Jump to content

Kaniv

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TimeWaitsForNobody (talk | contribs) at 07:51, 26 July 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kaniv
Канів
City
George (Dormition) Cathedral in Kaniv.
George (Dormition) Cathedral in Kaniv.
Flag of Kaniv
Flag
Coat of arms of Kaniv
Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine of Kaniv within Cherkasy Oblast.
Map of Ukraine of Kaniv within Cherkasy Oblast.
Country
Oblast
Municipality		 Ukraine
 Cherkasy Oblast
Kaniv
First mentioned1078
City rights1796
Government
 • MayorIhor Ren'kas
Area
 • Total17.42 km2 (6.73 sq mi)
Elevation
101 m (331 ft)
Population
 • Total26,735
 • Density1,534/km2 (3,970/sq mi)
Postal code
19000—19009
Area code+380 4736
Sister citiesViersen
Websitewww.kaniv-rada.gov.ua, kaniv.net
Dnieper River in Kaniv
Kaniv folk art museum
Kaniv history museum

Kaniv (Template:Lang-uk, Ukrainian pronunciation: [ˈkɑnʲiu̯]; Template:Lang-ru, translit. Kanev; Template:Lang-pl) is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper. The current estimated population is 25,354 (as of Jan-2014).

Kaniv is a historical town that was founded in the 11th century by Kyivan Prince Yaroslav the Wise. This pleasant city is known today mostly for the burial site of Taras Shevchenko, the great Ukrainian poet and artist.

Picturesque and ancient, Kaniv was once one of Kyivan Rus’ largest cities. At that time, it was an outpost used for diplomatic meetings between Ruthenian princes and ambassadors of militant tribes. Later, in the 18th century, it became a popular destination for elderly Cossacks, who wanted to live out their days on the banks of the great Dnieper River[citation needed], and on the Chernecha Mountain, where, according to legend, a monastery stood in the past. The mountain remains one of Kaniv’s most important places, attracting thousands of tourists to the city. Today it is most famous as a burial place of the celebrated Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko, who is considered a founder of modern Ukrainian literature and ideologist of Ukrainian nationalism, which is located on Taras Hill overlooking the Dnieper. The Kaniv reserve is the oldest historical and cultural reserve in Ukraine. Spring is the best time to visit the Tarasova Hill. At this time, the territory is well-groomed and full of flowers.

Industry in the city includes Kaniv hydroelectric power plant located on the Kaniv Reservoir on the Dnieper, fruit and vegetable, condiments factory, large milk and cheese factory, poultry processing.

Places to see in the city

  • Assumption Cathedral (1144)
  • Motherland monument
  • Monument to Oleg Koshevoy, a hero of the Soviet Union
  • Arkady Gaidar's grave and monument
  • Museum of Arkady Gaidar
  • Hitriy Rynok (Tricky Market)
  • Armored train at the entrance to the town
  • River port near the Tarasova Hill
  • Grave and museum of Taras Shevchenko
  • Kaniv hydroelectric power station (HPS)

Administrative status

Kaniv is the administrative center of the Kaniv Raion (district). However, the city is a city of oblast subordinance, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed within the city itself.

History

Coat of arms of Kanіv under the Russian Empire (1852).
Catherine the IInd leaving Kaniv in 1787, Jan Bogumił Plersch.

The city's date of establishment is unknown. It was first mentioned in the Paterikon of Caves Monastery in Kiev of the 11th century and another chronicle of 1149, although some believe that it had been founded as early as the 10th century. There is no definite information on the source and meaning of the city's name; supposedly its name is derived from the personal nickname Kanya ('buzzard').[1] M.P.Yanko in his Toponymic dictionary of Ukraine says that the name is derived from Turkish word meaning the place of khan. There are also number of other hypotheses on the city's name.

In the Middle Ages it was located on the Road from Varangians to Greeks. Initially part of Kievan Rus', in the 14th century it was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1431, it became part of the Lithuanian Kiev Voivodeship. It was sacked by the Ottoman Turks in 1458. In 1569, Kaniv came under the rule of Poland, and it was also one of the centers of Cossack culture and military life. In 1600, it received the Magdeburg Rights, but the city's prosperity was halted by successive plagues, fires, and Cossack unrest. Kaniów was a royal city of the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. During The Deluge the town was captured by the forces of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648.

In 1648-78 the city was center of the Kaniv regiment, Cossack formation of which was established long before the Khmelnytsky Uprising as part of the Polish registered Cossacks formations. In 1662, the Right-Bank forces of Yuri Khmelnytsky, supported by Polish and Crimean Tatar troops, were defeated in the battle of Kaniv by the Russian forces of Grigory Romodanovsky and the Left-Bank Cossacks of Yakym Somko. In 1678 the Kaniv regiment was overran by Turks and its administration was transferred to Bohuslav. In 1768, it was captured by one of the leaders of the Koliyivschyna, Maksym Zalizniak. As an effect of a pogrom, most of the local szlachta and Jews were killed.

Following the Second Partition of Poland the town with large parts of other territories came under the control of the Russian Empire. In 1787, Kaniów was visited by Catherine II. She met there with Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski. During the later stages of the Great War, on May 11, 1918, the town was the seat of the Battle of Kaniów, in which the forces of the 2nd Polish Corps and the Polish Legions under Józef Haller de Hallenburg failed to break through the Austro-German lines to the Russian side. During the Second World War, Kaniv was a site of a tragically unsuccessful drop of Soviet paratroopers.

In 1978, Oleksa Hirnyk burned himself to death, on a hill near Shevchenko's tomb in protest of Russification. In 2007, he was honored as a Hero of Ukraine.

Monuments

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kaniv is twinned with:

City Country Year of Signing
Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany Germany
Sonoma, California United States United States
Lambersart, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France France
Człuchów Poland Poland

References

Notes
  1. ^ E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskie nazvaniya mira (Moscow, 1998), p. 186.

2 http://www.toponymic-dictionary.in.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=11&Itemid=12

Bibliography
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kaniv&oldid=731581904"