Derzhykrai Sloboda and Crossing on the Perevod River in the 17th-18th Century

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to highlight the emergence and functioning of the crossing and the unique thing for this region – the stone bridge on Kyiv Shliakh (road) in the early modern period.

The scientific novelty. Based on the analysis of available written and pictorial sources, conclusions have been drawn regarding the existence of a crossing on the river Perevod in the early modern period, from the time of the foundation of Derzhykrai Sloboda (settlement inhabited by free peasants and tradespeople) till its abandoning and the change of Pryluky – Kyiv route.

Conclusions. At the beginning of the 17^th century, the process of gradual land settlement of Left-Bank (Zadniprianska) Ukraine began. The initiative of founding slobodas and towns belonged to the representatives of princely families and the gentry. It was with their assistance that a number of fortified settlements were founded – Lubny, Pryluky, and Myrhorod, which became military and economic centers, and small villages and khutirs (hamlets) began appearing around them. At the same time, traffic on Kyiv Shliakh, which led from the Dnipro crossing to the town of Pryluky, was resumed.

In the first half of the 17^th century, in the upper reaches of the Perevod River, the sloboda of Derzhykrai was founded. It was located on ‘Chernihiv lands’, but it was founded on the initiative of Prince Ya. Ostrozkyi by Ya. Chernyshovskyi, Pereiaslav pidstarosta. In the first years of the sloboda’s existence, it was subject to armed raids headed by S. Lyko, Lubny Cossack uriadnyk (sergeant). In the late 1640s, the settlement became part of the left-bank possessions of Prince I. Vyshnevetskyi. Supposedly, at that time, the construction of a small earthen fortification, and possibly a stone bridge, was started near it. After 1648, the sloboda fell into desolation. This is written in the diary entries of Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo, who traveled along Kyiv Shliakh in 1654. He mentions the destroyed town of Batfudi, which suffered due to wars and Tatar raids.

After the decline of Derzykrai Sloboda, the small village of Perevod, and later Piddubivka, were founded near the crossing. A Cossack khutir was founded on the island, and in 1656 it was sold to Hustynia Holy Trinity Convent. The monks used the former fortifications to keep livestock, for which they dug passages in the ramparts and partially filled in the moat. At that time, Kyiv Shliakh passed through the island near the khutir, and both villages were connected by a stone bridge. Over time, the route of the Shliakh shifted and the stone bridge was gradually dismantled.