Early history Traces of a settlement dating back to the 9th–10th centuries and a fortified hilltop stronghold dating back to the 11th–13th centuries have been found at the Baturyn site. This fortified settlement was destroyed as a result of the
Mongol invasion of 1239. Chernihiv region was part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century, but was lost to
Muscovy as a result of the
1500–1503 war. It returned to the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1618. The land on which Baturyn was built was granted to Aleksander Piaseczyński. With royal permission, the town and fortress of Baturyn were founded by Matwiej Stachurski in 1625, who was in Piaseczyński's service. The fortress was captured and burned by Russian troops during the
Smolensk War in 1633. Control of the town was wrested away from the Commonwealth by Cossack forces during the
Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648–1657, when they captured the fortress and slaughtered the Polish nobles. In 1648 Baturyn was transformed into a Cossack regional center (
sotnia), first hosting the
Starodub Cossack Regiment and then the
Nizhyn Regiment. After the signing of the
Pereiaslav Agreement, the residents of Baturyn swore an oath of allegiance to the tsar on February 7, 1654, after which the city was handed over to the acting Hetman,
Ivan Zolotarenko. However, the city burned to the ground later that same year. In July 1655 Zlotarenko asked the tsar to give him two other towns,
Borzna and
Hlukhiv, in exchange for burned Baturyn.
Cossack capital The city rebuilt itself over time. In 1663, in Baturyn, Hetman
Ivan Briukhovetsky signed a settlement with Russia that increased dependence on Russia. In 1668, the Baturyn Cossacks supported the anti-Moscow
uprising. However, unlike other cities, Baturyn was not burned down after the uprising was suppressed. For this reason, the Cossack elders with the new Hetman
Demian Mnohohrishny chose Baturyn as the new center of power, moving it from
Hadiach. From 1670, troops of Muscovite
Streltsy were stationed here. The
capital of the
Cossack Hetmanate (an autonomous Cossack republic in
Left-bank Ukraine) was located in Baturyn from 1669 to 1708 and from 1750 to 1764.The area prospered under the rule of Hetman
Ivan Mazepa (1687–1708), increasing in size and population (with upwards of 20,000 residents). Baturyn boasted 40
churches and
chapels, and two
monasteries. Two of the most important institutions of the Hetmanate were located in Baturyn: The General Military Chancellery and the General Military Court. Next to the General Chancellery was the Chancellery
Kurin, which prepared for administrative and judicial service. Mazepa also built a fortified palace in Honcharivka near Baturyn as his headquarters. In 1708 the
Zaporozhian Cossacks became involved in the
Great Northern War. Hetman Mazepa, after realizing that the Russians planned to remove him from power, switched his allegiance to
Sweden (then at war with the Russian Empire) and began to place more emphasis on
Ukraine's independence. On 13 November 1708 a
Russian army under the command of
Alexander Menshikov sacked and razed Baturyn and slaughtered all of its inhabitants in a punitive response. The Russians broke , the commanding officer of the Baturyn garrison,
on the wheel. Historian Serhiy Pavlenko estimates that Menshikov's army murdered 6 to 7.5 thousand civilians and 5 to 6.5 thousand military personnel. In 1708 the city had had a population of 20,000; by 1726 it had become a ghost town. The capital of Hetmanate was moved to Hlukhiv.
In the Russian Empire and rebuilt by
Charles Cameron. The town was rebuilt in the 1750s, and served as the capital for Hetman
Count Kirill Razumovsky (in office 1750 to 1764).
Andrey Kvasov designed Razumovsky's palace in the
Baroque style (later
Charles Cameron rebuilt it in the
Neoclassical style in 1799–1803). The home of the famous Cossack
Vasyl Kochubey ( 1640–1708), constructed some 50 years earlier, is surrounded today by a
park in his name (although hostilities devastated this building during
World War II, it was restored during
Soviet times). Following the death of Hetman Razumovsky (1803) the town lost most of its political stature. In 1756 a textile plant was founded with 12 weaving machines. It quickly grew to include 76 machines. When
Russian empress
Catherine II (reigned 1762 to 1796) abolished the Ukrainian Cossack state and incorporated its territories into the
Russian Empire, Baturyn continued manufacturing textiles, feeding a growing demand for carpets. In 1843
Taras Shevchenko stayed in the town, using his time to paint many of the architectural sights. In 1860, Baturyn had a population of 3,563, which by 1880 grew to 6,580. Three annual
fairs were held in Baturyn in the late 19th century. During
World War II, the German occupiers operated a
Jewish forced labour battalion in Baturyn. In June 1993 the
Ukrainian government declared Baturyn the center of a national site of Ukrainian history and culture. In August 2002, at the prodding of President
Viktor Yushchenko, a government program was approved to restore Baturyn to its former glory. On 22 January 2009 Ukraine's President
Viktor Yushchenko officially opened the "Hetmans' Capital" monumental complex (including the newly renovated Razumovsky Palace). Until 18 July 2020, Baturyn belonged to
Bakhmach Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Chernihiv Oblast to five. The area of Bakhmach Raion was merged into Nizhyn Raion. ==Kyrylo Rozumovskyi Palace==