Sviatohirsk

Not to be confused with Sveta Gora.

Sviatohirsk Святогірськ
City
View of the St. Nicholas Church and the St. Andrew Chapel of the Holy Mountains Lavra View of the St. Nicholas Church and the St. Andrew Chapel of the Holy Mountains Lavra
Flag of Sviatohirsk Flag Official seal of Sviatohirsk Seal
Coordinates:
Oblast	Donetsk
First mentioned	16th century
Population (2013)
• Total	4,654

File:Artem, Svjatogorsk 7.jpg

Monument to Artem in Sviatohirsk

File:Sviatohirsk Seversky Donets River Sviatohirsk Lavra IMG 0188 1725.jpg

Sviatohirsk monastery

Sviatohirsk (Ukrainian: Святогі́рськ) or Svyatogorsk (Russian: Святого́рск) is a town in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. A part of the Sloviansk Municipality, it stands on the banks of the Seversky Donets River, 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the city of Sloviansk. Population: 4,654 (2013 est.); 5,136 (2001 est.).

History

A settlement in the area of the Holy Mountains was first mentioned in written sources in the 16th century. In 1624, a monastery was established here, but in the end of the 18th century all monastic lands were secularized and passed on to private owners. One of the new owners built a bathing house on the nearby lake, which lead to the settlement being called Banne (Ukrainian: Банне)/Bannoye (Russian: Банное) or Bannovskoye (Банновское); literally bathing. Proximity of a nearby selo of Tatyanovka lead to the both places sometimes being collectively referred as Bannoye-Tatyanovka (Банное-Татьяновка).

During the Soviet times, the selo was officially known as Bannoye. In 1938, it was granted urban-type settlement status and renamed Bannovsky (Банновский). The settlement served as a resort destination and steadily grew in size, until in 1964 it was granted town status and renamed Slovianohirsk (Ukrainian: Слов'яногірськ)/Slavyanogorsk (Славяного́рск), with the first part of the name (Sloviano-/Slavyano-) being after the nearby city of Sloviansk (Slavyansk), and the second part (-hirsk/-gorsk) being after the Holy Mountains. In 2003, the name was changed to Sviatohirsk, after the monastery itself.

Unlike neighboring Sloviansk, Sviatohirsk was never controlled by the pro-Russian forces who in spring 2014 had made Sloviansk their stronghold.

Culture

Sviatohirsk includes the Holy Assumption Sviatohirsk Lavra, the Holy Mountains National Park, an historical and architectural reserve, as well as a resort of national importance; thirty objects, among them a monumental sculpture of Communist leader Artem (Fyodor Sergeyev) and a World War II memorial (opened on the day of 40th anniversary of victory) are included in the historic monuments complex of the reserve. The town has been visited by well-known cultural figures, including Hryhorii Skovoroda, Fyodor Tyutchev, Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Ilya Repin.

On May 15, 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a bill into law that started a six months period for the removal of communist monuments and the mandatory renaming of settlements with a name related to Communism.

Tourism

The development plan of Sviatohirsk provides a significant expansion of the resorts, recreational, and tourism network. Within the Sviatohirsk resort are the Holy Mountain sanatorium and hotel-and-tourist complexes. The town carries out a construction and modernization of recreation departments for children and adults.

Early in 2009, a four-star hotel opened. Sviatohirsk also offers the Seversky Donets River, chalk mountains, coniferous and mixed forests, centuries-old oak trees, and clean air.

References

Sources

• [1] Е. М. Поспелов (Ye.M. Pospelov). "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.
• [2] Е. М. Поспелов (Ye.M. Pospelov). "Географические названия мира" (Geographic Names of the World). Москва, 1998.

External links

• Official web site of Sviatohirsk (Russian)