Chyhyryn was founded in the sixteenth century, and rather soon after its foundation, in 1592, it was granted the Magdeburg Law. By the mid-seventeenth century, the population of Chyhyryn was about 50,000 people, whereas in Kyiv, for comparison, there lived at that time hardly more than 10,000 people. The Hetman’s residence was a sprawling complex of many houses teeming with people. It was in Chyhyryn that foreign envoys were received, and it was in Chyhyryn that Khmelnytsky issued about 300 of his decrees.

These days, Chyhyryn is a small provincial town in Cherkasy Oblast with very little left in evidence of its former glory — only ruins of fortifications at Zamkova Hora are a visual reminder of the old times. A historical and cultural preserve is to be established there and the work has already begun. It is planned to have a dozen or more replicas of the buildings that once were part of the Hetman’s residence to be built. The preserve may be opened for visitors as soon as in 2009. Posolska Vulytsya — Ambassadors Street will be lined up with replicas of the buildings that used to be residences of ambassadors who represented foreign countries that maintained relations with the Cossack Republic.

There is a monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky in Chyhyryn — it stands on top of Zamkova hora hill and can be seen from afar. I climbed all the way up to the monument and was rewarded for the exertions by a wonderful vista that opened from the top of the hill — primordial forest, canyons and distant hills formed a landscape of a great scenic beauty.