Kaniv

Taras Shevchenko asked in his Testament to be buried above the Dnipro, and in 1861 he was, on Chernecha hill at Kaniv, where a mound, a monument and a museum now stand and where the view runs a long way up and down the river. The site is the closest thing Ukrainian literature has to a shrine. The Kaniv Nature Reserve, one of the oldest in the country, covers the wooded hills and ravines around it, and a twelfth-century church survives in the town.

Background

Kaniv lies on the right bank of the Dnieper and ranks among the chief river ports along it. Excavations show a Slavic settlement near the site before the 10th century. The town appears in the Paterikon of the Caves Monastery in Kyiv, in a passage on icon painters who moved from Constantinople under Vsevolod of Kyiv, and its first chronicle entry is dated 9 June 1144. By the mid-12th century it had grown into a large city, centred on the "Hellenic town" on Moskovka Mountain. Vytautas the Great built a castle here in the 14th century that stood until 1768. Magdeburg Rights came in 1600, and in the 18th century the town drew many elderly Cossacks.

Source: Wikipedia, "Kaniv"

The main sights

• Shevchenko's grave - the mound and monument on Chernecha hill above the river.
• The museum - the collection beside the grave covering his life and work.
• The Dnipro view - the river running north and south from the hilltop.
• St George's church - a twelfth-century church surviving in the town below.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The 9 March anniversary and 22 May reburial date bring large gatherings. Museums close on some weekdays.

Things to know

The climb to the hilltop is a long flight of steps, though a road runs up. The museum is dated. The reserve is largely closed to visitors as a research area.

Nearby

Trypillia is north, and Cherkasy is southeast.

Key facts