Boldyna Hill and Trinity Monastery, Chernihiv
The largest pre-Christian burial mound field of Rus, St Anthony's Caves and Cossack baroque above the Desna.
Boldyna Hill holds the largest surviving mound necropolis of pre-Christian times — including the Hulbyshche mound, where the largest known Rus sword was found. Nearby are St Anthony's Caves, begun by Anthony of the Caves in 1069, and the Trinity Monastery of 1679 — Cossack baroque of the Hetmanate era. On the hill is the grave of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, who asked to be buried exactly here. The Trinity Cathedral was founded on 30 April 1679 to a plan by Archbishop Lazar Baranovych and built by the Vilnius master Johann-Baptist Sauer; Hetman Ivan Mazepa gave ten thousand gold pieces of his own towards it, and it was consecrated around 1695.
The hill itself is an open park, while St Anthony's Caves and the Trinity Monastery follow the hours of the Ancient Chernihiv reserve: a ticket to the caves costs 100 UAH, to the Trinity Monastery 50 UAH; check the hours by tel. +38 093 036 98 21 (reserve website, 13.07.2026). Chernihiv is regularly attacked: on 21.09.2026 explosions were heard in the city (24 Kanal, 21.09.2026), and on 22.09.2026 a downed attack drone exploded on the north-eastern outskirts (Suspilne Chernihiv, 22.09.2026). During an alert — straight to a shelter.