Peresopnytsia is a village on the Stubla River in Rivne Raion, near Rivne. Today it is a quiet village, but a thousand years ago it was one of the two main cities of Pohorynia, and in the 16th century the Peresopnytsia Gospel was completed in the local monastery — the book on which the presidents of Ukraine take their oath.
Chronicle city
Peresopnytsia was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1149 as one of the important cities of Rus, and overall the Kyiv and Halych-Volhynia chronicles mention it 18 times. From 1149 to 1246, princes from the Rurik dynasty ruled here — among them Vyacheslav Volodymyrovych, the sons of Yuri Dolgoruky Hlib, Mstyslav and Andriy, Iziaslav Mstyslavych, Mstyslav Nimyi, Vasylko Romanovych. In 1240, Peresopnytsia was devastated by Batu Khan’s troops, and the city never recovered.
From the chronicle city, only the hillfort of the 11th–13th centuries remains. Nearby, in the Pastivnyk tract, stone tomb slabs of a medieval cemetery have been preserved.
Peresopnytsia Gospel
On 4 September 1504, Princess Maria, wife of Prince Mykhailo Chortoryiskyi, received a charter from the king for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Monastery in Peresopnytsia. It was here on 29 August 1561 that work on the Peresopnytsia Gospel was completed — one of the first monuments of the translation of the Holy Scripture into Old Ukrainian, decorated with miniatures and ornaments. The creators of the book were Archimandrite Hryhorii and scribe Mykhailo Vasylevych from Sanok. Today the Gospel is a national shrine: Ukrainian presidents take their oath on it.
The monastery has not survived, but its appearance is recreated in a model, and a sculpture of Mykhailo and Hryhorii has been installed in the village.
What to see
The hillfort of the chronicle city above the Stubla, the monument to the creators of the Gospel, the Pastivnyk tract with ancient stone slabs. The place is modest, but special for anyone interested in Ukrainian history.
Peresopnytsia on video
Nearby
Rivne — half an hour away, Klevan with its castle and the Tunnel of Love — nearby, Drohobuzh — another ancient city of Pohorynia.
How to get there
Peresopnytsia is in the Diadkovytska hromada, northwest of Rivne. The most convenient way is by car.
