In Ukraine, in the southwestern part of the Kiev region, along the banks of the Ros River, there is an amazingly clean and cozy old town - the White Church. About how old this settlement is, you can judge by such details. The first mention of it is found in one of the oldest historical documents of Rus - the Ipatiev Chronicle (1115). In the city there are many beautiful places, memorable sights. The most important is related to its name.
Gray-haired old man
Imagine Kievan Rus of the 11th century. The young state is growing and growing stronger, acquiring friendly relations with its neighbors and respecting the enemies. Among the latter, the steppe-nomads are especially concerned with Rusich. To protect the throne hail and nearby lands from their raids, in 1032 Yaroslav the Wise the city-fortress Yuryev was laid (the name Jury was received by Yaroslav himself at baptism). On the hill called the Castle Hill, a castle-fortress was built of light stone, and inside it a white church is a church through which the city was subsequently renamed. People began to settle around, and gradually the checkpoint became a city. A lot of battles withstood the fortress, before in 1240 it was completely destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols. Remained only the remnants of the temple walls. With them, and began the revival of the settlement, the construction of new buildings. Then they began to call this place the White Church. Alas, the church itself has sunk into oblivion.
Winds of History
In general, the city was suddenly very stormy and full of biography. In the XIV century, it is under the rule of the Principality of Lithuania, then - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the XVI-XVII centuries on the territory of the region, people's uprisings continually break out. Under Bogdan Khmelnytsky, the city became the center of the national liberation struggle. Then he was made his personal residence by Hetman Mazepa. In 1706 he founded a church in the style of the Ukrainian Baroque in the city of Belaya Tserkov. This magnificent stone building was not completed until the end because of the transfer of the city to Polish rule. The only part that was rebuilt was a part of it, called the Church of St. Nicholas. It has survived to this day.
Catholic Church
The city and the adjacent territories at the beginning of the XIX century were the property of the family of Polish noblemen Branicki. Thanks to them, the Church received the White Church, which became a pride and a wonderful decoration of these places. Since Branicki were Catholics, they built a church in honor of John the Baptist on Mount Zamkova . The location was not chosen by chance: it was here that once stood the ancient Christian shrine - the first church. And now Mr. White Church is proud of this wonderful monument of architecture and architecture. Built according to the strict laws of Catholicism, the church impresses with magnificence, grandeur, harmonious proportionality of all details and elements. Especially admires the interior decoration of the building: stucco molding, painting, rich ornaments. Remarkable in the church acoustics. Therefore, often there are evenings of organ and chamber music.
Orthodox churches
And still, the Orthodox is the city - the White Church. The churches functioning in it do not yield to the church either external beauty or interior decoration. This is the Nikolayevskaya (built in the XVIII-XIX centuries), the Church of Mary Magdalene (XVIII century), the Preobrazhensky Cathedral, one of the largest in the city (XIX century). The buildings are not simply decorated with the White Church. Churches are city sights and are protected by the state as objects of the cultural and historical past. The city and its inhabitants have something to be proud of: a glorious history and high culture.