SUBOTIV — BOHDAN’S TOMB
The Illinska Church is an Orthodox church located in the village of Subotiv. It was built in 1653 (according to other sources — in 1656) by order of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky as a family church and burial site / wikipedia.org
Do you know what is depicted on the reverse side of the five-hryvnia banknote? The white building with a decorative gable is the tomb of one of the most prominent Ukrainian hetmans, Bohdan Khmelnytsky. It is located in the village of Subotiv in the Chyhyryn region of Cherkasy Oblast.
The stress in the word «Subotiv» falls on the first syllable: it likely derives not from the name of the weekday «Saturday» (subota), but rather from the name of the local river Suba. The village of Subotiv lies 7 kilometers from the city of Chyhyryn on the Suba (also known as Subot’) River, where it flows into the Tiasmyn — a tributary of the Dnipro.
A fortified settlement discovered near Subotiv attests to the ancient origins of local habitation. However, the most vivid chapters of this area’s history are much closer to our time.
A NEW KHMELNYTSKYI ESTATE ON THE SUBA
It all began with the Khmelnytskyis. The land along the Suba River was either purchased or, more likely, granted as a reward for military service at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries to Mykhailo Khmelnytskyi, father of the future hetman Bohdan. Khmelnytskyi was a minor nobleman serving in Lviv region under Crown Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, and later — under his son-in-law Jan Daniłowicz.
When Daniłowicz became starosta of Chyhyryn, he moved to the Cherkasy region — and Khmelnytskyi Sr. followed. At the confluence of the Tiasmyn and Suba rivers, Mykhailo Khmelnytskyi established a homestead with an apiary. Later, while serving as starosta of Chyhyryn, he built a wooden castle on a nearby hill.
The first known mention of Khmelnytskyi’s Subotiv dates back to 1616. Though the small fortress with its wooden and earthen fortifications was not particularly formidable, its combination of deep moats, ditches, sharpened stakes, and both defensive and watchtowers made it capable of repelling unwanted intruders.
A PERFECT PLACE FOR A HETMAN TO BE BORN
Here in Subotiv, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi’s son Bohdanchyk was born and spent his childhood. After his father’s death, Bohdan inherited the estate and settled there with his young wife, Hanna Somko. It was in the family estate that Bohdan’s children were born — among them Tymish, Kateryna, Olena, and Yurii, who would also go on to wield the hetman’s mace.
Yet for Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the main priority was not building a family nest, but military affairs. After Chyhyryn became the de facto capital of the Zaporizhian Host, the Subotiv estate (castle) became the hetman’s country residence — a place of rest, diplomatic receptions, and councils with the senior officers. Subotiv itself became the center of the Chyhyryn regimental company. In fact, it was from here that the hetman commanded the armed forces of Ukraine…
THE ESTATE AS AN APPLE OF DISCORD
It was the Subotiv estate that later became an apple of discord. Khmelnytskyi’s lands were targeted in a raiding attack by the deputy starosta of Chyhyryn, Danylo Chaplynsky. In the absence of the owner, he unlawfully looted the property. Seeking revenge, Bohdan turned to the Cossacks for support. This marked the beginning of the uprising that would eventually unfold into a prolonged war of all against all.
Khmelnytskyi reclaimed Subotiv and built a new fortified estate there (only the remains of a tower’s foundation have survived to this day, now covered by a glass roof). A hetman’s residence was erected, along with homes for the Cossack leadership.
Directly opposite the hetman’s palace stood the Illinska Church (built in 1653 at Khmelnytskyi’s own expense and based on his design), which has been preserved in its entirety. Constructed in the early Baroque style, the church also had a defensive function. It was reinforced with two-meter-thick walls and loophole windows adapted for cannons.
However, the exact year of the church’s construction remains a subject of scholarly debate. The traveler and writer Paul of Aleppo, who passed through Subotiv in 1656, testified that finishing work was still underway at that time. There are also references to 1652 as a possible year of the temple’s construction.
It is said that Bohdan Khmelnytskyi dismantled a Muslim mosque in Subotiv at the time to reuse its stones for building his church.
SUBOTIV AS A STRONGHOLD
In the 17th century, Subotiv and its surroundings were significantly fortified. First and foremost were the defensive structures of the castle and the Illinska Church. To the south stood a lookout point known as Wolf’s Peak (Vovchyi Shpyl). There were also fortifications protecting the floodplain of the Tiasmyn River — namely, hamlets on the hills that provided additional control over the Subotiv route.
Underground passages served as communication routes between the fortifications. At the center stood a castle covering an area of 2 hectares, situated on elevated terrain with steep slopes. It was surrounded by a moat, two tiers of ramparts, three wooden towers, and one stone tower.
THE KHMELNYTSKYI FAMILY TOMB
The Illinska Church also served as the Khmelnytskyi family tomb. The first to be buried there was Tymish Khmelnytskyi, Bohdan’s son, who died during the siege of Suceava in 1653. Later, in 1657, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi himself was buried there after his death in Chyhyryn. From the 19th century onward, rumors began to circulate that Bohdan’s Cossacks had secretly reburied his body to prevent its desecration.
Another version claims that in 1664, Polish nobleman Stefan Czarniecki’s forces captured Subotiv. According to the Cossack chronicle of Hryhoriy Hrabianka, the hetman’s settlement was devastated, and the bodies of Bohdan and Tymish Khmelnytskyi were thrown out of the crypt. There is also speculation that the tomb was plundered much later by Muscovite forces.
According to the Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667 — a truce between the Tsardom of Moscow and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, signed for 13.5 years — Subotiv, as part of Right-Bank Ukraine, was transferred to Polish control.
In 1793, Right-Bank Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire, and from then on, Subotiv was a village within the Kyiv Governorate.
TARAS SHEVCHENKO’S INSPIRATION AND SUBOTIV IN LATER TIMES
Taras Shevchenko visited the hetman’s ruins in Subotiv in 1843 and again in 1845. He mentioned the village in several of his works — including the mystery play The Great Vault, and the poems «A church stands in Subotiv, on a high hill», «A black cloud has veiled the white one», among others. He also created drawings here: Ruins of Bohdan’s estate in Subotiv, Bohdan’s Church in Subotiv, Stone Crosses in Subotiv, The Khmelnytskyi House in Subotiv.
On September 30, 1869, the restored Bohdan’s Church was consecrated. In 1874, a stone bell tower was built to replace the wooden one and was connected to the church by a stone corridor. The stone crosses behind the church, on the cemetery grounds behind the altar wall, also date back to the 19th century.
In the 19th century, Subotiv began to grow. By 1900, the population had reached around four thousand, and the village had a feldsher and a pharmacy. During Soviet times, Bohdan’s Church was repurposed as a club, then as a warehouse and granary. In 1954, marking the 300th anniversary of the Pereiaslav Council, the church was finally transformed into a museum, and a symbolic granite tombstone for Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was installed, designed by I. Shmulson.
THE SEARCH FOR KHMELNYTSKYI CONTINUES
The church was restored in the late 1970s. At that time, the gallery built during the construction of the bell tower in 1869 was dismantled. Archaeological research was carried out, and scholars concluded that the southern column slab supporting the choir loft had shifted 20 centimeters north and 9 centimeters east.
They also confirmed that neither the coffin nor the body of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi remained — the soil had been dug through multiple times. This suggests that many attempts had been made to locate Khmelnytskyi’s grave or hidden treasures…
In 1990, the church was returned to the religious community. It is this very church that we see on the reverse side of the five-hryvnia banknote.
