A Bit of Culture 
and Regional Revival 

History abides in vast steppes, among the tops of the Carpathian Mountains, on the cliffs of the Black Sea, on the squares and streets of Ukrainian cities. It looks at us from old icons, is hidden in the frescos of ancient churches, embedded in books and materialized in the blocks of medieval buildings of urban architecture. The only thing we should do is to notice its glance and let history introduce itself to people. It is hard to imagine a person who would remain indifferent to ancient church culture or avert his eyes from the sight of Maria Orantha in St. Sofia's Cathedral or pass by the Cossacks' graves of Berestechko and Subotiv. All this is available in Ukraine and the country should feel proud about these treasures and show them to the world.

“Traveling in Ukraine, both domestic and foreign tourists traditionally visit Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Crimean and Carpathian resorts, but Ukraine neither begins nor ends in those places. Local bodies of power frequently complain about lack of interest on the part of mayors of big cities — the capital and regional centers — in the development of the regions. However, it would be quite in order for local governments to take the initiative and find on their territories places that would attract scientists, artists and tourists. There is no city, town or village in our country which does not have something of interest,” says Oleksandr Butsenko, coordinator of the Cultural Capital project and head of the Democracy Through Culture center. “Take, for instance, Berdyansk, a popular summer resort on the Azov Sea, which is renowned for its moderate prices. But for me, Berdyansk is also unique as the only city in the world with 3 monuments to Lenin, 4 monuments to Lt. Schmidt — a character of satirical writings of Ilf and Petrov, and the monument to a small fish — the bullhead. If to advertise these monuments and raise the level of services, people would come to the city in summer and in autumn to stroll along its streets and choose the best Lenin or Schmidt.”

There are hundreds of historic cities in Ukraine; they need attention on the part of local and regional communities as well as research and protection that should be carried out by scientific institutes and bodies of power. Specialists of the Democracy Through Culture center and the Council of Europe conduct seminars for heads of local and regional councils, help them draw so-called “maps of cultural and historical resources of the region,” develop business plans and financial schedules for potential investors. “Local governments are prepared to share their unique scientific, cultural and tourist resources and posses the needed human resources. The Ukrainian political elite and international institutions should make it their task to help local governments in this endeavor. They will not be disappointed: I have studied the main stages of Ukraine's history enough to assert that Ukraine has a lot to show to the world,” says Deni de Yong, CE expert in culture.

KONOTOP

It is the main city of the Konotop district of the Sumy oblast of Ukraine. During the 30's of the 17th century the Polish government had built a fortress in this city. From 1648 to 1781 — Konotop was the headquarters for the Cossack squadron (sotnya) of the Nizhyn regiment. Cossacks and villagers of the Konotop squadron took part in the war of 1648-54, in the battle against the Turks at Chyhyryn in 1677-78, and during the Russo-Turkish wars of 1677-78 and the Northern wars of 1700-1721.
During the years 1782-1796, Konotop was the district center of the Novhorod-Siverskiy Vice Gerency, during 1797-1802 — it entered the Malorossiya province (gubernia), and since the year 1802 — it lies within the Chernihiv province (gubernia).
Industry: Steam engine, wagon repairing, electro-mechanical, brick building factories; enterprises serving the railway transportation sector. 
An ethno-cultural museum is located here. Branch of the Kharkiv Mining Institute is also situated here. 

A Model for Developing 
Ukrainian Cities and Villages: 

The diversity of culture and the wealth of natural resources with which Ukraine is endowed can and should be the stimulant of socio-economic development of Ukrainian cities and villages under conditions of a new, enlarged Europe. This is the main idea of the project “An innovative model for territorial development based on the efficient use of cultural resources,” which began its operation in Kyiv.
The project was initiated by nongovernmental organizations — the Democracy Through Culture center and the Habitat municipal management center — with support and active participation of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Cultural and Spiritual Issues. The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Art of Ukraine and the Ministry of the Economy and European Integration Issues of Ukraine. The Council of Europe, the British Council in Ukraine, the Swiss Cultural Program in Ukraine, the International Renaissance Foundation, Radio Svoboda, the COMEDIA Consultative Center (Great Britain) and the electronic portal e-CUFER (Ukraine, www.cufer.net) served as partners or technical, informational and financial sponsors of the project.
The project envisages to use the UN experience in elaborating municipal models for sustained development and creative cities within the framework of the European Council program and to 

BERDYANSK

situated in the Zaporizhzhya region,
a port city on the northern cost of the Azov Sea,
a large railway junction.
According to the Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia,
the city was founded in 1827 and had several names:
1827-1839 — Kutur-Ogly
1830-1842 — Novo-Nogaisk
1842-1939 — Berdyansk
1939-1958 — Osypenko
after 1958 — Berdyansk.
An industrial center with machine-building, light, food and fishing industries.
Major enterprises: Azovkabel, agricultural machinery, port equipment, fiberglass, and brick making plants.
Main institutions: Pedagogical Institute, Medical School, Natural Sciences and Arts museums.
A health resort with mud-baths and climatic treatment.
Therapeutic treatment is carried out around the year.

How to Achieve European Standards?

involve domestic and international experts in conducting educational seminars, workshops, presentations and international conferences for constructing an innovative developmental model for certain territories as a result of establishment, assessment and efficient use of cultural resources.
At the initial stage (November-December 2003), about 800 letters were sent to the heads of all city and district councils with the project description and an invitation to enter in a competition for selecting a pilot territory for the project. 50 participants were preliminary chosen to take part in a seminar-presentation that was held in December. After final selection in January 2004, only 16 participants were left — 8 cities and 8 districts from 13 regions of Ukraine. These are the cities of Slovyansk, Berdyansk, Brovary, Voznesensk, Pryluky, Konotop, Putyvl and Nizhyn as well as the districts of Radekhiv, Kremenchuk, Reshetylivka, Khorol, Husyatyn, Volodymyrets, Melitopol and Trostyanets.

PRYLUKY

A Cossack City

The city of Pryluky, one of the oldest in Ukraine, is situated along the steep bank of the Udai River. Archeological excavations have shown that a settlement on the territory of the present-day city dates back to the second millennium BC. According to one explanation, the city derived its name from its location, being situated on a turn in the river that looked like a bow when viewed from above. Another theory holds that the city's name connotes the idea of being situated “on floodplain meadows”.

Pryluky was founded as an administrative district center and a stronghold in the 10th century, when Kyiv Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavovych ordered the construction of city-fortresses on the eastern periphery of Kyiv Rus to defend the country against invasion by nomads.
Pryluky was first mentioned in 1085 by Prince Volodymyr the Wise in his Precepts To My Children. That year the city-fortress sheltered the prince and his entourage from the horde of Polovtsians and soon the prince's armed forces, strengthened by the Pryluky militia, routed the enemy. However, in 1092, the Polovtsians besieged Pryluky once again, killing all the defenders. They then massacred all the women and children and burned down the city to avenge their humiliating defeat in 1085. Later, the city was repeatedly plundered by eastern nomadic tribes and became an epicenter of internecine wars between Russian princes. In 1239, Pryluky was destroyed by the Tatar-Mongolians; in 1362, the city was conquered by Lithuanian feudal lords. But the citizens always staunchly defended Pryluky, fighting for their freedom and dignity.
After the Lublin Union of 1569, according to which the city came under the rule of the Polish nobility, many inhabitants of Pryluky and nearby villages began to run away, seeking freedom in the vast Dnipro steppes. Oppressed peasants from other areas of central and eastern Ukraine took refuge there too. Settlements founded by the runaways in the late 15th-early 16th centuries occupied large territories in the vicinity of Kyiv and Cherkasy. Thus grew the Cossack community.
Scared by the proliferation and popularity of Cossacks, Poland tried to suppress this spontaneous resistance but did so in vain. In the 17th century the Cossacks became the motive force of the national liberation movement in Ukraine and the name of the Cossack republic — Zaporizka Sich — was well known and popular to the masses. The fertile soil of the Udai basin proved itself attractive not only to marauders, but also to hard-working people fleeing from backbreaking toil. The number of inhabitants of Pryluky and adjacent villages grew considerably in the 17th century. One of the documents kept in the archives of Stockholm, Sweden stated that there were 800 chimneys, i.e. 800 houses, in Pryluky in 1632. Assuming that each house accommodated at least six persons, about 5,000 people lived in the city at that time.

In 1648, Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskiy introduced a new system of territorial-administrative division in Ukraine, having divided the country into regiments. Under this system the city of Pryluky became the military center of the Pryluky Regiment and Colonel Ivan Shkurat-Melnychenko was appointed its first commander. The regiment comprised about 2,000 Cossacks, who actively participated in many battles during the war of 1648-1654. For instance, the entire Pryluky Regiment of Cossacks, led by I. Shkurat, died fighting valiantly in the battle of Berestechko in 1651. The Pryluky Regiment, under Colonel Yakiv Voronchenko, demonstrated thorough military prowess in defeating a large Polish unit in June 1652. The regiment also took part in campaigns against Poland and Turkey.
Girded with a high rampart surmounted by guns, the city of Pryluky looked quite formidably at the time. However, in the second half of the 18th century, the border was moved far to the south for political and military reasons and the necessity for fortified cities like Pryluky disappeared. Olexandr Yakubovych was the last colonel of Pryluky. In 1781, the Cossack regime was abolished in Ukraine and Pryluky became a district center in the Chernihiv region. Between 1802 and1932 it was a district center of the Poltava region and since 1932 it has been a city within the Chernihiv region. Pryluky is on the list of Ukraine's oldest cities, and in 1995 it was entered in the register of Ukrainian historical cities. Under the auspices of the “Innovations in Cultural Development of the Regions” programthe Pryluky local government is taking measures to restore old folk art traditions as well as seeking historical and architectural records of the city. City inhabitants hope that with time, Pryluky will become a part of the Golden Ring of the Chernihiv Region tour.

"The population of Pryluky is a little over 60,000 people. The city's share in the economy of the Chernihiv region is 70% and each year the city contributes 1% of revenues to the State Budget of Ukraine.
While our social situation compares favorably with other cites, we can still make improvements. If we succeed in creating a tourist center in Pryluky, and in developing tours of local sights associated with Ukrainian history and culture, we will be able to increase the number of jobs in tourist and associated businesses. Tourism should be developed more intensively in Pryluky because this city played an important role in Ukraine's history. There is a monastery in the nearby town of Hustyn; which, as the village of Kaliuzhyntsi, was where kobza-player Oleksa Veresai was born. There are also landscape and architectural structures in Sokyryntsi and Kachanivka. We should change our mentality and encourage people's creativity. Creative people are more likely to find money for reconstructing roads and building and renovating hotels and cafes, attracting sponsors, and successfully promoting the city. People, and their creative potential, are the main assets of the city of Pryluky."

Mykola Boichuk, 
Pryluky Mayor