There are many buildings of magnificent beauty in Chernigov, but three amazing architectural ensembles stand on a separate list. Two of them are monastery complexes, and the third is the beautiful and spacious Red Square in the center of the city.
It is said that the Red Square in Chernigov is named after the example of the Moscow square of the same name. In fact, the age of this landmark of the city, which was in the times of Kievan Rus the eternal rival of the mother of Russian cities, is much more honorable. Chernigov’s Red Square was bustling with life a thousand years ago.
Every visitor to Chernigov should visit the Red Square, the present form of which has come down to our time from the XVIII-XIX centuries — this is the only way to get a full impression of this ancient city. Many people remember a walk on the Red Square for a long time: to step on the centuries-old sidewalk and enjoy the views of beautiful buildings surrounding the square — such a unique opportunity is not given to a person every day.
In the times of Kievan Rus, the territory of the Red Square was a part of the roundabout town — the trade and crafts district of Chernigov. Numerous archaeological finds became the evidence of the fact that life was boiling here in the X-XII centuries: the remains of household and living quarters, production complexes, a lot of household items, tools and even jewelry.
Among the many finds were even an iron smelting furnace and a complex for copper processing. The fact that Chernigovites had extensive trade relations before the Mongol invasion is proved by another large find — the remains of more than 200 fragments of amphorae produced in the Black Sea region.
At that time the townspeople called the square Pyatnitsky Field in honor of the nearby church of St. Praskeva Pyatnitsa, which can be seen in the same place today! The XII century temple, considered unique because of its original architectural composition, has survived to this day.
On Pyatnitsky Field people lived and worked, organized festivals for several centuries, until the Mongol-Tatars fell on the city.
After such a terrible event, life on the square was not revived again until several centuries later, in the 18th century, when the city was allowed to build outside the fortifications. Since then and to this day Red Square is one of the most favorite among the citizens and one of the most popular among tourists place in Chernihiv.
At the beginning of the XIX century, according to the project of architect A. Kartashevsky, shopping rows were arranged on the square, the city magistrate was built — now it is the building of the regional department of the National Bank of Ukraine. But most of the magnificent buildings surrounding the square are examples of Stalinist Baroque, built at the beginning of the last century. These are three or four-storey buildings: the Shchorsa Cinema reminiscent of ancient times with its slender colonnade and graceful round dome, the austere but refined building of the former state bank, the monumental building of the Shevchenko Regional Theater with the original bas-relief on the pediment, and other buildings surrounding Red Square.
The architectural ensemble of Chernihiv’s Red Square is diverse but harmonious, different details remind at the same time of neat Europe and the bulky architecture of Stalin’s times, of antiquity, thanks to the now rare paving with clinker bricks, and of modernity — the light and music fountain located in Popudrenko Square is an amazing sight. A walk along this attraction of Chernigov will be interesting for any visitor of the city, this walk will leave a lot of pleasant impressions.