Attractions of Chernihiv

Chernihiv Regional Art Museum named after Hryhoriy Galahan is located in the building of the former women's gymnasium (XIX century) on Val. The collection includes about 8,000 works of fine and decorative arts, from the XVI century to the present. It was based on a unique collection of Ukrainian noble family Galagans, represented by works of Western European and domestic art of XVII-XIX centuries, folk paintings, including the famous Cossacks Mamaia, portraits of eight generations of this famous Cossack family and their relatives - Rozumovsky Lamz. Works of decorative and applied art of Ukraine, a folk toy are also presented.

The openwork building of the Chernihiv Collegium with a high bell tower is located on the territory of the Chernihiv Dytynets (Val). It was once part of the cathedral Borisoglebsk monastery - the residence of the Chernihiv archbishops. The construction of the monastery refectory was probably started at the end of the 17th century by Archbishop Lazar Baranovich. In its current form, the building was erected in 1700-1702 by Archbishop Ioann Maksymovych with the support and funding of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, as evidenced by the board of the bell tower with the coat of arms of Mazepa, which is now exhibited in exhibition halls. Later, the refectory began to be used as one of the premises of the Chernihiv Collegium - the first higher educational institution of the Left Bank of Ukraine, which operated from 1700 to 1786. Latin and other languages were taught here, as well as poetics, rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics, geography, and so on. The college trained church figures, civil servants, translators, writers, and physicians. Now the Chernihiv Collegium houses a museum that covers the history of the school. The class of the college has been reconstructed, an exposition of icon painting has been exhibited, and the exhibition "Chernihiv and Chernihiv People 100 Years Ago" is open. The administration of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv" is also located here.

The cathedral was built in the XII century on the foundation of an older stone building of the XI century, has been rebuilt several times. During the restoration in the middle of the XX century the buildings returned to the old Rus forms. The interior has preserved ancient frescoes, inlaid floor. A museum of architecture has been opened in the church, which is part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve "Ancient Chernihiv". The administration of the reserve is located in the adjacent building of the Collegium (1672), which in the XVII century was part of the Borisoglebsk Monastery - the residence of the Chernihiv metropolitans.