The remains of Hetman Razumovsky’s palace and other curiosities of Kyiv’s dungeons

In autumn, not only chickens are counted, but also the results of archaeological research are added up. However, this year in Kyiv, the main find was made outside the season. At the beginning of the year, underground structures from the second half of the 18th century were discovered. Archaeologists have established that this is the underground part of the palace of the last hetman of the Cossack Ukraine, Kyril Razumovsky.

More about the hetman’s palace and in general about what can still be found underground in Kyiv, “Historical Freedom” spoke with archaeologist Timur Bobrovsky, the author of intelligence on underground structures in Kyiv.

– The famous palace of Razumovsky in Baturin, designed by a British architect. And what is known about the Kyiv Palace?

– There is written evidence that Kyrylo Razumovsky had a palace in Kyiv. Obviously, it was one of the first such palaces built in Ukraine.

It must be understood that when Kyrylo Razumovsky was hetman, his main residences were in Baturyn and Glukhiv. But the palace that has survived to this day and was restored is what he built when he was no longer hetman.

That is, already after his resignation and abolition of the post of hetman. Moreover, Razumovsky was forbidden to appear in Ukraine for 12 years. Only when this ban was lifted in the 1770s did he return.

He had several estates in Ukraine, in particular in Baturyn, Kyiv and Yagotyn. And everywhere he built palaces. In Kyiv, it was a wooden building on a stone foundation, with deep basements. There, the cellars, like underground passages, branched off from this basement.

We only learned that the Razumovsky Palace was found in March of this year when we conducted the first surveys. It became clear: on the territory where, it is believed, the Kyiv palace of Razumovsky was located, we found the remains of a building that corresponds to the time of the existence of this palace.

Based on this, we made an assumption, which is confirmed by archaeological and written sources. That is, we are really dealing with the foundations and the basement of a wooden two-story building. In fact, then palaces were mostly built of wood, not necessarily of brick.

– The Baturyn Palace is completely brick.

– Yes. The Yagotyn palace was also made of brick, but at the base it had a wooden structure, which was later covered with brick. Baturynskyi was built as a brick from the beginning, but it was built in the 1790s, at the end of the 18th century. I have no doubt that when Razumovsky was hetman, there was a hetman’s residence in Baturin, but it is not the palace that we have now restored.

– The Razumovskyi family built many such structures. Even in Vienna, there is the Razumovsky Palace, built by the son of the last hetman, Andrii Razumovsky.

But what was found in Kyiv was not a palace, but rather gray basement rooms. What are these basements interesting for specialists and what can they be interesting for residents and guests of Kyiv in the future?

– I would not say that it is something gray. This is relative. Of course, if these basements are compared with the Egyptian pyramids, then yes, they will probably lose.

– The pyramid or the palace are impressive, but the basements in themselves are not impressive. Forgive me, maybe this is an amateur judgment.

– In this case, specialists in these basements are interested in two things. The first thing is that this room is from the 18th century. Not the 19th and 20th, but the 18th century! If we mention Kyiv, then we have a certain number of cellars of the 17th and 18th centuries, except in large monastic ensembles, such as the Lavra or Sophia.

On the other hand, we will not find anything for domestic architecture, except for a few houses in Podil, which remained after the great fire of 1811. And in the upper city – even more so. That is, it is an artificial structure that remained from the 18th century. The old Kyiv that we see is, as a rule, a construction of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The second point is related to Hetman Kyril Razumovsky, an important historical figure. These two factors attract attention.

– Considering its condition and restoration prospects, what can be the use of this room?

– I think that after restoration it can be used as an exhibition space and as a sample of underground architecture of the 18th century. You can, for example, equip a coffee shop there, with respect for the monument, as it happens quite often in the world. It no longer depends on those who are engaged in the study and protection of monuments, but on the people who own this monument. Of course, they will have certain restrictions on its use. They may not use it at all, it will be hidden and wait for a change of owner, who will say: here you can make a coffee shop “Coffee at Razumovsky”! In my opinion, this is very civilized and relevant. Everyone would benefit from this: both the owners of the premises and the people who could visit it.

– Do these cellars already have some security status?

– Currently, they have the status of “newly discovered object of cultural heritage”. As far as I know, a meeting of the expert commission of the Ministry of Culture was recently held, which decided to recommend that this object be included in the register of immovable monuments of Ukraine. I hope that the decision to enter the register will be made in the near future.

– Kyiv is a city that stands on dungeons. There was such a tradition – to dig caves, underground passages, to arrange all kinds of underground structures. Did you find anything else in the underground part of Kyiv this year?

– It is being conducted now restoration of the so-called Little (Warm) Sofia. This is the former refectory of the Sophia Monastery. It has its basement premises, which also have open branches. It cellars of the first half of the 18th centurywhich go in different directions. And now, as part of the restoration, they have begun to clear them in order to strengthen them and, probably, also to museumize them. But these works are just beginning.

– What are the prospects of finding something else interesting underground in Kyiv?

– The underground structures of Kyiv are a very rich variety of purpose and time of origin of these undergrounds. For example, the caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra are known all over the world. But outside the Lavra there were several large monasteries with their own caves. In particular, these are the Zvirynetsky and Hnyletsky caves on the southern outskirts. A small monastic complex of the 11th and 12th centuries existed under the Vydubytskyi monastery, under the St. Cyril’s Church. But under the Vydubytskyi Monastery and Cyril’s Church, unfortunately, to this day they have only been explored, but not investigated in detail. This is what the monk caves are all about.

There are also fortification dungeons that are connected with the development of the Kyiv fortress. These are various patterns, sorties for secret exit outside the fortifications, as well as countermine galleries.

These are extensive systems around the fortifications to prevent the earthworks of the fortress from being mined. Today, we have information about dozens of them, almost reaching a hundred. But this information is mostly written.

As for specific finds, about five or six turnstones are known in the Pechersk fortress. And today we have only one anti-mine gallery in the area of ​​the so-called “Tsarsky village”. The “Kyiv Fortress” museum even tried to turn it into a museum. But due to the fact that this building is located in a private development, in the private sector, it is quite difficult to do this. Nevertheless, it is a very interesting building, and in the future it is possible to turn it into a museum so that people can visit and see what the underground fortifications were like.

There are underground utility buildings, such as the already mentioned basements of the Razumovsky Palace and in Sophia of Kyiv. Also, in many places there are cellars and cellars of the 18th-19th centuries, which are worthy of attention.

The best example of museumization of such dungeons is in Krakow. There, the economic underground structures of several quarters were connected by one underground route, and they were turned into a museum. And now you can travel underground Krakow. That is, from the outside there is a beautiful architecture, and below there are dungeons connected to this ground architecture, which you can also travel through. There, quite a large part of the city center can be passed underground.

– Indeed, dungeons beckon.

– That’s why I say that Kyiv has great prospects for museification and the further involvement of historical underground structures. Nowadays, underground shopping centers have been built. This is one side of the city’s development. But there is another – the assimilation of the underground historical space and its involvement. First of all, of course, it is museification and the creation of museum spaces. But some entertainment elements and coffee shops are included in that museum space.

– There is a version that the basement of the palace of Hetman Mazepa has been preserved. This is also in Pechersk, there are restrictions on getting there

– It is known that Hetman Ivan Mazepa had a residence in Kyiv. Is anything known about her?

– There is a version that the cellars of Hetman Mazepa’s palace have been preserved. It is also in Pechersk, in the area of ​​Levandovska Street (formerly Anishchenko Street). But for those exploring the sights, there are restrictions on getting there. We accidentally found and preserved the cellars of the Razumovsky Palace. Alla Bondarenko, a tour guide from Kyiv, passed by when the gates to the construction site were open, looked in there, took a photo and posted the photo on social media – see what’s underground. If it were not for this coincidence, perhaps everything would have been destroyed and built over, and we would not have known about these remains of the palace.

The same applies to the cellars, which may be the remains of Hetman Mazepa’s palace. The house there belongs to some company. It is extremely difficult to get inside. This should be done by the monument protection authorities. In the near future, I planned to make an information report about these remains and inform the Kyiv Department of Cultural Heritage Protection. Perhaps they could somehow contribute to the research, discovery and further preservation of these cellars. Because this is also a very interesting complex.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when major construction works were being carried out in Kyiv, a whole network of dungeons called “passages” was found in that area. Although we now understand that these are cellars, that is, side branches from some central space. But they can be quite confusing and large in size and, of course, interesting – both from the point of view of archeology and further use.