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Anna
Berezovska
National
University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine
Native
land history as a part of educational course “History of Ukraine” for
university students
Educational course “History
of Ukraine” is an essential part of University Curriculum at all higher
educational establishments of Ukraine. To study history of the country means to
know all important events in its history, their reasons and consequences for
the development of society. University students study history of Ukraine from
ancient times to our days. The knowledge students get while they study this
course educate them in all-round manner: they understand the peculiarities of
the development of their native country, get information about the most
important personalities who influenced a lot the history of Ukraine, they
analyze different historical events and evaluate their results, they also study
the history of their native land, the history of the city or town where they
live.
To our mind, it is
impossible to imagine studying the history of the country without studying the
history of the native city. Understanding of key events and inferring about
different historical places in the city or town helps to understand better all
historical peculiarities of the country in a whole.
Being
a first-year student of the National University of Life and Environmental
Science we have made acquaintance with the history of the city capital Kyiv and
its most important historical places which annually attract millions of
tourists. Kyiv is one of the most ancient and beautiful cities in Europe with
long and breath-taking history. The traditionally
recognized year of Kyiv’s establishment is ad 482,
and in 2017 the city celebrated its 1,545th anniversary. However,
archaeological evidence suggests that the city was founded in the 6th or 7th
century. According to the 12th-century chronicle “Povest vremennykh let” known as The Russian Primary Chronicle, Kyiv was founded by three brothers, Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv, leaders of the
Polyanian tribe of the East Slavs. Each established his own settlement on a hill, and these settlements became
the town of Kyiv, named after the eldest brother, Kyi; a small stream nearby
was named for their sister Lybid. Although the chronicle account is legendary,
there are contemporary references to Kyiv in the writings of Byzantine, German,
and Arab historians and geographers. There are lots of prominent pages in the
history of Kyiv.
In the
mid-9th century Kyiv became the capital of the first East Slavic state, Kyivan
Rus. The town flourished, chiefly
through trade along the Dnieper going south to the Byzantine
Empire and north over portages
to the rivers flowing to the Baltic Sea—the so-called “road from the Varangians to the Greeks,” or “water road.”
Trade also went to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia.
In 988 the
introduction of Christianity enhanced Kyiv significance as the spiritual centre of Rus. By the 12th
century, according to the chronicles, the city’s wealth and religious
importance was attested to by its more than 400 churches. The cathedral of St. Sophia, the Kyiv-Pechersk
Lavra and the ruins of the Golden Gate, St. Andrew Church and many other
churches and cathedrals are witnesses of Kyiv splendour. The town was famed for
its art, the mosaics and frescoes of its churches, its craftsmanship in silver,
and the quality of many of its manufactures. One of Europe’s major cities, Kyiv
established diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire, England, France, Sweden, and other countries. Travelers wrote of its population as numbering tens
of thousands.Throughout the period of Kyivan Rus, however, the city was engaged
in a succession of wars against the nomadic warrior peoples who inhabited the
steppes to the south: in turn, the Khazars, the Pechenegs, and the Polovtsians. These war conflicts weakened the city, but even
greater harm was done by the endless, complex internecine struggles of the
princedoms into which Rus was divided. In 1238 a Mongol army under Batuyi invaded
Rus and, having sacked the towns of central Rus, in 1240 besieged and stormed
Kyiv. Much of the city was destroyed and most of its population
killed. In the 14th century what was left of Kyiv and its surrounding area came
under the control of the powerful and expanding grand duchy of Lithuania, which captured it in 1362. In 1569 the Union
of Lublin between Lithuania
and Poland gave Kiev and the Ukrainian lands to Poland. Kyiv became one of the
centres of Orthodox opposition to the expansion of Polish Roman
Catholic influence. In the 17th
century there was also increasing unrest among the Zaporozhian Cossacks of the Dnieper downstream of Kyiv and an ever-growing struggle
between them and the Polish crown. In the first half of the 19th century, Kyiv
developed as a major center of Ukrainian nationalism. In January 1918 the
Central Rada proclaimed an independent Ukrainian state with Kyiv as its
capital. There are only
a few pages from the history of our native city, but they help us understand
the main sense of some churches, museums and monuments in Kyiv. Today Kyiv is a European city and a capital of Ukraine. A port on the
Dnieper River and a large railroad junction, it is a city with an
ancient and proud history. The independence of Ukraine gained in 1991 renewed
Kyiv’s status as a major European capital. The citizens of Kiev are proud
of their ancient and beautiful city, which attracts millions of tourists, who
would like to see and enjoy its picturesque streets, parks and squares,
breathtaking churches and monasteries.
References
1.
Kudrytskyi, A. (1981). "Kyiv, Encyclopedic
Directory" (in Ukrainian). Kiev: Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia
2.
Lytvynchuk, Janna (2006). St. Andrew's
Church. Kiev: Anateya. ISBN 966-8668-22-7
3.
Malikenaite, Ruta (2003). Touring the
Crimea (in Russian). Kiev: Baltija Dryk. ISBN 966-96041-9-2
4.
Mironenko, Aleksandr (1977). "St. Andrew's
Church" (in Russian, Polish, and Czech). Kiev: Mystetstvo
5. Michael F. Hamm.
(1995). Kiev: A Portrait,
1800–1917. Princeton: Princeton University Press
7. Shulgin Basil
(1939–1940). "Kiev, Mother of Russian Towns". Slavonic and East European Review.