Explore Ukraine: Berdychiv
Start here >>>
Part II. Berdichev
“And the train was quietly going to Berdichev... ” (Bulat Okudzhava)
We did not travel by train, but by bus, but Berdichev was ahead of us. And here we must admit that we went not only to look at the city, but also to get acquainted with the "soul" of this forum - staruha_izergil. And her presence as a local resident in our tour group gave our trip a certain charm. And a nice clarification, where tourists can buy Berdichevsky beer for souvenirs, just inspired the group and made a bargain at the point of sale : )
But the main purpose of visiting Berdichev was, of course, the Church of the Barefoot Carmelites.
Church of the Discalced Carmelite Order
To say that the church is visible from all points of Berdichev and strikes with its grandeur is to say nothing. How did such a significant church turn out to be in the small provincial Berdichev?
After the conclusion of the Union of Lublin and the creation of the Commonwealth, Berdichev, in contrast to the Polissya lands, fell under the jurisdiction of the Polish crown.
However, the Tyshkevich family retained possession of the city, and in 1593, one of the active figures in the newly created Greek Catholic Church, Teodor (Fyodor) Tyshkevich, began building a castle in Berdichev, at the same time inviting peasant settlers to the city, who were freed from any or taxes.
The construction was continued by his son, Yanush, who went on a campaign against the Crimean Tatars, was defeated and taken prisoner. In captivity, he had a dream about his release through the prayer of unknown monks, which soon came true. Therefore, having received freedom, Janusz Tyszkiewicz in 1630 transferred the entire Berdichevsky castle to the monastic Order of Discalced Carmelites. (The Carmelites are barefoot because they have a very strict rule, although we have seen monks wearing sandals on their bare feet. ) The opening of the monastery and the consecration of the lower church took place in 1642, and as a gift Janusz gave him the greatest shrine of the Tyszkiewicz family - the famous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Berdichev.
Icon of Our Lady of Berdichevskaya XVIII century
Pilgrims begin to flock to the icon, the monastery becomes an outpost of Polish statehood in Ukraine. In this regard, Berdichev is also growing, flooding with merchants and artisans.
The struggle of the Carmelites with Orthodoxy and the forcible spread of the union turned the monastery into an object of hatred for the entire local population. Therefore, when, due to complex social contradictions, the "Cossack" revolution exploded in Ukraine in 1648, the klyashtor (a Polish monastery-castle) was almost completely destroyed by the rebels. The Carmelites, fleeing from Berdichev, took the image of the Mother of God to Lvov. For 73 years the icon was in the monastery of the Barefoot Carmelite Sisters. In the future, both the city of Berdichev and the monastery repeatedly passed from hand to hand. Taking advantage of the relative calm in the region, in 1754 the Carmelites built a new large church over the old "dolly" church. Not sparing funds for its construction, they invited famous architects Jan de Witte and Grigory Tarnovsky; the famous artist Veniamino Frederice was summoned from Italy.
The church was built in the Baroque style.
Church of the Discalced Carmelites
It was especially richly decorated from the inside with stucco, sculptures and gilding. But we can see this only in old photographs of the permanent exhibition, which is located in the valley temple. Now the church looks modest. However, work continues. The faç ade has been restored (by the way, the core of the cannon is still left in it “as a keepsake” from the battles, which never exploded, but simply got stuck in the wall).
The burnt cells were repaired (in 1941, a fire broke out in the monastery and, presumably, the miraculous icon died in this fire). But today there is a version that the icon has survived and is in Poland in a private collection.
After unsuccessful searches for the original image of the Mother of God of Berdychiv on the territory of Ukraine and Poland, the father of the Barefoot Carmelite Order in the fall of 1990 decided to commission the creation of a new icon intended for worship. In 1997, Pope John Paul II personally consecrated a copy of the icon in the Church of St. Hedwig in Krakow.
Church of the Discalced Carmelites and a monument to John Paul II
And on July 19.1998, the ordinary officer of the Kiev-Zhytomyr diocese performed the act of coronation of the icon of the Mother of God of Berdichev.
Icon of the Mother of God of Berdichevskaya
Today in Berdichev, the tradition of celebrating the next anniversary of the coronation of the icon of the Mother of God of Berdichev, which takes place on the first Sunday after the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God (July 16), has been restored. But there is an interesting story about this action staruha_izergil "We are all in a hurry for miracles (c)... ".
There was one more church in our program - the church of St. Barbara. However, to our disappointment, it was closed. We were only able to see it from the outside. In Soviet times, it had a sports school! What an amazing use they found for a religious building, isn't it? The Church of St. Barbara is a building with history.
Church of St. Barbara
It was founded in 1759. The young Frederic Chopin played in it. And it was in it that Honore de Balzac and Evelina Ganskaya were married, a memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the church about this event.
“If I am gnawed by the desire to hear the rustle of your dress, there is no doubt, this is true love... (Honoré de Balzac)
In February 1832, Honoré de Balzac received a cryptic letter signed "Outlander" and without a return address. A letter full of compliments and enthusiasm for his work. Outlander did not reveal her name, but promised to write regularly. The first letter was followed by a second and a third. . . At that time it was fashionable to correspond with famous people. A correspondence began, which grew into a love affair, and it lasted for sixteen years.
Anonymous correspondence continued for almost a year, until the woman offered to meet in Switzerland. Done with incognito. Balzac found out that he was corresponding with a very rich 27-year-old woman who was about to become a widow, because she was married to a decrepit old man.
Here - subtraction with addition: Evelina 32...
. . . but she reduced herself a few years, and, on the contrary, threw a dozen on her 50-year-old husband. The first meeting somewhat disappointed Evelina. In her view, a man, a connoisseur of women's souls, a Frenchman, should have looked different. Balzac was obese and not elegant.
However, their meeting had its continuation. The writer returned to Paris happy and enthusiastic. The foreigner took possession of his heart.
At the next meeting, Evelina gave Balzac a ring, which he did not take off until his death.
Honore de Balzac
The lovers made plans for the future, and Balzac, reassuring his distant friend, constantly repeated to her: “Silly, in ten years you will be thirty-seven, and I will be a little over forty. People at this age may well love, marry, adore each other for eternity. They both counted on the fact that Evelina's husband, being 22 years older than her, would soon leave this world.
However, when this happened, Evelina was in no hurry to inform Balzac about this. She was drawn into a long litigation for the inheritance with her husband's relatives. And Balzac received a letter in which there were only a few dry and cold words: "You are free. " The writer did not at all count on the fact that Evelina would grieve for her husband. And yet, in the fall of 1847, he first came to Ukraine, but returned to Paris with nothing - Hanska refused to marry him. (According to the laws of the Russian Empire, only the emperor himself could give permission to marry a foreign citizen and to export the tribal state abroad).
Balzac visited Ukraine for the second time in 1848 and spent almost two years here. Being in Ukraine, Balzac was happy. Surrounded by the love and care of the beautiful Evelina, he also became the owner of the palace in Verkhovna (Zhytomyr region) with many respectful servants, which he had dreamed of since childhood.
Estate in Verkhovna
Meanwhile, the writer's heart began to fail. He is suffocating more and more often, he is tormented by bronchitis all winter. In the winter of 1850, it seems to Honore that he is about to die - but spring comes, and with it the emperor's permission to marry. But the estate in Verkhovna will not be left to them.
The wedding of Honore de Balzac and Evelina Ganskaya took place on March 14.1850 in the Berdichevsky Church of St. Barbara. After that, the couple went to Paris. Upon arrival in Paris, Balzac fell ill and took to his bed. Evelina nursed him for four months, but he died.
Evelina was advised to give up Balzac's inheritance, because he had a lot of debts. But as Madame de Balzac Evelina paid off all her husband's debts, almost all of her fortune went to creditors.
The outlander Evelina wished to be buried in the Pè re Lachaise cemetery, as did Balzac. And for the next 30 years after the death of her husband, she took care of perpetuating the memory of the writer.
And we are still walking in the center of the most pleasant town of Berdichev.
Monument to the beer mug
The town is significant, some time ago it was even bigger than Zhytomyr!
The theater in Berdichev after reconstruction is designed for 420 seats, including people in wheelchairs
There is a theater in Berdichev, and this immediately raises the status of the city.
Imagine, there is a globe of Berdichev and it is installed on the central square!
Globe of Berdichev
On the same square there is a nice monument to the suit.
Monument to the suit
Looking at him, I want to remember the old joke:
A man from Paris in a fashionable suit arrives in Berdichev.
The old Jewish tailor examines the suit critically and asks:
- Where did you sew such a suit?
The man replies:
- In Paris.
– Is it far from Berdichev?
“Two thousand kilometers.
- Wow, such a wilderness, and they sew so well!
And it's time for us to say goodbye. On the way back to Kyiv, we stop at Stary Solotvin.
Old Solotvin
It has a very interesting photo location: a small wooden house in the middle of a pond, to which a wooden bridge leads.
Just before Kiev, we make another photo pause at the gates of the Victoria film studio.
The entrance is decorated in the form of a Disney castle, only everything is made of metal. At the entrance there are sculptures from the films "Alien". . .
. . . and Predator.
There is a sculpture of the Terminator on a motorcycle. . .
. . . an interesting car from the movie "Mad Max". . .
Car from the movie "Mad Max. Fury Road"
. . . and the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. In general, Instagram fans will love it.
In conclusion, I want to say that we are all different and we like different things. Someone is attracted by history and architecture, someone by painting, and someone goes to photograph the fisherman's house.
On the way back, hot air balloons take off and land right next to the track.
How beautiful it is! Nice end to the day.
