In Ukraine, in the southwestern part of the Kiev region, on the banks of the Ros River there is a surprisingly clean and comfortable old town - Bila Tserkva. About how old this settlement is, you can judge by such a detail. The first mention of it is found in one of the oldest historical documents of Russia - the Ipatiev Chronicle (1115). The city has many beautiful places, memorable attractions. The most important is connected with its name.
Gray-haired old
Imagine Kievan Rus XI century. The young state is growing and gaining strength, gaining friendly relations with neighbors and respect among enemies. Among the latter, the steppe nomads especially pester the Rus. In order to protect the throne city and surrounding lands from their raids, in 1032 Yaroslav the Wise laid the fortified city of Yuryev (Yuri received the name himself at baptism). On a hill called Castle Hill, a castle-fortress was built of light stone, and inside it a white church - a church, according to which the city was subsequently renamed. People began to settle around, and gradually the checkpoint became a city. The fortress withstood many battles before it was completely destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols in 1240. Only the remains of the temple walls survived. With them began the revival of the village, the rebuilding of new buildings. Then they began to call this place the White
Church. The church itself, alas, has sunk into oblivion.
Winds of history
In general, the city turned out to be unexpectedly very stormy and rich in biography. In the XIV century, it is under the rule of the Principality of Lithuania, then - the Commonwealth. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, popular uprisings erupted on the territory of the region. Under Bogdan
Khmelnitsky, the city became the center of the national liberation struggle. Then he made it his personal residence hetman Mazepa. In 1706, he laid in the city of Bila Tserkva a church in the Ukrainian Baroque style. This magnificent stone building was not completed until the end due to the transfer of the city to Polish rule. Only part of it, called St. Nicholas Church, was rebuilt. She survived to this day.
Catholic church
The city and its surrounding territories at the beginning of the 19th century were the property of the family of Polish noblemen Branicki. Thanks to them, the White Church received the church, which became the pride and wonderful decoration of these places. Since the Branickis were Catholics, they rebuilt a church on Castle Hill in honor of
John the Baptist. The location was not chosen by chance: it was here that once stood an ancient Christian shrine - the first church. And now the city of Bila Tserkva is proud of this wonderful monument of architecture and architecture. Built according to the strict laws of Catholicism, the church amazes with splendor, majesty, harmonious proportionality of all details and elements. Especially admires the interior decoration of the building: stucco, painting, rich decorations. Remarkable acoustics in the church. Therefore, often there are evenings of organ and chamber music.
Orthodox churches
And yet more orthodox this city is the White Church. The churches that function in it are not inferior to the church in either external beauty or interior decoration. This is Nikolaevskaya (built in the 18th-19th centuries), the church of Mary Magdalene (18th century), the Transfiguration Cathedral, one of the largest in the city (19th century). The buildings are not just decorated with the White Church. Churches are city attractions and are protected by the state as objects of the cultural and historical past. The city and its inhabitants have much to be proud of: glorious history and high culture.