Chernihiv

City and port on the River Desna in northern Ukraine, 125 km/78 mi north of Kiev; population (2001) 305,000. The city is capital of the province of the same name. Lumbering, textiles, chemicals, distilling, and food-canning are among its industries. It has two cathedrals, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries.

Chernihiv is one of the most historic cities in the Ukraine. The city was a Kievan Rus princedom from the 9th century. It was sacked by Tatar invaders in 1239, but rebuilt thereafter; its Byzantine cathedrals and monasteries date from this period. Chernihiv came under the control of Lithuania in the late 14th century, and was in the following three centuries, successively ruled by Muscovy, Poland, and Ukrainian cossacks, before being taken by Russia in the reign of Catherine (II) the Great.