Chyhyryn, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine

🇺🇦 Chyhyryn (Чигирин) is a city in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. From 1648 to 1669, the city served as the residence of the hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. After a forced relocation of the Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan see from Kyiv in 1658, it became a full-fledged capital of the Cossack Hetmanate. Chyhyryn also became a traditional place for the appointment to the office of the hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. It hosts the administration of Chyhyryn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.

Geography: Location The city is on the banks of Tiasmyn River and lies at an altitude of 124 metres above mean sea level. Minor industries, such as food and furniture factories, are the basis of the town economy in the 21st century.

History The area (1320–1569) had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was ceded to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (in the Kijów Voivodeship [Kyiv] of the Crown of Poland) before the Union of Lublin. It was granted Magdeburg Rights in 1592 by Sigismund III Vasa.

Chyhyryn is first mentioned as a fortified Cossack winter station. In 1638, Bohdan Khmelnytsky became its starosta (regional leader), and in 1648 it became the newly elected Hetman's residence and the capital of the Cossack state, the Zaporozhian Host. During the Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681) it was the centre of two bloody campaigns (1675–76 and 1677–78). In 1678 the castle of Chyhyryn was blown up by the retreating Russian garrison that was stationed there, while the Turkish forces sacked the rest of the city. After this, it gradually lost its significance. The city fell under Ottoman occupation but was later recovered by the Cossacks while the Ottomans were busy in the Battle of Vienna. It remained the centre of the Chyhyryn regiment until 1712 and upon the final incorporation into the Russian Empire (1793) it became part of the Kyiv region.

In 1917 a congress of Free Cossacks took place in Chyhyryn. At that congress by tradition Pavlo Skoropadsky was elected as the Hetman of the Cossacks (later in 1918 in Kyiv, he was elected the Hetman of Ukraine as well).

During World War II, Chyhyryn was occupied by the German Army from August 7, 1941 to December 12, 1943.

Until 18 July 2020, Chyhyryn served as an administrative centre of Chyhyryn Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Cherkasy Oblast to four. The area of Chyhyryn Raion was merged into Cherkasy Raion.

Landmarks The Trinity Monastery, built near Chyhyryn in 1627, was later destroyed by the Soviet authorities. Other historical landmarks, such as the town hall and Khmelnytsky's palace, did not survive either. After Ukraine regained independence, Hetman's residence was restored and became a museum.