Beryslav [Берислав]. See Google Map; see EU map: VII-14. City (2022 pop 11,900) on the right bank of the Dnipro River, a raion center in Kherson oblast and a port of call with a grain terminal on the Kakhovka Reservoir (its dam, built 7.5 km downriver in 1956, was detonated in 2023). The city forms part of and sits on the north side of the Kakhovka conurbation.
History. The area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Period. Inhabitants changed their economy from hunting (6th millennium BC) to herding, farming, and pottery-making of the Trypillia culture (Eneolithic, early 5th to late 4th millennia BC), followed by the Indo-European Yamna archeological culture complex (from ca 3200), followed by the Catacomb culture and the Inhul culture (ca 2300–1200 BC) with livestock herding and the use of burial mounds (see Kurhan) containing anthropomorphic stelae, copper and bronze artefacts. Ancient town sites and burial mounds containing iron weapons and gold jewelry were identified with the Cimmerians (900–650 BC) and the Scythians (650–250 BC). Remains of a palatial fort near Beryslav associated with the Cherniakhiv culture (2nd–5th centuries AD) prompted S. Heiko and O. Didyk (2005) to suggest it as the possible site of the legendary Árheimar at Danparstaðir (the Dnipro River), capital of Ermanaric (ca 296–376), king of the Goths; the site proposed earlier by Omeljan Pritsak (1993) was the ruins near Kamianka-Dniprovska. Disrupted by the invasions of the Huns (376), followed by the Avars (ca 560), the land was invaded again by the Onogurs (ca 700), the Ugrians (ca 830), the Pechenegs (ca 860), and then displaced by the Cumans (1036).
At the site of Beryslav, the Tavan crossing of the Dnipro River served as an ancient route for salt merchants and a land route between Kyiv and the Crimea. In the Middle Ages it was controlled by the Cumans (11th–13th centuries) and then by the invading Mongol-Tatars (the Golden Horde, 1240 to ca 1400), notably Khan Tokhtamysh, who built Dohanhechit, controlling the right of passage for Rus’ and Genoese merchants. With the expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the early 15th century Dohanhechit was replaced by a Lithuanian fortress and tollhouse built by Vytautas the Great. In the mid-15th century the Tatars re-took the site and built here the fortress of Kazi-Kermen. The nomadic Nogay Tatars, who grazed the left bank of the Dnipro River, rallied here to raid Ukrainian settlements (1468, 1474), take livestock booty, and capture slaves to sell in the Crimea. The Zaporozhian Cossacks responded with several campaigns to free the captives.
In 1475 the Ottoman Empire took the Crimean Khanate as its vassal and in 1526 assumed direct control of the right bank with Kazi-Kermen as its northern outpost on the Dnipro River. Kazi-Kermen was re-fortified (1484, 1660s) and with the fortresses Mustrit-Kermen (on Tavan Island) and Islam-Kermen (on the left bank), closed the Dnipro River highway to the Zaporozhian Cossacks and defended the Crimea from Cossack attacks. By the 1670s Kazi-Kermen was comprised of three fortified settlements, the smallest of which was its citadel on a cliff. Zaporozhian Cossacks led by Ivan Sirko partly destroyed it in 1670 with a year-long siege. In the 1695–96 Dnipro campaign, the combined forces led by Hetman Ivan Mazepa and Muscovite boyar B. Sheremetev took Kazi-Kermen; its walls were penetrated by the Cossack Poltava regiment. During the Crimean campaign of 1698 Kazi-Kermen was re-taken and according to the Istanbul Peace Treaty of 1700 was to be depopulated, but in practice continued as a transit point for the Zaporozhian Cossacks throughout the 18th century.
Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, Kazi-Kermen was incorporated into the Russian Empire’s newly-acquired frontier territories of Azov gubernia. In 1776 it became a county seat within the Kherson province of the New Russia gubernia, with settlers coming mostly from the former the Poltava regiment and Chernihiv regiment. In 1784 Kazi-Kermen was re-named Beryslav (meaning in Ukrainian: bery slavu = take the glory), then 1803 became a town in the Kherson county of Kherson gubernia. Its transit trade grew when a paved road with bridges and a pontoon bridge were built there in 1785. During the Crimean War (1853–56) Beryslav served as an important transit and support point with a hospital for the military; it suffered a typhus epidemic brought by evacuees from the Crimea. By the end of the 19th century, steamboats ferried up to 100,000 carts of freight per year. By 1914 the town’s population reached 16,000 and there were 4 churches.
During the revolutionary years of Ukraine’s struggle for independence (1917–20), the town’s residents met (28 May 1917) to establish their own governing council and became (10 December 1917) part of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR). Beryslav was then occupied by the Bolsheviks (18 January 1918) and made part of the Odesa Soviet Republic; it was liberated by the Austro-Hungarian 11th Division and the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (6 April 1918) and rejoined the UNR and, subsequently, the Ukrainian State governed by Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky. After the new Ukrainian government, the Directory of the Ukrainian National Republic, led by Symon Petlura took control in Kyiv on 14 December 1918, it was from Beryslav that Hetman Skoropadsky sent his resignation telegram on 16 December 1918. After the fall of the Hetman government and departure of Skoropadsky with the Austro-Hungarian forces, the town was occupied by the French-Greek troops of the Entente (29 January 1919) denying it to the Ukrainian Directory government. It then fell to the Ukrainian anarchist revolutionaries led by Nykyfor Hryhoriv (8 March 1919), to the Red Army (June 1919), to the ‘White’ forces (Volunteer Army of Southern Russia led by General Anton Denikin, 13 August 1919) and finally to the Red Army (3 February 1920). This was followed by the installation of the Soviet government (16 April 1920) and its imposition of War Communism on private enterprises and religious institutions.
During the Soviet period Beryslav became a raion center of the Kherson okruha in the Odesa gubernia (1923), the latter re-named Odesa oblast in 1932. Beryslav was incorporated into the new smaller Mykolaiv oblast in 1937, and then into the new even smaller Kherson oblast in 1944.
Along with other rural areas of the Kherson region, the town suffered from famine of 1921–3, then dekulakization (1930) and collectivization (1930–33) culminating in the Famine-Genocide of 1932–3. Churches were dispossessed of valuables and closed. Beryslav began to publish its newspaper (1932). As population recovered in the late 1930s, and Beryslav gained city status in 1938.
During the Second World War Beryslav was occupied by Nazi Germans (23 August 1941 to 11 March 1944) and administered by an ethnic German, Joseph Falman. Briefly, partisans resisted the occupation forces (August to November 1941). There were mass executions of Jews (about 400, by Einsatzgruppe D on 22 September 1941, and 35 more in October 1941), followed by about 1,200 prisoners of war from an adjacent camp that held about 4,000 POWs. Many residents were taken as Ostarbeiter for slave labor in Germany in the war industry or moved west as the 3rd Ukrainian Front of the Soviet Army re-took Beryslav in March 1944.
In the 1950s the construction of the dam for the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station and the creation of the Kakhovka Reservoir enhanced water supply, enabled the intensification of agriculture in the area and revitalized Beryslav’s economy. By 1969 its population grew to 14,000, by 1972 to 14,900, and by 1989 to 17,500.
Following the 1991 Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence the one remaining closed church was re-opened and new ones established. The education system was diversified. The setback and then a recovery of the economy had minimal effect on Beryslav, but ageing population resulted in its decline from 17,500 in 1989 to 15,500 in 2001 and 12,800 in 2016.
Russian forces from Russia-occupied the Crimea seized Beryslav on 24 February 2022, but the city was liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 11 November 2022. Nevertheless, it remained a frontline outpost under attack from Russian forces across the river, with resultant damage to structures, loss of power and water supply. Despite dangers and hardships, many of Beryslav’s residents refuse to leave.
Population. Since its inception as Beryslav, the town was predominantly Ukrainian. The 1897 census identified 12,149 residents by language and religion: 72.8 percent speakers of Ukrainian, 21.7 percent Yiddish-speaking Jews, and only 4.2 percent Russian-speaking residents. By 1926 the town’s population declined to 7,276 with a decline in the number and share of Ukrainians (70.1 percent) and Jews (11.9 percent, mainly through emigration) and an increase of Russian-speakers (23.2 percent). Nearly all Jews were massacred in the Holocaust during the Second World War. Following Ukraine’s independence, the 2001 census revealed an increase to 15,455 residents, of whom 89.4 percent were ethnically Ukrainian and 8.7 percent Russian. Other minorities were insignificant. In terms of mother tongue, the shares were (in percent): Ukrainian (89.5) and Russian (10.1).
Economy. Until 2023 the city provided administrative services both to its urban residents and villages in its raion: the Beryslav City Council, the Beryslav Raion State Administration, the Beryslav Raion Court, the Beryslav Prosecutor’s Office, the Beryslav Inter-raion Security Administration in Kherson oblast, the Beryslav regional branch of the National Police of Ukraine, the Beryslav state tax inspection office, and the Beryslav Regional Justice Administration. The city had a hospital and an emergency clinic.
Among its industries were: 1) the Beryslav Machine-building Plant (est 1897, making agricultural equipment, destroyed during the Second World War, after 1955 built diesel engines for trains and ships, assumed collective ownership in 1995, and diversified its production to experimental non-standard equipment, employed 538, damaged in 2022 and non-functional since); 2) brick and tile making and 3) reinforced concrete building materials plants; and 4) road and infrastructure construction. Food processing includes: 5) a bakery, 6) a butter-cheese creamery, 7) a cannery, and 8) the Prince Trubetskoi Winery (at nearby Vesele). Services included 9), the Beryslav Grain Elevator (destroyed by Russian bombs in April 2023), 10) bussing, 11) trucking, 12) electric power (generated at the nearby Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, recently supplemented with ground-mounted solar panels adjacent to the Beryslav Machine-building plant), 13) gas, 14) telephone and 15) water provision.
Culture. Education provided employment and cultural development. There were 3 pre-schools (kindergartens), 3 secondary schools (lyceums), a vocational school, and 6 extramural education establishments: (in sport, technology, arts, pedagogy, creativity, and social skills). There are two colleges in the city for training teachers and medical workers: 1) the Beryslav Professional Pedagogical College, established as a tekhnikum (1931), changed to a pedagogical school (1937), closed during the Second World War (1941–45), re-opened (1946), reorganized into a college (2008), named after V. Benkovsky (2012), became an affiliate of Kherson State University (2018) and designated professional (2020); 2) the Beryslav Professional Medical College, established (1962) by the head physician of the Beryslav Central Regional Hospital to train surgeon’s assistants and obstetricians (1962), and nurses (1965), obtained its own building (1967), enrolment grew from 104 students (1962) to 470 (1975), gained status of a college (2012) with specialties (and 2022 enrolments) in medicine (225), nursing (230) and pharmacy (75), provides education online since 2022. The Beryslav Professional Agricultural Lyceum, est. 1982, current name since 2020), however, is now located in the village of Chervonyi Maiak, 16.6 km NE of Beryslav.
In addition to school libraries the city had its central public library, a library for children, the newspaper Maiak, TV cable service, 5 TV and 4 radio channels, and 6 internet publications.
The Beryslav branch of the Kherson Regional Studies Museum (est 1958, designated national in 1967, part of the Kherson Regional Studies Museum since 1981) offered 7,500 exhibits. Beryslav has 2 historic churches and a chapel: 1) the unique 18th-century Zaporozhian wooden church (the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; it was built of oak frame and metal roof in 1725 at the Perevolochna Cossack fortress of the Poltava regiment and called Resurrection Church; in 1784 its Cossacks were relocated, transporting the disassembled church with them down the Dnipro River 350 km to their new home, Kazi-Kermen, where they re-assembled it; in 1853, during the Crimean War, the church was moved outside Beryslav to the new Presentation cemetery, where it was re-consecrated Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; at its former place the Resurrection Cathedral was built of stone, but demolished by the Soviet regime and replaced with the Beryslav palace of culture); during Soviet period its faithful managed to resist its closure until 1939 and saved it from demolition; it was re-opened in 1941 and continued to function, becoming part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate in 1990; 2) the Holy Dormition Church (built in 1811–35 in classical style; had an infirmary for Crimean War veterans attached to it in 1855; in the Soviet period, it was converted to a pedagogical school with a library; during Ukraine’s independence, the attachment was demolished and the church partly restored, secured for use of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate in 2005, with a grand opening on 28 August 2010, damaged during Russian incursion, 3 September 2022); and 3) a chapel at the Military Cemetery (built in Romanesque style in 1855). Post-soviet churches include: 1) the Maccabee Martyrs Ukrainian Catholic church (plot secured in 2012, built in 2015, a refuge and center of support after Russian incursion and retreat); 2) the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Beryslav, also engaged in humanitarian work.
City plan. Located on the north side near the SW end of the former Kakhovka Reservoir of the Dnipro River, Beryslav is laid out in grid street pattern. It forms an irregular rectangle 5.6 km long, WSW to ENE along Dnipro River, and 1.3 km wide and occupies 9 sq km. According to city’s official plan, formulated in 2018–20 for development until 2039, and recent maps of the city suggest that, as of 2019, the land uses (in percent) were: residential (mostly single-story homes, 50.0), industrial (20.0) institutions and services (3.6), roads and infrastructure (4.9), parks and boulevards (1.3), stadiums and playgrounds (0.6), cemeteries (1.2), ruins (0.4), green space (17.7), farming (0.3).
The city’s older main street that crosses the length of the city is closest to the river. Originally called Katerynoslav Street, it was re-named Trotsky Street in the 1920s, then 1st of May Street, and finally in 2023, the Heroes of Ukraine Street. Its new (1950s) wider main street in the central and western part of the city, a block north of the first, was called Lenin Street and re-named in 2023 Central Street. In the central part of the city, between these two streets, is where most institutions are located.
The old city center is at the intersection of Heroes of Ukraine and Resurrection (formerly Rosa Luxemburg) streets. Towards the river, on the east side of Resurrection Street, is the palace of culture, the former site of the Resurrection Cathedral and before that of the re-assembled wooden Cossack Holy Presentation Church. Flanking the palace of culture, on the W side of Resurrection Street and on the S side of Shevchenko Street is the Taras Shevchenko Park, with a monument to the Taras Shevchenko overlooking the river. Further is a mini park with a monument where the fort of Kazi-Kermen once stood. The Kazi-Kermen Ravine, extending inland, divides Beryslav into two parts: the central-eastern two-thirds, and the western third.
At the palace of culture, on its E side and W side of Hohol Street are the offices of the Maiak newspaper and (S of it) the Beryslav music school. On the E side of Hohol Street is a migration and police office and S of Shevchenko Street, a youth library and activities center. E of the palace of culture, along the Heroes of Ukraine Street (S side) are two schools, the Beryslav city hall at Dormition (formerly Lunacharsky) Street and (N side) social services office, beyond the Kobzar Street the Beryslav Raion Central Library and another school, and beyond the Hrushevsky (formerly Manuilenko) Street, the Beryslav grain terminal, its docks non-functional since the loss of the Kakhovka Reservoir.
The newer, wider Central Street begins on the W side from the Cossack (formerly Urytsky Street, which connects it: S, to the Heroes of Ukraine Street, which continues WSW through the western part of the city; and N, to the Presentation (formerly October) Street. At Cossack Street, between the Heroes of Ukraine and Central streets, are apartment blocks, with services and a post office. E along Central Street are various institutions, including the raion administration, court house, and Beryslav Historical Museum. Further, after 2 blocks of mostly apartment buildings, is the Dormition Church, and on its N side, the central market; beyond this block, the area is mostly residential. Beyond the city limit, Central Street continues to Beryslav’s eastern suburb, Novoberyslav that has a gymnasium with its football field and a mock castle playground, a rural council building, and a major farming enterprise (N end).
The northern strip of central-western Beryslav, along Presentation Street and Kherson Street, is mostly residential with some exceptions: 1) the Presentation Church with its mini-park (former cemetery); east, along Kherson Street (N side), a school and a cheese factory; and west from Presentation Church, the Beryslav machine-building plant, north of it, the ground-mounted solar panels and Beryslav transformer station, west of the plant, the Mashynobudivnyk stadium, and west of the stadium, the central cemetery, which borders on the Kazi-Kermen Ravine, separating the main part of Beryslav from its western part. After crossing the ravine, the street continues west as Tavanska Street, past (N side) the old military cemetery with its chapel, and connecting (S side) with 3 streets to the western part of Beryslav, and merges with the third, Crimean Street from the S to head NW as Highway T2207 (NW) and then to intersect (in 1 km) with Highway T0403 (SW-NE).
The western third of Beryslav is traversed by the Heroes of Ukraine Street. Some notable features along this thoroughfare, proceeding west from the Kazi-Kermen Ravine, are: (S side) a bus depot and (S of it), the Beryslav raion council; (on N side) a supermarket and (W of it) the Beryslav Medical College; then, beyond 6 blocks of mostly residential, the Beryslav Pedagogical College with its sports track. On the park’s west side is the Maccabee Martyrs Ukrainian Catholic church. The Beryslav Central Regional Hospital campus takes up a block (W side of Shoreline Street and S side of Heroes of Ukraine Street); to the SE and W of it are 2 clusters of apartment buildings. The Heroes of Ukraine Street exits Beryslav to join Highway T0403 which, going west, leads to Highway P47 (5 km) and thence SSE to the town of Kozatske (4 km), where the closest railway station (Kozatske) is located, and then over the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station dam (now destroyed) to Nova Kakhovka; Highway P47 also leads west to Kherson. However, proceeding NE on Highway T0403 past the W side of Beryslav offers quick access to its small (3 blocks) industrial park (mainly auto repairs) and then beyond to the remaining settlements of the Beryslav raion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
‘Beryslav’ Heohrafichna entsyklopediia Ukrainy vol 1 (Kyiv 1989)
Vyrs'kyi, D. ‘Beryslav’ Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy vol 1 (Kyiv 2003)
Heiko, S., Didyk, O. ‘Stara Beryslavshchyna,’ in Narysy z istorii Beryslavshchyny vyp 4 (Kyiv–Kherson–Beryslav 2005)
Loza, Yu. Istorychnyi atlas Ukraïny (Kyiv 2015)
Ihor Stebelsky
[This article was written in 2025.]
