The National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Field of the Battle of Berestechko", popularly known as Kozatski Mohyly (Cossack Graves), is a memorial site for thousands of Cossacks and peasants who died in the Battle of Berestechko in 1651. It is located in the village of Pliasheva in the Dubno region, on Zhuravlykha Island amid the floodplain of the Pliashivka River. This is one of the most important historical sites in Rivne Oblast.
The Battle of Berestechko
In the summer of 1651, near Berestechko, Pliasheva, Ostriv, Soloniv, Ridkiv and Mytnytsia, the army of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Polish army converged. After the departure of the Crimean Tatars, the Cossack camp found itself besieged among the marshes. The Cossacks built corduroy roads across the Pliashivka to break out of the encirclement, while three hundred, according to legend, covered the retreat at the cost of their own lives. The sites of those events — the Monastyrshchyna, Haiok, Kozakova Yama and Kozatska Pereprava tracts — are now part of the reserve.
St. Michael's Church
In 1912, the 17th-century wooden Church of St. Michael was moved to Zhuravlykha Island from the village of Ostriv. According to legend, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ivan Bohun and other Cossack commanders visited it.
St. George's Memorial Church
In 1910–1914, the Church of St. George the Victorious was built to commemorate the fallen Cossacks. It is unique: it has three altars located one above the other. In the lower tier stands a sarcophagus containing the bones of Cossacks, and an underground passage leads to it from St. Michael's Church. The murals were painted by Ivan Yizhakevych and other masters. At the same time, the buildings of the monastic skete, which now house a museum, were erected.
The Reserve
The Kozatski Mohyly Museum-Reserve was established in 1966. In the 1980s and 1990s, under the leadership of historian Ihor Sveshnykov, the Cossack crossing was excavated here, and the finds enriched the museum. In 1991, a monument to the Cossacks and insurgent peasants by sculptor Anatolii Kushch was unveiled, at which time the reserve gained state status, and in 2008, national status.
Kozatski Mohyly on Video
Nearby
Berestechko is a town that gave its name to the battle, and Radyvyliv is to the south. More can be found in the article Dubno Raion.
How to Get There
Buses run to Pliasheva from Radyvyliv and Dubno.
