Vyshhorod ( uk, Ви́шгород) is a city in

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

) in central

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, situated immediately north of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

city, the national capital, and part of the

Kyiv metropolitan area The Kyiv metropolitan area ( uk, Київська агломерація, ) is an unofficially designated urban agglomeration within the outer boundary of Kyiv Oblast in Ukraine. It consists of the country's capital city of Kyiv (an enclave within ...

. It is on the right (western) bank of the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

river and, as the location of the

Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant Kyiv Hydroelectric Station is a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Vyshhorod, Ukraine. The long dam creates the Kyiv Reservoir with the purpose of hydroelectric power generation and navigability with the dam's associated lock. The ...

, the northern part of the city is beside the Kyiv Reservoir. It is the administrative center of Vyshhorod Raion and hosts the administration of Vyshhorod urban hromada, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. With a history dating back to the

first millennium File:1st millennium montage.png, From top left, clockwise: Depiction of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity; The Colosseum, a landmark of the once-mighty Roman Empire; Kaaba, the Great Mosque of Mecca, the holiest site of Islam; Chess, ...

, Vyshhorod is now a notable industrial center and a growing

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

for Kyiv. Its population is approximately

Geography and climate

Vyshhorod is located on a hilly right bank of the

river adjoining the dam of the Kyiv Reservoir.

History

The earliest historical mention of ''Vyshhorod'' (the name literally translates as " the town upstream") dates from as early as 946 when it was described as the favourite residence of

Saint Olga Olga ( orv, Вольга, Volĭga; (); russian: Ольга (); uk, Ольга (). Old Norse: '; Lith: ''Alge''; Christian name: ''Elena''; c. 890–925 – 969) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav from 945 until 960. Followi ...

. Also mentioned in ''

De Administrando Imperio ''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...

'', Vyshhorod served as the fortified castle and residence of the monarchs of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...

on the Dnieper from that time until 1240, when the Mongols sacked it. At Vyshhorod

Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

(reigned 980 to 1015) kept a

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

of 300 concubines. After the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

, the location does not appear in the records again until 1523 – and even then it was documented as a poor village. In 1934-37 and 1947, the archaeological remnants of the medieval town were excavated. The most striking find was the basement of the eight-pillared Church of St. Basil, founded by Vladimir the Great and named after his patron saint. As the church was one of the largest in Kievan Rus', it took twenty years to complete it. Before the Mongol invasion, the church housed the relics of the first East Slavic saints,

Boris and Gleb Boris and Gleb ( orv, Борисъ и Глѣбъ, ''Borisŭ i Glěbŭ''; russian: Борис и Глеб, ''Boris i Gleb''; ua, Борис і Гліб, ''Borys i Hlib''), Christian names Roman and David, respectively ( orv, Романъ, Да� ...

, but their subsequent fate remains a mystery. The ancient Cossack military monastery, the

Mezhyhirskyi Monastery __NOTOC__ The Mezhyhirya Savior-Transfiguration Monastery). See: , group="nb" ( uk, Межигірський Спасо-Преображенський монастир, ''Mezhyhirskyi Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Monastyr'') was an Eastern Orthodox fema ...

, stood not too far away from the city. Vyshhorod grew considerably following the construction of the hydroelectric Kyiv power plant and was incorporated as a town in 1968.

Industry

Vyshhorod has more than 1,500 enterprises and companies, the most important being the

, the Kyiv Pumped Storage Power Plant (both operated by Ukrhydroenergo) and a

building materials Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man- ...

factory owned by German firm

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organ ...

Transportation

Vyshhorod is connected to Kyiv and other localities mainly by roads. There is also a non-electrified terminus rail connection to Kyiv used for both freight transport and

peak hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

commuter passenger service. The city's river port facilities are used for local industrial purposes only. Jitney buses run between Vyshhorod and the Heroiv Dnipra station of the Kyiv Metro's Obolonsko–Teremkivska line.

Sports

In 2011, Vyshhorod was the first Ukrainian city to host the

F1 Powerboat World Championship The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) and promoted by H2O Racing, hence it often being referred to as F1H2O. ...

motorboat race.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vyshhorod is twinned with: * Delčevo, North Macedonia *

Eichenau Eichenau is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It is 20 km west of Munich (centre). Eichenau was officially named in 1907 as a separate settlement to the community of Alling. Its location is due t ...

, Germany *

Kaniv Kaniv ( uk, Канів, ) city located in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast ( province) in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper. It hosts the administration of Kaniv ...

, Ukraine *

Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including ...

, Germany *

Rakvere Rakvere is a town in northern Estonia and the administrative centre of the Lääne-Viru '' maakond'' (county), 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. Rakvere is the 8th most populous urban area in Estonia. Rakvere has a tota ...

, Estonia *

Sens Sens () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a sub-prefecture and the second city of the department, the sixth in the region. It is crossed by the Yonne an ...

, France *

Wyszków Wyszków (; yi, ווישקאָוו ''Vishkov'') is a town in eastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of Wyszków County in Masovian Voivodeship. History The village of Wyszków was first documented in 1203. It was gr ...

, Poland

References

External links

Unofficial page

Vyshhorod photo gallery
{{Coord, 50, 35, N, 30, 30, E, type:city_region:UA, display=title Cities in Kyiv Oblast History of Kievan Rus' 946 establishments Cities of district significance in Ukraine Populated places on the Dnieper in Ukraine