A QUIET CORNER SEDNIV: Where Love Echoes Through the Centuries
St. George’s Church is a wooden Orthodox temple and a valuable historical and architectural monument — a rare example of monumental wooden structures in the Baroque style on the Left Bank of Ukraine, located in the town of Sedniv / wikipedia.org
One hot summer, I had the chance to visit the village of Sedniv in the Chernihiv region, located on the banks of the Snov River, a tributary of the Desna, about 25 kilometers north of Chernihiv. The area is incredibly quiet, and the air — uniquely delicious. You just can’t get enough of it… Moreover, it turned out that this settlement has a rich history of its own.
SINCE ANCIENT TIMES
Sedniv was first mentioned in the Hypatian Chronicle. It was described as the ancient Rus’ city of Snovsk, then the center of the Snovska Tysha — a territorial-military formation in the 12th–13th centuries. It was one of the most fortified strongholds of Kyivan Rus. In this very region, in 1068, Prince Sviatoslav Yaroslavovych of Chernihiv, with just three thousand warriors, managed to defeat a twelve-thousand-strong Polovtsian army.
Nearly two centuries later, in 1234, the town came under the rule of Danylo of Halych. From 1239 to 1355, it was under the control of the Golden Horde, and in 1356, Snovsk became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Much later, in the early 16th century, it received its current name — Sedniv.
There is a legend about the origin of this name: «The devastating hordes of Crimean Tatars attacked Snovsk but didn’t have the strength to take the fortress. The Tatars supposedly called the city’s defenders sidni, which in their language meant ‘fierce and brave.’ From this, the name Sedniv came».
In 1618, it fell under Polish rule, and from 1654 it became part of Left-Bank Ukraine. At that time, it served as the center of the Sedniv company of the Chernihiv regiment. A century later, in 1782, Sedniv was incorporated into the Horodnia district of the Chernihiv Viceroyalty, and from 1802 it became the center of a volost in the same district within the Chernihiv Governorate. Over a hundred years later, since 1932, it has been part of the Chernihiv district.
THE DISTINGUISHED LYZOHUB DYNASTY
At the end of the 17th century, Colonel Yakiv Lyzohub of Chernihiv became the owner of Sedniv, and from then on, the settlement was inherited by his descendants. By the mid-19th century, brothers Andrii and Illia Lyzohub succeeded in transforming the estate into a magnificent architectural and park ensemble that became known even in Europe. The palace, grotto, «Red Bridge», and pavilion — all the landmarks we see today — were built by these brothers.
Their estate also featured grand fountains. The hydraulic system for them was located in the grotto, which can still be visited today. The pumping stations, powered by a steam engine, were extremely powerful — they drew water from a depth of 45 meters. The jet of their «Hetman» fountain reached several vershoks (1 vershok = 4.445 cm) higher than that of the «Samson» fountain in imperial Peterhof, which rises to 20 meters.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the renowned Cossack Lyzohub family, several notable structures have survived to this day. The first of them is St. George’s Church, built between 1715 and 1747, according to various sources. It is wooden, constructed without a single nail, and stands on the site of an ancient Rus’ fortified settlement. In this church, which has long symbolized military courage and glory, the Cossacks of the Sedniv Company used to bless their weapons before campaigns.
A CHURCH AS A FILMING LOCATION
Scenes of the Soviet film Viy, based on the eponymous work by Mykola Gogol, were also filmed here. In the movie, Natalia Varley, in the role of the young lady, flew in a coffin under the dome. However, only the interior of St. George’s Church was shown in the movie. Nearby, fragments of the films Hryhorii Skovoroda and The Battalions Ask for Fire were also shot.
Opposite St. George’s Church, on a hill, stands the stone Church of the Resurrection (1690). It was built with funds from Yakiv Lyzohub as a family church and mausoleum. For centuries, members of the Lyzohub family were buried here. The architectural style of this monument is early Ukrainian Baroque of Left-Bank Ukraine. Later, in the 19th century, a bell tower was constructed in front of the western facade.
THE LYZOHUB STONE HOUSE
Not far from the church, amid lush gardens, stand the walls of the Lyzohub stone house, built almost simultaneously with the Church of the Resurrection in the same year — 1690. This elongated structure somewhat resembles a traditional Polissian house «split in two»: it has a central entrance hall (siny), flanked on both sides by two small rooms. The rounded windows further enhance the building’s resemblance to rural dwellings.
The tower above the porch was added later — it was constructed in the second quarter of the 19th century by the aforementioned brothers Andrii and Illia Lyzohub, who settled in Sedniv in 1830. They expanded the old park — it was then that the stone ruins appeared, along with a bridge over a moat dug in the ancient rampart, a grotto, and a romantic rotunda pavilion on a small ledge of the plateau, offering a stunning view. At the same time, a one-story manor house with a semicircular bay window in the center was built, with its facade facing the river.
THE ROMANTIC CHARM OF SEDNIV AND ITS ARTISTS
From the story told by Tetiana Luhovska (head of the Lyzohub family museum estate), we learned the following: «The pavilion is a symbol of love. Illia Lyzohub built it in 1843 for his beloved wife Lizonka. It was love at first sight when they met at a ball in Saint Petersburg. Lizonka was the granddaughter of Kyrylo Rozumovskyi and a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court, while Illia already held the rank of colonel.
They met rather late in life: she was already 33, and he was 32. Lizonka’s father, having noticed the spark between them, sternly told his daughter, «No Lyzohubs, or you’ll lose your inheritance!» But love prevailed, and 25 years later, Illia Ivanovych gifted his wife the pavilion that became the jewel of the estate. Illia and Liza lived together for 50 years…»
The Lyzohub brothers were great admirers of art and literature, and their estate became a gathering place for renowned cultural figures. Among their guests were celebrated artists such as Lev Zhemchuzhnikov, Lev Lagorio (a student of Aivazovsky), Opanas Slastion, and the fable writer Leonid Hlibov.
Incidentally, Hlibov lived in Chernihiv, but here in Sedniv, he enjoyed working in the pavilion on the hill above the picturesque floodplain of the Snov River. A monument to him now stands next to the pavilion. According to one version, it was in this very pavilion that Hlibov wrote his poem Zhurba, which was later set to music and became the beloved folk song «A tall mountain stands, and at its foot, a grove…»
Since Sedniv’s landscapes have always drawn artists like moths to a flame in search of inspiration, it’s no surprise that in 1964, the House of Creativity of the Union of Artists of Ukraine was established on a hill adjacent to the former estate. In fact, this is where I stayed.
Also popular in Sedniv is the school founded here in 2013. It more closely resembles a palace or manor. The school grounds were once part of the Lyzohub estate.
SEDNIV — A SETTLEMENT OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Sedniv is included in the List of Historic Settlements of Ukraine, approved by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2001. There is also an interesting leisure spot here — a club called «Sedniv Horse Yard», where visitors can go horseback riding and even stay overnight in a hayloft-style hotel room…
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