Beryslav (, ) is a city in
Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast ( uk, Херсо́нська о́бласть, translit=Khersónsʹka óblastʹ, ), also known as Khersonshchyna ( uk, Херсо́нщина, ), is an oblast (province) in southern Ukraine, currently claimed and partly occupied ...
of southern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. It serves as the administrative center for
Beryslav Raion
Beryslav Raion ( uk, Бериславський район, ) is one of the five administrative raions (a ''district'') of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine. Its administrative center is located in the city of Beryslav. Its population was 55,97 ...
(
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
), housing the district's local administration buildings. Beryslav hosts the administration of
Beryslav urban hromada, one of the
hromada
A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...
s of Ukraine.
It had a population of
The city is located on the right-bank of
Dnieper river
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
across from
Kakhovka
Kakhovka ( uk, Кахо́вка, ) is a port city on the Dnieper River in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, of southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of the Kakhovka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of
It ...
on the opposite bank. Until the creation of the
Kakhovka Reservoir
The Kakhovka Reservoir (, ''Kakhovs′ke vodoskhovyshche'') is a water reservoir on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It was created in 1956, when the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was built. It is one of several reservoirs in the Dnieper reservo ...
, the city contained one of a historical crossing over the Dnieper.
History
One of the oldest settlements in the Kherson Oblast, in the late 14th century Beryslav was part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
. Grand Duke
Vytautas
Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
built a castle here. It served as a Lithuanian
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
point, as the lower
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
formed the Lithuanian border.
Later on it was known as the Turkish fortress of ''Kizikermen'' or Kazikermen (Gazikermen). Kazikermen and Islamkermen and Sahinkermen nearby were primary fortifications in the lower Dnieper area starting in the 15th century. According to legend, chains were stretched across the Dnieper between the fortifications to control river traffic. Here was also one of the fords providing access across the Dnieper known as Tawan crossing. At the end of August of 1695, Kazikermen was sacked by the
Zaporizhia Host Cossacks of Ivan Mazepa and the
Sloboda Ukraine Cossacks of Boris Sheremetiev during the so called
Azov-Dnieper campaigns.
By the
1700 Treaty of Constantinople, the Ottomans disbanded the fortifications. Later in the 19th century, ruins of the Kazikermen fortress were completely cleared away. After its 1784 re-establishment, the settlement was renamed ''Beryslav''.
On 16 December, 1918,
Hetman of Ukraine
Hetman of Ukraine ( uk, Гетьман України) is a former historic government office and political institution of Ukraine that is equivalent to a head of state or a monarch.
Brief history
As a head of state the position was establi ...
Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Arm ...
signed a telegram in Beryslav addressed to
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
where he officially resigned from his post.
Beryslav was occupied by German forces on August 23, 1941. On September 22 about 400 Jews then living in Beryslav were murdered near the town by the members of Einsatzgruppe D. Another 35 Jews from Beryslav were shot in early October 1941. Beryslav was liberated by the Red Army on March 11, 1944.
Since August 2016, the city has hosted the revived
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...
and
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club,
Tavriya Simferopol
Sports Club Tavriya ( uk, Спортивний клуб "Таврія") was a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League from its founding and won the first Ukrainian Premier League making them ...
.
During the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's List of largest refugee crises, largest refugee cris ...
, Beryslav was one of many settlements occupied by the Russians, but was recaptured by the Ukrainian military during the
southern counteroffensive on 11 November.
See also
*
Holy Presentation Church, located in the city
*
List of cities in Ukraine
This is a complete list of cities in Ukraine. On 1 January 2022, there were 461 cities ( uk, місто, ''misto'') in Ukraine. City status is granted by the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. The city status is only partially related to th ...
Gallery
File:Kazykermen.jpg, Siege of Kazikermen in 1695 by united forces of Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; uk, Іван Степанович Мазепа, pl, Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; ) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. ...
and Boris Sheremetev
Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Граф Бори́с Петро́вич Шереме́тев, tr. ; – ) was an Imperial Russian diplomat and general field marshal during the Great Northern War. He became the first Russian count in ...
, engraving by Tarasiewicz
File:F.St. Alexandre.jpg, Fragment of the New Servia map by Chez le Rouge (Paris, 1769)
References
External links
* Kniazkov, Yu.
Kazikermen'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 2007
* Vyrskyi, D.
Beryslav'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 2003
The murder of the Jews of Beryslavduring
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, at
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website.
{{Authority control
Cities in Kherson Oblast
Khersonsky Uyezd
Cities of district significance in Ukraine
Populated places established in the Russian Empire
Holocaust locations in Ukraine
Populated places on the Dnieper in Ukraine
Populated places of Kakhovka Reservoir