Vyshhorod (, ; ) is a city in Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine, situated immediately north of the capital Kyiv, and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It is on the right (western) bank of the Dnieper river and, as the location of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, 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 of Ukraine.
First mentioned in the 10th century, Vyshhorod is now a notable industrial center and a growing commuter town for Kyiv. Its population is approximately
Geography
Vyshhorod is located on a hilly right bank of the
Dnieper river adjoining the dam of the
Kyiv Reservoir.
History
The earliest historical mention of
Vyshhorod (the name translates as "the town upstream") dates from as early as 946 when it was described as the favourite residence of
Saint Olga. Also mentioned in
De Administrando Imperio, Vyshhorod served as the fortified castle and residence of the monarchs of Kievan Rus' on the Dnieper from that time until 1240, when the Mongols sacked it. At Vyshhorod Vladimir the Great (reigned 980 to 1015) kept a
harem of 300 concubines. The Battle and siege of Vyshhorod took place in 1173. After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus', 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, but their subsequent fate remains a mystery. The ancient Cossack military monastery, the Mezhyhirskyi Monastery, stood not too far away from the city.
Vyshhorod grew considerably following the construction of the Kyiv Reservoir and was incorporated as a town in 1968.
Industry
Vyshhorod has more than 1,500 enterprises and companies, the most important being the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, the Kyiv Pumped Storage Power Plant (both operated by
Ukrhydroenergo) and a building materials factory owned by German firm
Henkel.
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 commuter train service. The city's river port facilities are used for local industrial purposes only.
Marshrutka run between Vyshhorod and the Heroiv Dnipra station of the
Kyiv Metro's Obolonsko–Teremkivska line.
Demographics
As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, Vyshhorod counted a population of 22,867. The population is ethnically overwhelmingly
Ukrainians, but also contains significant minority groups from the Post-Soviet Realm, such as ethnic Russians,
Belarusians and Armenians, as well as a small
Polish people. The exact ethnic and linguitic composition was as follows:
Sports
In 2011, Vyshhorod was the first Ukrainian city to host the F1 Powerboat World Championship
Motorboat racing.
[ F1 motorboating Committee
]
Twin towns – sister cities
Vyshhorod is
Sister city with:
-
Delčevo, North Macedonia
-
Eichenau, Germany
-
Kaniv, Ukraine
-
Lörrach, Germany
-
Rakvere, Estonia
-
Sens, France
-
Wyszków, Poland
See also
-
Visegrad, towns with similar names
-
VyshHora
External links
