcade, located near the main square, which still serves its original purpose. Early in the morning, when local merchants open the shuttered doors of their shops, the often quiet square transforms for several hours into a busy center of town life. Come 4 p.m., though, all the shops close and the place falls silent again.
The Soviet era left Novhorod-Siversky with a water tower with portraits of communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, as well as a strange park dotted with metal statues of workers in strange and weirdly erotic poses.
How to get there:
By car. The best way to reach Novhorod-Siversky is by car. Take the MO1 road toward Brovary all the way to Chernihiv, then P13 to Sosnytsia, then follow road signs to Novhorod-Siversky, located some 270 kilometers from Kyiv
By train. Take train No. 830, 184 from Kyiv to Shostka (about four hours), then cross the street to the bus station and take a bus to Novhorod-Siversky (about one hour).
By mini-bus. Take the mini-bus to Chernihiv (departs from Chernihivska metro station and takes about 1.5 hours), then take a marshrutka to Novhorod-Siversky (about 3 hours).
Where to eat:
The local restaurant Desna (2 Pochtova St., near the main square) offers unsophisticated but tasty and nutritious cuisine that includes hefty portions of mushrooms and fish, which come from local forests and rivers.
Where to stay:
Since most of the houses in the town look old and shabby, the large four-star hotel, Slovyansky, appears out of place. But you’ll find nothing else here that compares. It was built in 2004, ahead of a visit to the city by former President Leonid Kuchma, who was born in a nearby village, and his Russian and Belarusian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Lukashenko. Rooms start at Hr 400.
If Slovyansky hotel seems too pricey, an alternative could be Pasvyrda, a cozy hotel located in an historic building on the main square. Prices there range from Hr 180 to Hr 300 per room.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
