Pryluky Regiment
What was the capital of Pryluky from 1648 to 1782?
Pryluky Pryluky ( ) is a city located on the Udai River in Chernihiv Oblast , north-central Ukraine . It serves as the administrative center of Pryluky Raion ( district ) . Located nearby is the Pryluky air base , a major strategic bomber base during the Cold War , which is Ukraines largest airfield . Pryluky hosts the administration of Pryluky urban hromada , one of the hromadas of Ukraine . Population : History . Archeological excavations have shown that a settlement on the territory of the present-day city dates back to the second millennium BC . According to one explanation , the city derived its name from its location , being situated on a turn in the river that looked like a bow when viewed from above . Another theory holds that the citys name connotes the idea of being situated “on floodplain meadows” . Pryluky was first mentioned in 1085 by Prince Volodymyr Monomakh in his Precepts To My Children . That year the city-fortress sheltered the prince and his entourage from the horde of Polovtsy and soon the princes armed forces , strengthened by the Pryluky militia , routed the enemy . However , in 1092 the Polovtsy attacked the fortress once more wiping out the whole population and sacking the city . Later , the city was repeatedly plundered by eastern nomadic tribes and became a centre of internecine wars between Ruthenian princes . In 1239 , Pryluky was destroyed by the Mongols ; in 1362 , the city was conquered by Lithuanian feudal lords . But the citizens always staunchly defended Pryluky , fighting for their freedom and dignity . After the Union of Lublin of 1569 , according to which the city came under the rule of the Polish nobility , many inhabitants of Pryluky and nearby villages began to run away , seeking freedom in the vast Dnieper steppes . Oppressed peasants from other areas of central and eastern Ukraine took refuge there too . Settlements founded by the runaways in the late 15th-early 16th centuries occupied large territories in the vicinity of Kyiv and Cherkasy . Thus grew the Cossack community . Scared by the proliferation and popularity of Cossacks , Poland tried to suppress this spontaneous resistance but did so in vain . In the 17th century the Cossacks took part in the Khmelnytsky uprising . The fertile soil of the Udai basin proved itself attractive not only to marauders , but also to hard-working people fleeing from backbreaking toil . The number of inhabitants of Pryluky and adjacent villages grew considerably in the 17th century . One of the documents kept in the archives of Stockholm , Sweden stated that there were 800 chimneys , i.e . 800 houses , in Pryluky in 1632 . Assuming that each house accommodated at least six persons , about 5,000 people lived in the city at that time . In 1648 , Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky introduced a new system of territorial-administrative division in Ukraine , having divided the country into regiments . Under this system the city of Pryluky became the military center of the Pryluky Regiment and Colonel Ivan Shkurat-Melnychenko was appointed its first commander . The regiment comprised about 2,000 Cossacks , who actively participated in many battles during the war of 1648–1654 . For instance , the entire Pryluky Regiment of Cossacks , led by I . Shkurat , died fighting valiantly in the Battle of Berestechko in 1651 . The Pryluky Regiment , under Colonel Yakiv Voronchenko , demonstrated thorough military prowess in defeating a large Polish unit in June 1652 . The regiment also took part in campaigns against Poland and Turkey . Girded with a high rampart surmounted by guns , the city of Pryluky looked quite formidably at the time . However , in the second half of the 18th century , the border was moved far to the south for political and military reasons and the necessity for fortified cities like Pryluky disappeared . Olexandr Yakubovych was the last colonel of Pryluky . In 1781 , the Cossack regime was abolished in Ukraine and Pryluky became an uyezd of the Malorossiya Governorate , and from 1802 the Poltava Governorate . Since 1932 it has been a city within the Chernihiv Oblast . During World War II , Pryluky was occupied by the German Army from September 18 , 1941 to September 18 , 1943 . During the occupation , Jews were recruited for forced labor . On October 15 , 1941 a murder operation that had several Jewish victims was carried out . A ghetto was established at the beginning of 1942 . From January 1942 groups of 30-40 young healthy men were systematically taken from the ghetto and executed at an unknown location . Most of the Jews of Pryluky were killed in a mass murder operation in May 1942 . Another mass murder was carried out by Germans in Pryluky on September 10 , 1942 . Jews from Polova , Ladan , and Linovitsa of Pryluky County and from Kharitonovka , Podol , Radkovka and Malaya Devitsa of other counties of the Chernigov District were murdered in Pryluky . Pryluky is on the list of Ukraines oldest cities , and in 1995 it was entered in the register of Ukrainian historical cities . Under the auspices of the “Innovations in Cultural Development of the Regions” program , the Pryluky local government is taking measures to restore old folk art traditions as well as seeking historical and architectural records of the city . City inhabitants hope that with time , Pryluky will become a part of the Golden Ring of the Chernihiv Region tour . Until 18 July 2020 , Pryluky was designated as a city of oblast significance and did not belong to Pryluky Raion even though it was the center of the raion . As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine , which reduced the number of raions of Cherkasy Oblast to four , the city was merged into Pryluky Raion . Historical Sites . There are many historical sites within Pryluky and many of them are churches , here is a list of those churches : - Ivanivska Church , Pryluky Notable natives . - Joasaph of Belgorod , 18th century bishop , glorified in 1911 - Viktor Kee - Juggler - - Painter - Irving Chernev - Chess author - Yevhen Borovyk - footballer - Olha Zavhorodnya -- middle distance runner Sights . The oldest civil building in the town is the former chancellory and sacristy of the Pryluky Cossack Regiment . Apart from the diminutive Baroque church of St . Nicholas ( 1720 ) , the town possesses two cathedrals . The old five-domed cathedral was built by Cossacks in the 1710s and 1720s in a simplified brand of Mazepa Baroque . The new Neoclassical cathedral ( 1806 ) has one cupola and is dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos . International relations . Twin towns — sister cities . Pryluky is twinned with : - Kościerzyna in Poland External links . - Pryluky in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Pryluky portal + photogallery - History of jewish community in Priluki - The murder of the Jews of Pryluky during World War II , at Yad Vashem website .