In Vyshhorod, on the ancient city hill above the Dnipro, the Museum of Pottery operates as a branch of the Vyshhorod State Historical and Cultural Reserve. Its main treasure stands outdoors just a few metres from the building: a pottery kiln from the second half of the 11th century, left in the exact spot where archaeologists found it. This is an archaeological landmark of national importance.
City of Potters
Old Rus Vyshhorod was one of the most powerful pottery centres of Kyivan Rus: deposits of high-quality clay allowed it to supply tableware and construction ceramics to Kyiv itself. Scholars consider Vyshhorod to be the largest known medieval pottery centre in Eastern Europe — over eighty years of excavations, more than two dozen kilns have been explored here. Archaeologists also found a 12th-century potter's dwelling: a two-tier sunken building where the lower tier was for utility purposes and the upper tier served as living quarters. One of the kilns from that period measured 3.85 by 2.38 metres.
11th-century kiln
The kiln displayed in the museum was discovered in 2004 by archaeologist Ruslan Orlov, and the following year it was studied by a group of scholars. It belongs to the most common type of Old Rus kilns and has two tiers: the lower chamber, sunken into the ground, served as the firebox, while the upper, surface-level one was used for firing pottery. Early kilns from the first half of the 11th century were small and simple, while later Vyshhorod potters built increasingly complex furnaces. The museum was opened in 2006, becoming one of the leading branches of the reserve.
In the halls, one can see Old Rus ceramics and pottery from later times, including kumantsi. There are also ethnographic items from Kyiv Polissia: log beehives for beekeeping and dugout boats carved from a single tree trunk.
Vyshhorod around the museum
The Vyshhorod Reserve was established in 1994. In addition to the Museum of Pottery, it includes the historical museum founded in 1982. The territory of the historical landscape of ancient Rus Vyshhorod has been listed in the State Register of Landmarks since 2010: this includes the hillfort detinets, the ancient streets of Kalnyshevskyi and Mezhyhirskoho Spasa, and the green slopes above the Dnipro. Nearby stands the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb, located on the site associated with the first Rus saints.
How to get there
Address: 11 Mezhyhirskoho Spasa Street, Vyshhorod. Vyshhorod is located 20 km north of central Kyiv; marshrutka minibuses run from Kyiv from the Heroiv Dnipra metro station. The museum's phone number is (045) 962-53-15; it is best to check opening hours and ticket prices before your trip.
Tip
After the museum, walk along the rampart of the ancient town to the viewpoints overlooking the Dnipro and the Kyiv Sea. The trip is easily combined with the Museum of Ukrainian Military Valor in Novi Petrivtsi. Read more about the region in the article on Kyiv Polissia.
