Although France and Ukraine are 1,000 kilometers apart, they have connections that stretch far back into history. The lives of many famous people from Ukraine and France have been intertwined, enriching cultural and political relations between the countries.
First relations
Historians place the first Ukrainian-French relations back in the mid-11th century, when Anne of Kyiv, the daughter of Kyivan Rus King Yaroslav the Wise, married French King Henry I in 1051. After Henry’s death in 1060, Anne became regent of France until her son, Philip I, came of age and ascended to the French throne.
Cultural ties developed between the nations in the second part of the 14th century, when many Ukrainian students graduated from France’s Sorbonne University. Ukrainians were noted in the university’s student lists as “from Ruthenia” or “Nationale Ruthenia de Ukraina.”
One of Ukraine’s most outstanding political figures, hetman Pylyp Orlyk, the author of the first democratic constitution in Europe, lived in exile in France in the 18th century. His son Gregoire, or Hryhor Orlyk, served as a French military commander, a special envoy, and a member of French King Louis XV’s secret intelligence service.
From France to Ukraine
French began to immigrate to Ukraine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries following the French Revolution of 1789-1799. Fleeing from political persecution, violence or the dictatorship of Napoleon, many French people settled in the south of Ukraine – in present-day Odesa, Kherson and Mykolayiv Oblasts.
Thanks to Jean Baptiste Prevost de Sabsac, Marquis de Traversay, who was governor of Mykolayiv and Sevastopol in the late 19th century, Mykolayiv grew from a village into a large seaport city and an important center of maritime trade.
Many French families also settled in Kyiv, Volyn and the Podillia region. They worked as teachers, doctors, bakers and engineers, and introduced western European culture and lifestyle to their new home.
Time has not spared many of the architectural monuments, beautiful palaces, fortresses and magnificent parks built by notable French people in Ukraine. But interesting places connected with the lives of some of them survive to this day.
The Kyiv Post has selected the top five most interesting travel locations that reveal the deep ties between France in Ukraine.
Masonic temple, Kherson Oblast
One of Ukraine’s most famous masonic temples is in the small village of Kruhloozerka in Kherson Oblast, 650 kilometers south of Kyiv. The mysterious low octagonal building is perched on the shores of a large artificial lake. The temple was constructed by French nobleman Charles Michel Potier in 1820-1830s.
In 1810 Tsar Aleksandr I invited Potier, a French engineer, to develop the infrastructure of coastal cities in the Russian Empire. Potier built a road between Sevastopol and Bakhchisaray and designed port infrastructure in Kherson. In October 1836, Potier resigned and moved to Klarivka (now Kruhloozerka) village, where he lived until his death in 1855. Historians say the ancient Potier family could be Masons, and Potier constructed the temple to hold Masonic lodge meetings.
Location: Kruhloozerka village, Kherson Oblast
How to get there: To get to Kruhloozerka by car from Kyiv, take the E95 to Kropyvnytsky, from Kropyvnytsky take the R06 to Mykolayiv, from Mykolayiv take the E58/M14 to Oleshky, and from Oleshky take the R57 to Kruhloozerka. To go by train, take the No. 766O or No. 102 train from Kyiv to Kherson for Hr 286 – 387. From Kherson take a bus for Hr 63 – 91 to Kruhloozerka.
Countess Aleksandra Branitskaya hospital in Bila Tserkva
A small one-storied white building on the left bank of the Ros River in Bila Tserkva, some 90 kilometers south of Kyiv, which now hosts the city’s psychoneurological clinic, has an interesting history. It is one of the oldest houses in Bila Tserkva, built by Countess Aleksandra Branitskaya in 1795 for the free treatment of peasants, servants and serfs. The 54-bed hospital initially had two floors, but a fire in 1906 meant it had to be rebuilt, and it now has a dark and neglected look.
The story of the Branitskaya hospital is connected with the life of an extraordinary man – Dominique Pierre de la Flise, a French-Ukrainian ethnographer and doctor. Coming from Nancy, Flise served as a surgeon’s assistant in Napoleon’s Imperial Guard. In November 1812, Flise was captured by the Russian Army near the city of Smolensk. After his release, he settled in Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time, and worked as chief doctor in Branitskaya hospital in Bila Tserkva.
During a cholera epidemic in the early 1830s, Flise cured 247 locals out of 300 that were infected. The doctor also vaccinated more than 10,000 peasants’ children against smallpox. Flise wrote eight ethnographic works on various aspects of the lives of Ukrainians of that time. He died in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast, in 1861, but the location of his grave is unknown.
Location: 41 Vasylia Stusa St., Bila Tserkva
How to get there: If travelling by car from Kyiv, take the E95/M05 to Bila Tserkva. Another option is to take bus from Kyiv to Bila Tserkva for Hr 50 – 78 from the Central Railway Station.
Odesa architectural ensemble
It is no exaggeration to say that Odesa owes its originality and charm to the outstanding Frenchmen who served as the city’s governors in the 19th century – Armand Emmanuel Sophie Septemanie de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc d’Aiguillon, Duc de Fronsac, Duc de Richelieu, and Alexandre-Louis Andrault de Langeron.
Richelieu was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1766 and earned glory as a talented manager – he was mayor of Odesa from 1803 to 1805 and under his stewardship the city gained beautiful houses, wide boulevards, its first theater, a hospital, and a cathedral.
His successor, Langeron, continued developing the city’s infrastructure and opened a school for girls. He also developed the city’s famous Prymorsky Boulevard and built Odesa’s botanical gardens.
A monument to Richelieu is located at 9 Prymorsky Blvd., while one of the city’s central streets is named after Langeron.
How to get there: By car from Kyiv take the E95/M05 to Odesa. One can also take the Kyiv-Odesa train No. 763L for Hr 309-604, or the Kyiv-Odesa train K105 for Hr 325-356.
Pidhirtsi castle
Pidhirtsi Castle in Lviv Oblast is among Europe’s best examples of the architectural combination of Renaissance palace with bastion fortifications. It was constructed in 1635-1640 for Polish nobleman Stanislaw Koniecpolski by two architects – Venetian Andrea dell’ Aqua and French Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan. Dell’Aqua constructed the palace, its pavilions and a baroque tower, while Beauplan built the pentagonal bastions.
Beauplan, a great cartographer who also created the first detailed map of Ukraine in 1639 and wrote a book about the life of Ukrainians, came from the northern French city of Rouen. In the 1620s and early 1630s Beauplan was invited by Polish King Sigismund III Vasa to build fortifications along the southern borders of his kingdom to defend it from the Ottoman Empire and raids of Crimean Tatars.
Beauplan constructed lots of fortresses, but few have survived. Besides Pidhirtsi castle, his other still existing works include a castle in Brody, Lviv Oblast, and the ruins of Kodak fortress in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Location: Pidhirtsi village, Lviv Oblast. Open daily 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. except Mondays and Tuesdays. Hr 5 for children, Hr 10 for students, Hr 15 for adults
How to get there: By car from Kyiv take the E40 to Pidhirtsi. If traveling from Lviv, take a bus to Pidhirtsi for Hr 49.
St. Varvara Church in Berdychiv
Berdychiv, a small city in Zhytomyr Oblast, some 180 kilometers west of Kyiv, is known as the place where French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac married Polish noblewoman Ewelina Hanska.
They married in the local St. Varvara church on March 2, 1850. The couple tied the knot after a 15-year romance.
“I married the only woman I love even more than before, and whom I will love until death,” Balzac wrote.
A plaque is set on the church façade to commemorate the union.
Location: 25 Yevropeyska St., Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast. Open daily.
How to get there: Travelling by car from Kyiv, take the E90 to Zhytomyr then the M21 to Berdychiv. The bus ride from Kyiv to Berdychiv costs Hr 172.
People pass by St. Varvara Church in Berdychiv, some 180 kilometers west of Kyiv, where in March 1850 French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac married Polish noblewoman Ewelina Hanska. (Denis Vitchenko)
France at a glance
Total area: 643,801 square kilometres
Population: 66.8 million (2016)
Government type: Republic
Head of state: Francois Hollande (since May 15, 2012)
Head of government: Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (since Dec. 6)
GDP: $2.737 trillion (2016)
GDP per capita: $42,400 (2016)
Main sectors of the economy: Machinery, chemicals, cars, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics, textiles, food processing, tourism
Ukraine-France relations:
Trade: 1.5 billion euros (2016)
Exports from Ukraine to France: Oil and seeds, food waste, clothes and textile
Exports from France to Ukraine: Mineral fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, logistics, nuclear reactors and equipment
French foreign direct investment in Ukraine: $1.5 billion
Main business partners: UkrSibbank BNP Paribas Group, Auchan, Credit Agricole, Danone, AXA, Lactalis, LafargeHolcim, Leroy Merlin, Verallia, Groupe Savencia
Sources: Central Intelligence Agency, Embassy of Ukraine in France and the French Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine
