The Shevchenko museum in Kaniv
Every Ukrainian knows that the Dnipro and its steep slopes called Taras Hill are located near Kaniv.
In commemoration of his 125th anniversary birthday, which happened in 1939, the Taras Shevchenko Literary-Memorial Museum was opened and started receiving its visitors from different corners of the world. Since then, the museum displays its numerous exhibits: rare documents, photos, historic publications, and objects of art.
In the spacious entrance-hall one can see the well-known sculpture-portrait of Taras Shevchenko, created by O. Oleynik and M. Vronsky. The displays of the rooms on the ground floor tell about the life and artistic activity of T. Shevchenko. A yellowed sheet of a church register keeps a birthday entry indicating that he was born on March 9, 1814 into the family of a serf in the village of Moryntsy of Zvenihorodka County of Kyiv Province. Numerous exhibits show the beginning of T. Shevchenko’s literary activity. A number of documents prove his significant role in the development of theatrical art.
The second section of the museum tells about great posthumous glory of the Great Kobzar. Several photos and drawings show how his grave looked like at the beginning of the 20th century. A separate subsection of the museum registers contains the records of the Taras Shevchenko State Prize winners. The museum also displays the best translations of T. Shevchenko’s verses and poems, especially of his Kobzar.
A separate room of the museum contains different playbills, film stills on T. Shevchenko and photos of actors who best played the role of T. Shevchenko in movies and on stage. Here one can also see numerous gifts to the museum from different foreign admirers of T. Shevchenko: people from Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa. This museum is very popular with tourists from all over the world, especially those of Ukrainian origin. Many of them visit the grave of the great son of Ukraine to honour his memory.
Motronyn Monastery
Motronyn monastery is located in Kholodny Yar (Cold Ravine), not far from the town of Chyhyryn. It was built in the 11th century and has a fascinating history.
Yaroslav the Wise, the Prince of Kyiv, was a brave warrior commanding a big armed force that defended the settlement and fought against Nomadic tribes. The bravest warrior was Myroslav, whose dedication, courage and loyalty Yaroslav the Wise greatly admired. As a token of his admiration he granted him the area of land in Kholodny Yar (Cold Ravine) – one of the most picturesque places on the Dnipro bank.
Myroslav liked the place so much that he decided to build the most powerful fortification there. It was around 1036. Soon, however, he received a message that told him that Pecheneh tribes threatened Kyiv. So he took the majority of his warriors and led them to Kyiv, leaving his beloved young wife Motrona with her servants and bodyguard behind. He wasn’t anxious about her safety as he believed that his fortification was impregnable.
On his way back home, he decided to check how well the fortification is defended so as to determine how reliable the guards were. So he arranged his boats as if they were going to attack the fortress. Motrona didn’t recognize the boats of her husband and ordered the guard to open fire. The boats were set ablaze and all of the warriors, including Myroslav, were slain. There was no end to Motrona’s despair when she received news that her husband had perished. She decided to become a nun and settle a monastery. She built it in 1037 – 1059 and then spent the rest of her life in bemoaning her beloved husband.
According to another legend, Myroslav went to fight with the Turks. His young and charming wife Motrona together with the rest of the warriors was waiting for him on a high hill near the Dnipro River. Myroslav missed his wife so much that on having got a victory over the enemies he decided to play a joke. His warriors and he himself disguised in Turkish clothes and decorated the flagship in a Turkish style. As soon as his wife saw the “sultan” standing on the bridge of the boat she thought that her beloved husband had been killed, and that the enemies were going to plunder Kyiv, taking prisoners of war. So she screamed To the death of the commander, to our land! and gave the order to open fire. The battle was short and very soon the warriors understood their mistake, but it was too late.
Many different mishaps happened to the monastery. It was burnt by the Baty hordes in 1236, but was rebuilt in 1568, again razed to the ground and rebuilt, which occurred several times. The monastery was visited by a great many people, among them Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the military leader O. Suvorov, the famous Russian poet O. Pushkin, the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, and many others. In 1911 it became a nunnery.
During the Great Patriotic War the church was partially destroyed by fascists who used it as a stable. In the Soviet times, it was forbidden to use the monastery for its true purpose. However, when Ukraine became a sovereign country, the people raised money, renovated the church and built a new cloister. Today people from nearby villages come to the church for regular services, and nuns from different places of Ukraine pilgrimage to this sacred place.