Bila Tserkva

Bila Tserkva is a small town in Kyiv Oblast situated along picturesque banks of the river Ros’. The town was founded in 1032 A.D. by Yaroslav the Wise, the Knight of Kyiv Rus, as a fortress to protect the southern borders. It was called Yuriyev, by the Christian name of its founder, the Knight Yaroslav. In 1050 there was built a church, called by people “a white church” (“bila tserkva”), which gave later its name to the whole city.

In the XIII century, the city was destroyed by Mongolians. Only in the middle of the XVI century, Bila Tserkva was rebuilt and inhabited by people again. At that time, this territory of Ukraine was a part of Poland. In 1774, the Seym (Parliament) of Poland gave the city, “in perpetual tenure”, to the Polish Hetman K. Branytsky. The family of Brayitsky made a significant contribution into the development of Bila Tserkva. At the end of the XVIII – beginning of the XIX century, there were built: the Palace of Branytsky and the landscape park “Olexandria” (1797-1798; Skvirske Shosse St.), the Winter Palace, buildings of market and warehouse (1809-1814;Torgova Sq.), the post office (1825-1831; 41-45, Olexandrovsky Blvd.), the gymnasium (college).

Besides that, visiting Bila Tserkva you can also admire various churches built in the XIX century, such as: the Ronam-Catholic Church named after John the Baptist (1812; 4, Soborny Sq.), Preobrazhenskiy Cathedral (1833-1839; 10, Gagarin St.), Michael’s Church (was being built during almost 150 years: from 1706 till 1852; 10, Gagarin St.).

In the Soviet time, Bila Tserkva was dynamically developing and became a powerful industrial city in the Kyiv region. There was also created one of the best museums of local history (4, Soborna St. Open hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Day off: Wednesday).

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