Reserve in Kachanovka
An outstanding monument of the estate and landscape architecture of Ukraine is the palace in Kachanovka in the Chernihiv region. The construction of the palace complex began in 1771. Located in the estate of P. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, later it became the property of the Tarnowski family, with which the flowering of Kachanovka is associated. The most vivid figure of three generations of Kachanovka owners was Vasily Vasilievich, a zealous collector of Ukrainian antiquities.
With the transition in 1866 Kachanovka in his possession in the estate was revived construction, began to put in order the park, to arrange access roads. Kachanovsky Park is one of the largest landscape gardens in Ukraine and Europe. However, not in size, its uniqueness: in Kachanovka is struck by a skilful combination of the achievements of world park art and the wealth of Ukrainian nature. The park enchants with lakes and ponds, there are park bridges, legendary slides of Love and Fidelity, “Romantic”
In Kachanovka, relatives and friends of the hosts, most often whole families, willingly came and stayed often for the whole summer. The hospitality of Kachanovka was remembered by T. Shevchenko, N. Kostomarov, M. Maksimovich, N. Gogol and I. Repin, who immortalized the image of the master: a portrait of V. Tarnovsky is a famous study by Repin “Hetman”. In the picture, the owner of Kachanovka, dressed in a red, gold-embroidered kuntush, with a pistol and a sword, rests on one of the cannons that stood in front of the palace. The clothes and weapons depicted are Cossack relics, which were kept in the collection of V. Tarnovsky.
Kachanovka played a big role in the work of the artist V. Shternberg, with whom T. Shevchenko was friends. Being a student of the Academy of Arts, V. Sternberg spent summer vacations here in 1836 – 1838. He left behind him invaluable graphic sheets and small paintings that perpetuated sketches from the life of Kachanovka and her glorious guests. Among them – the general view of the manor from the side of the pond. V. Sternberg was carried away by Ukrainian nature, which has since become a topic of his painting. According to T. Shevchenko, Karl Bryullov in one sketch of Sternberg saw the whole of Ukraine.