Baturyn archaeological project sponsored by the Ucrainica Research Institute

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09.07.2020

Located in Chernihiv province, Ukraine, Baturyn was the capital of the Cossack state and residence of the prominent Hetman Ivan Mazepa. During his anti-Moscow rebellion in 1708, the Russian army totally destroyed this large Ukrainian town and massacred its entire population (up to 14,000). Soviet officials tried to erase this tragedy from the historical memory of Ukrainians. To the end of the Communist rule, any study of Baturyn’s past and its extermination by Muscovite forces was a political taboo.   

In independent Ukraine, this town was revived as one of the major centres of tourism, regional scholarship, and patriotic education of Ukrainians with five modern museums of antiquity, 30 sites of historical and cultural heritage, and artistically impressive sculptural monuments depicting the hetmans, Cossacks, and victims of Mazepa’s ravaged stronghold. Since 1995, Ukrainian and Canadian archaeologists have conducted annual excavations in Baturyn and investigated freely the hitherto little known glorious history and culture of the hetman capital, as well as the scale and consequences of its destruction and mass murder of residents by the punitive tsarist troops.

Excavated for 25 years, archaeologically Baturyn has become the most extensively explored town of Cossack Ukraine. Based on the archaeological data, its famous 17th-19th- century edifices and defences have been reconstructed. This website presents the detailed description of the Canada-Ukraine project of historical and archaeological research of Baturyn during the Cossack era, including related references on printed and Internet publications and documentary films, as well as the main illustrated articles and booklets in English and Ukrainian.

The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto, and the Ucrainica Research Institute in Toronto sponsor the Baturyn project. The Ucrainica Research Institute also funds the publication of the annual booklet series as well as organizes, advertises, and sponsors the public lectures in Toronto on new archaeological discoveries in Baturyn. Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev is the Executive Director of the Baturyn project.

Fig. 1. Citadel’s bailey of the 17th-century Baturyn fortress, reconstructed in 2008 on the basis of archaeological research. Photo by M. Turchyn.  

 

ЯНГОЛИ У ДЕКОРІ ПАЛАЦУ ІВАНА МАЗЕПИ  В БАТУРИНІ

 

 

 

 

КАХЛІ З ФІГУРАМИ ВОЇНІВ ІВАНА МАЗЕПИ З РОЗКОПОК БАТУРИНА

Baturyn 2
Baturyn 2
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Baturyn 2
Archaeological research of Baturyn in the Cossack Era
Before the tower gate of the Baturyn citadel. 2
Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev, Prof. Zenon Kohut (CIUS), and his wife Zoriana before the tower gate of the Baturyn citadel.
From the left: Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev (CIUS), Dr. Volodymyr Kovalenko (Chernihiv University), Prof. Martin Dimnik (PIMS), and Yurii Sytyi (Chernihiv University). 2
From the left: Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev (CIUS), Dr. Volodymyr Kovalenko (Chernihiv University), Prof. Martin Dimnik (PIMS), and Yurii Sytyi (Chernihiv University).
Plan of Baturyn and its environs 2
Plan of Baturyn and its environs before the destruction in 1708. Reconstruction by Yu. Sytyi, V. Mezentsev, and O. Bondar. Computer graphic by O. Bondar, 2017.
Fortifications, the Resurrection Church 2
Fortifications, the Resurrection Church, the earliest hetman residence, and the treasury of the 17th-century citadel. Aerial photo by Natalia Rebrova, 2017.
2008 excavations of the citadel moat with the remnants of logs, facing its sides. 2
2008 excavations of the citadel moat with the remnants of logs, facing its sides. Photo by V. Kovalenko.
Reconstructed log walls 2
Reconstructed log walls, a tower gate, a rampart, a moat revetted with logs, and a bridge leading to the gate of the citadel. Photos of its defences and buildings by V. Mezentsev.
Reconstructed log walls 2
Reconstructed log walls, a tower gate, a rampart, a moat revetted with logs, and a bridge leading to the gate of the citadel. Photos of its defences and buildings by V. Mezentsev.
Frontal façade 2
Frontal façade of the 17th-century hetman mansion in the Baturyn citadel
Frontal façade of the 17th-century hetman mansion in the Baturyn citadel 2
Frontal façade of the 17th-century hetman mansion in the Baturyn citadel
2016 excavations of the remnants of wooden dwellings 2
2016 excavations of the remnants of wooden dwellings of the burghers and Cossacks, 17th and 18th centuries, within the former Baturyn fortress. Photo by Yu. Sytyi.
Bronze gilt pommel of the hilt of the costly sabre 2
Bronze gilt pommel of the hilt of the costly sabre, 17th or early 18th century, discovered at the site of the ruined Holy Trinity Cathedral in the fortress in 2007. Side and top views, photos by V. Mezentsev.
Clasps and decorative figured appliqués made of bronze and lead 2
Clasps and decorative figured appliqués made of bronze and lead from the Cossack leather belts and horse harnesses, and a copper button, 17th and 18th centuries. 2016 excavations in the fortress and the southern suburb. Photo by Yu. Sytyi.
Fragments of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tiles 2
Fragments of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tiles with relief floral ornaments, late 17th or early 18th century, unearthed in the fortress in 2004-05. Photo by V. Mezentsev.
Reconstructions of the burnt broken multicoloured glazed ceramic stove plaque 2
Reconstructions of the burnt broken multicoloured glazed ceramic stove plaque featuring the relief family coat of arms with initials of Chancellor General Pylyp Orlyk within the elaborated ornamental cartouche in Ukrainian baroque style, 1707-08. Computer photo collage and graphic by Serhii Dmytriienko, 2018. Excavations of Orlyk’s home in the northern suburb in 2018.
Hypothetical reconstructions of the fragmented burnt ceramic stove tile 2
Hypothetical reconstructions of the fragmented burnt ceramic stove tile with the unique relief princely armorial bearings of Hetman Ivan Mazepa surrounded by the stylized armour glazed green and white, 1707-08. Computer photo collage and graphic by S. Dmytriienko, 2019. Excavations of Orlyk’s dwelling.
Fragmented glazed ceramic stove tile 2
Fragmented glazed ceramic stove tile featuring the relief of a mounted Cossack with a spear in folk style, late 17th or early 18th century. Photos of the stove tiles by V. Mezentsev. Baturyn Museum of Archaeology.
Уламок полив’яної кахлі 2
Fragment of the glazed ceramic plaque bearing the relief of a nobleman in the European baroque clothing from the revetment of a stove at Judge General Vasyl Kochubei’s mansion, after 1700. Baturyn National Historical Cultural Preserve.
2010 excavations of the remnants of the log dwelling 2
2010 excavations of the remnants of the log dwelling (pokoieva khata) at Mazepa’s estate in Honcharivka, the suburb of Baturyn. This and next photos by V. Mezentsev.
Excavated basement 2
Excavated basement of the spacious timber dwelling at Mazepa’s court (before 1700) in 2011.
Remnants of the brick side walls and steps 2
Remnants of the brick side walls and steps of the underground tunnel, excavated at Mazepa’s manor in 2019. Photo by Yu. Sytyi.
Masonry palace of Mazepa 2
Masonry palace of Mazepa in Honcharivka prior to its destruction in 1708. Hypothetical reconstruction by V. Mezentsev, computer graphic by S. Dmytriienko, 2016.
Shards of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tiles 2
Shards of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tiles with masterful plant motifs and images in relief. 2009 excavations of Mazepa’s palace debris. Photos of the archaeological finds in Honcharivka by V. Mezentsev.
Fragment of the costly multicoloured glazed ceramic plaque 2
Fragment of the costly multicoloured glazed ceramic plaque with floral design from the facing of a stove at Mazepa’s residence. Excavations in Honcharivka in 2013.
Fragments of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tile 2
Fragments of the polychrome glazed ceramic stove tile featuring the relief head of an angel or putto of the Renaissance tradition from the adornment of a stove at Mazepa’s palace. 2009 excavations in Honcharivka.
Computer reconstruction 2
Computer reconstruction of the broken glazed ceramic stove plaque bearing the relief head and wings of an angel from the revetment of a stove at Mazepa’s residence in Honcharivka by Wasyl Sydorenko using photo by V. Mezentsev, 2010.
17th-century rare copper pendant cross 2
17th-century rare copper pendant cross with the images of saints and Greek inscriptions in reliefs, found near the site of a wooden church of Mazepa’s estate in 2010.
Bronze figured engraved plate 2
Bronze figured engraved plate featuring a nude male playing a trumpet in realistic Classical manner. Presumably the fragment of a broken decorative casing of an imported Western book from the library of Mazepa’s palace. 2012 excavations of a service structure of his manor.
Bone chess piece 2
Bone chess piece unearthed among the remnants of a service structure in Mazepa’s court in 2012.
Cossack officer’s leather belts 2
Cossack officer’s leather belts with bronze patterned clasps and figured decorative appliqués found during the excavations of a service structure in Mazepa’s manor in 2011-14. Hypothetical computer photo collage reconstructions by V. Mezentsev and S. Dmytriienko, 2014
“Massacre in Baturyn” 2
“Massacre in Baturyn” by painter Andrii Ivakhnenko, 2000. Baturyn Museum of Archaeology.
Skeletons of children and women 2
Skeletons of children and women, victims of the ravaging of Baturyn by Russian troops in 1708 exhumed within the citadel in 2005-08. This and next photos by V. Mezentsev.
Skeletons of children and women 2
Skeletons of children and women, victims of the ravaging of Baturyn by Russian troops in 1708 exhumed within the citadel in 2005-08. This and next photos by V. Mezentsev.
Skeletons of children and women 2
Skeletons of children and women, victims of the ravaging of Baturyn by Russian troops in 1708 exhumed within the citadel in 2005-08. This and next photos by V. Mezentsev.
Skeletons of children and women 2
Skeletons of children and women, victims of the ravaging of Baturyn by Russian troops in 1708 exhumed within the citadel in 2005-08. This and next photos by V. Mezentsev.
Priest of the Intercession Church 2
Rev. Roman Kryvko, Priest of the Intercession Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Baturyn serves the Memorial Service for the victims of the Russian onslaught at their excavated graves in the citadel.
Priest of the Intercession Church 2
Rev. Roman Kryvko, Priest of the Intercession Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Baturyn serves the Memorial Service for the victims of the Russian onslaught at their excavated graves in the citadel.
Gilt copper oil-painted pendant icon 2
Gilt copper oil-painted pendant icon of the Mother of God with Child Jesus from the grave of Mazepa’s era exhumed near the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the fortress in 2008. Photo by V. Kovalenko.
2017 excavations of the brick foundation 2
2017 excavations of the brick foundation of the southern annex to the complex of administrative buildings commissioned by Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky at Kochubei’s estate in 1750-64. This and next photos by Yu. Sytyi.
Excavations in the Kochubei’s court in 2018. 2
Fragments of the ceramic plaques depicting human figures glazed Delft blue and white in the Dutch style from the embellishment of stoves of mid. 18th-century administrative structures of Rozumovsky. Excavations in the Kochubei’s court in 2018.
Excavations in the Kochubei’s court in 2018. 2
Fragments of the ceramic plaques depicting human figures glazed Delft blue and white in the Dutch style from the embellishment of stoves of mid. 18th-century administrative structures of Rozumovsky. Excavations in the Kochubei’s court in 2018.
Restored Rozumovsky’s palace-museum in Baturyn, 1799. Photo by V. Mezentsev. 2
Restored Rozumovsky’s palace-museum in Baturyn, 1799. Photo by V. Mezentsev. 2
Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine 2
“Glorification of Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine”. Painting by Ihor Hrechanovsky with a panorama of the Baturyn citadel, 2020. Museum of the History of the Poltava Battle in Poltava. Photo by O. Hrechanovsky.