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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Berdychev:Where Frederic Chopin Began his Career 

17 November, 1998 - 00:00

A half-legend has it that after the wedding ceremony of Honore de Balzac
and Ewelina Hanska, an interesting conversation took place outside the
St. Barbara's Cathedral. An old Berdychev tailor asked Balzac where he
had had his coat made. After Balzac told the tailor that he had had it
made in Paris, and after checking the distance separating the two cities,
the old tailor concluded with amazement, "It is so far from Berdychev,
but they sew quite well there."

The most surprising thing is that there is nothing implausible in this
piece of oral folklore. In the mid-nineteenth century, Berdychev was a
large city maintaining close economic and cultural ties with many cities
not only in Ukraine and Russia, but also in other, more remote countries.

Let us take a look at the historical beginnings of the city. There exist
several versions of the origin of the name Berdychev. According to one
of them, it came from the name of the Berendey tribe, which was resettled
under Kyiv Rus'. Over time, the name underwent transformations and acquired
its present form. According to another version, the name originated from
the proper name Berdych. When part of Kyiv Rus' came under the rule of
the Grand Princes of Lithuania, this area was owned by Berdych, Prince
Vitovt's subordinate. Later Berdych founded a village here, given the name
of Berdychev.

The third version is backed up with documents: the first written mention
of Berdychev dates back to 1546. It is described as the borderland village
of Berychykove, owned by the Tyszkewicz family. Another document of 1593,
a list of Tyszkewicz's assets, reads, "Berdychev is located on the Pyatka
River. A castle is being built there now."

Berdychev's proximity to the Polish-Ukrainian border shaped its subsequent
historical development. Berdychev should credit its geographical location
for both the prosperity it has enjoyed and the hardships it has endured.

In 1627, Kyiv governor Janusz, a member of the Ukrainian Tyszkewicz
family, built a monastery of barefoot Carmelites in Berdychev, and the
castle along with the nearby villages were transferred to the monastery's
ownership. At the time, the Catholic and the Orthodox churches were in
a tense struggle with each other. The Catholic Church was a powerful instrument
of suppressing the Ukrainian people under Polish rule. For mercenary reasons,
a number of aristocratic Ukrainian families converted from the Orthodox
faith to Catholicism.

The role of the Carmelite monk order in the dissemination of Catholicism
was by no means insignificant. The history of the order dates from 1156,
when a community of hermits was formed on Mount Carmel. The charter of
the Carmelites, approved by Pope Honorius III in 1224, was very restrictive
- every Carmelite was expected to spend his life in prayers and hard work.
In 1247, Pope Innocent IV approved a less severe charter for the Carmelites
and included them in the mendicant orders. This move caused the Carmelite
order to split into observants, or barefooted Carmelites, who retained
their stern lifestyle, and conventuals, or shod Carmelites, who lived according
to the more liberal charter.

In 1634, Berdychev's barefoot Carmelites started building the underground
Mariinsky Cathedral, as well as a number of buildings. The monastery premises
were encircled with a high rampart and a deep moat, and cannons were placed
on top of the rampart. The monastery fortifications, guarded by a garrison,
on many occasions provided shelter to the residents of the nearby villages
in times of enemy attack.

The popularity of the monastery was enhanced by the miraculous icon
of the Mother of God. Many pilgrims came to worship the icon, thereby positively
influencing the development of trade and the welfare of the Berdychev population.

However, historical cataclysms did not bypass the Carmelites' abode.
In 1648, a Cossack force, after defeating Tyszkewicz and his garrison,
ruined the castle and drove out the monks. Permanent disputes between the
monks and the town owners also disrupted the town's normal course of life.
In 1663, the Carmelites made their way back to Berdychev and even managed
to rebuild the monastery, but in 1684 were ousted again, this time by Tyszkewicz's
successors. Subsequently, it took Polish courts thirty years to finally
restore the order's rights.

In 1768, another dramatic event occurred. The monastery gave refuge
to the remainder of the Confederation of Bar led by Kasimierz Pulawski,
after his defeat by the Russians. The fortress was besieged by General
Krechetnikov's corps and subjected to artillery fire. According to archival
evidence, 1569 cannon balls, 711 grenades, and 84 fire bombs were dropped
on the city. 25 days later the besieged people were forced to capitulate.

However, despite all the wars, life went on. In the early 1740s, construction
of a magnificent stone cathedral above the cave temple was begun. The cathedral
was designed by well-known military engineer and architect Jan de Witte,
who also supervised the construction work. Jan de Witte was assisted in
his duties by architect Hryhory Tarnovsky. To satisfy the construction
needs, a brick factory was built in the village of Bystrykh.

The cathedral was built in baroque style. Its interior is adorned with
exquisite carved and stucco decorations, gold, and frescoes. The mural
paintings were all made by Italian artist Frideriche Veniamino, who later
worked in the icon-painting shop of the Kyiv Caves Monastery (Pecherska
Lavra). In 1754, the temple was consecrated, and in 1758, a press started
to work at the monastery. The press was bought in Austria by King Augustus
III and donated to the Carmelites. It quickly gained utmost importance
for the area, printing books in Latin, Polish, Yiddish, German, French,
and Ruthenian. Especially popular was the Berdychev calendar, whose circulation
reached 40,000 copies a year. Berdychev also had a large library at the
time.

In 1765, the Radziwill princes obtained a right to hold ten large fairs
in Berdychev annually. The fairs had a European importance since Berdychev
was frequented by merchants from Russia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Turkey,
and other countries. The annual turnover of the fairs exceeded 20 million
Russian rubles, a tremendous amount of money at the time. Horses, bulls,
honey, wax, fatback, and wheat were sold abroad, while the main imports
included cloth, linen, and silk fabrics, which made Berdychev tailors so
famous.

In 1772, the First Partition of Poland occurred. The event did not have
any impact whatsoever on the economic life of the town but did bring about
some other changes. Berdychev and the area around it were included in Volyn
guberniya, which resulted in the demolition of the fortress in 1792 and
the shutdown of the monastery much later, in 1866.

The nineteenth century was much less troubled for Berdychev, as evidenced
by numerous written sources available dating back to that time period.
For example, the archival documents say that in the 1820s, composer Frederic
Chopin lived in Anton Radziwill's castle. Back then, the young musician
took lessons from the well-known Czech master of keyboard instruments Zhyvny.
Radziwill was able to see Chopin's talent and gave him money to obtain
a higher education. While living in Berdychev, Chopin also supervised organ
restoration work. In the 1820s, St. Barbara's Cathedral was built, in which
on March 14, 1850, Honore de Balzac married Ewelina Hanska.

A curious document of 1843 has survived to our day: an appeal to grant
Berdychev the status of a district (povit) city. Among other things, it
says, "One of the numerous virtues of the town is the natural wit of its
residents. By enjoying much success, it will be of great benefit to the
state and private individuals alike."

In 1845, Berdychev was granted the status of a district city. As soon
as it changed its status from a town to a city, the "discussion of measures
on improving its appearance" started immediately. Indeed, the city badly
needed those measures. At the time, there were 575 stone and 2876 wooden
structures in Berdychev, all of which were privately owned. The population
of the city was over 73,000.

 Another interesting piece of evidence is dated 1867. A Berdychev
architect, while doing construction work, discovered a whole system of
underground passages beneath the city. He reported his findings to the
governor, who, taking into account the importance of Berdychev for trade
and the possible use of the underground tunnels by smugglers, set up a
special commission to investigate the passages. The commission discovered
130 underground passages and 78 shafts. It also found out that the oldest
underground system under Cathedral Square was more than 200 years old.
However, the examination showed that all the underground passages were
used solely as storage facilities for supplies. There were no traces of
smuggling detected.

As of 1861, Berdychev enjoyed rapid industrial development, which was
facilitated especially by the construction of a railroad connecting the
city with Koziatyn in 1870, and later also with Shepetivka and Zhytomyr.

Berdychev was confidently building capitalism. Yet, the city was also
entering the twentieth century, whose events, in terms of their drama and
density, surpassed the entire earlier history of the city.

 

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