Pereiaslav is a historical city in Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located near the confluence of the Alta and Trubizh rivers some southeast of the capital Kyiv. It was one of the key regional centers of power during the Middle Ages and served as the capital of a principality. Pereiaslav hosts the administration of Pereiaslav urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately
Possessing more than 20 museums, Pereiaslav is often described as a "living museum", and was granted the status of .
Etymology
Current name
The current name is implemented by the Verkhovna Rada on 30 September 2019 to reinstate its historical name.
The name of Pereiaslav in other languages are:
- , (also rendered as Pereyaslav)
Former names
- Pereiaslavl (907–1943; also known as Pereiaslav-Ruskyi starting from 1152)
- Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi (1943–2019), 1943 – 29 October 2019
In 1152, Yuri Dolgorukiy founded the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky in the north-east of Kievan Rus. To distinguish the two cities, Pereiaslav was sometimes called Pereiaslav-Ruskyi in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is also known as Pereyaslavl-Yuzhnyy ().
History
Kievan Rus'
Pereiaslav played a significant role in the region's history. It was mentioned for the first time in the text of a 911 treaty with the Byzantine Empire,
Population
Ethnic groups
Distribution of the population by ethnicity according to the 2001 census:
Language
Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:
{| class="standard"
|-
! Language
! Percentage
|-
| Ukrainian
| align="right"| 95.89%
|-
| Russian
| align="right"| 3.61%
|-
| other/undecided
| align="right"| 0.5%
|}
Jewish community
The first mention of the Jewish community of Pereiaslav dates to 1620, when the townspeople complained to King Sigismund of the growing number and influence of Jews in Pereiaslav. Denying Jews the right to keep breweries, malt-houses and distilleries, having already prohibited them to engage in farming, the King ordered his commissioners to consider the other rights of Jews. Three years later, an agreement was signed allowing the Jews to enjoy all of the rights and liberties of urban citizens. This agreement was confirmed by King Sigismund.
Pereiaslav Jews were among the first to be killed during the first Khmelnytskyi uprising. Chronicler Nathan Hannover writes, "And a lot of holy communities, based not far from the place of battle and unable to flee, like the holy communities of Pereiaslav, Baryshivka, Pyryatin, Borispil, Lubny, Lokhvitsa and the surrounding communities, died as martyrs of various cruel and heinous kinds of slaughter..." («Yeven metsula», p. 94). Another chronicler, Rabbi Meir of Schebrzheschina, provides a detailed story: «The sacred community of Pereiaslav had drunk from the cup of bitterness several times; perplexed Jews fled to the sacred community of Borisovka (NB. probably Baryshivka). But the rebels also came there and slaughtered many Jews including infants. The local non-Jews pitied those who survived and brought them back to Pereiaslav, where they remained locked up like prisoners in their homes, because they were afraid to be seen by the rebels. At night, they did not know what the morning would bring, and in the morning, what the evening promised».
Famous Yiddish author Sholom Aleichem was born in Pereiaslav in 1859. He spent his childhood in the town of Voronkiv, but when the family became impoverished, he returned to Pereiaslav, where he studied at the Russian gymnasium until 1876. In 1879, he again returned to Pereiaslav for several years. The town is described in detail in his autobiographical prose. In the town's 'ethnographic reserve,' there is a museum dedicated to him.
After the 1654 Pereiaslav Council, the remnants of the Pereiaslav Jewish community became patronized by Russia. The left-bank Jews were allowed to stay in their homes, but the townspeople of Pereiaslav presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the law of 1620 limiting the rights of Jews, which was confirmed by the Tsar. Information about Pereiaslav Jews disappears from the same year 1654.
A new community developed during the late 18th century. According to the tax books of 1801, there were 5 Christian merchants, no Jewish merchants; 844 Christian townspeople and 66 Jewish townspeople. According to the audit of 1847, there was only one "Pereiaslavskoe' Jewish community in the district, consisting of 1,519 people. According to the census of 1897, there were 185,000 inhabitants in the district, among them 9,857 Jews, including in Pereiaslav — 14,614 residents, of whom 5,754 were Jews. In 1910, three Jewish schools operated in Pereiaslav: first grade primary boys school, a private boys school, and a Talmud-Torah. At the end of the 19th century, the synagogue was built, it survived the war and has been preserved until now – the factory of woven products named after B. Khmelnitsky is operating there.
On 30 June – 2 July 1881 there was a pogrom against the Jews in Pereiaslav. Among the victims were Jews who had fled here after the Kyiv pogrom. From Pereiaslav, the unrest spread to the surrounding areas. In June 1919, Ataman Zeleniy arranged a pogrom in Pereiaslav, and 20 people were killed. By 1921, a Jewish 'self-defense' organisation had been founded in Pereiaslav. In 1926, the Jewish community was flourishing despite the persecution and there were 3,590 Jews in Pereiaslav. At this time, there were 8 houses of study (batei midrash), 3 different Jewish schools, and 26 kosher butchers.
Landmarks
thumb|900px|Bohdan Khmelnytsky square in Pereiaslav
The most significant landmarks of Pereiaslav are:
- Museum of Folk Architecture and Household Traditions in Middle Dnieper Ukraine, presenting the architecture and traditions of Ukrainians from ancient times until the 19th century, which includes submuseums: Museum of Bread, Museum of Land Transportation, Museum of Rushnyks (Ukrainian Decorative Towels), Museum of Space Exploration, Museum of Postal Services, Museum of Beekeeping, Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts, Museum of Ukrainian Traditional Rituals, Museum of Archeology, Museum of the Cossack Glory, Museum of Trypillya Culture, Museum of Ukrainian Traditional Dress, etc.
- Excavated ruins of buildings from the 10–11th centuries.
- St. Michael's Church (1646–66).
- Ascension Monastery (with the Cathedral built in 1695–1700).
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Pereiaslav is twinned with:
- Mariupol, Ukraine
- Mtskheta, Georgia
- Paide, Estonia
- Kočani, North Macedonia
Notable people
thumb|right|[[Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko]]
- Pavlo Teteria (1620s–1670), Ukrainian Hetman
- (1918-1991), Ukrainian literary scholar and art historian, Doctor of Philology
- Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916), Jewish-Ukrainian Yiddish writer and playwright
- Meir Blinken (1879–1915), Jewish-American writer
- (born 1951), Ukrainian journalist
- Petro Kholodnyi (1875-1930), Ukrainian statesman, public figure, member of the Ukrainian Central Rada, Minister of Public Education of the Ukrainian People's Republic, artist and chemist.
- Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko (born 1989), Ukrainian and Israeli triple jumper and long jumper
- Louise Nevelson (1899–1988), American sculptor
Gallery
<gallery>
File:Колегіум Переяслав.jpg|Collegium
File:Museum of the Kobzars, Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi.JPG|Museum of kobzar craft
File:Georgy Church in Pereyaslav Skansen IMG 3047 32-110-0011.JPG|Church of St. George
File:Жилище ХІ века.jpg|Replica of an 11th-century Kievan Rus' house in the Museum of Folk Architecture and Household Traditions
File:OldUkrainianPostOffice.JPG|An old post office in the Museum of Folk Architecture and Household Traditions
File:ドニプロ・ウクライナ伝統的文化博物館..jpg|The Rushnyk Museum, in the Museum of Folk Architecture and Household Traditions
File:Переяслав-Хмельницький. Вознесенський собор. 1695-1700 рр.jpg|Ascension Cathedral
File:Pereyaslav church.jpg|A church in the Old Town of Pereiaslav
File:32-110-0009 Покровська церква з с. Сухий Яр.jpg|Church of the Intercession
</gallery>