A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...
An exploration of Kamianets-Podilskyi: one of Ukraine's premier lost treasures
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - One the largest cities in Ukraine today is being restored to its rightful place in history. For the last eight years, Dr. Adrian Mandzy has led an international group of students and scholars who are painstakingly conducting archaeological excavations of the Old City of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Students from North America work with premier archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and architects in reconstructing the history of this long - forgotten city.
As a result of their research, the buried, ruined debris of a lost world arises and, through it, the ghosts of a once-proud citadel speak anew.
Now a small regional center of about 100,000, during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries Kamianets-Podilskyi was one the largest cities in Ukraine. The city's long history as an urban administrative, cultural and economic center on the border between the empires of Europe and Asia, Christianity and Islam, Catholicism and Orthodoxy earned it the well-deserved title as "the city on the edge." For almost 300 years, from 1374 to 1672, the city was a regional capital on Europe's frontier to the East.
The city's three dominant ethnic groups (the indigenous Ukrainians, immigrant Armenians and Polish colonists) were equally represented in all social and political levels of the city. Each community maintained its own particular legal representation and courts within the city. Tolls were collected at the city's three gates (Ukrainian, Polish and Armenian) and in times of military crises each community defended its particular gate towers. So that not one ethnic group could dominate over the other two, the city council was composed of members of all three communities.
Once every three years the senior council elder was to be Ukrainian. Whereas in almost all other cities the legal rights and economic opportunities for Ukrainian citizens were extremely limited, in Kamianets-Podilskyi the Ukrainian community continued to grow and prosper. Although religious conflicts grew in intensity as the 17th century progressed, at the time of the city's conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1672, 11 Orthodox churches, one Catholic cathedral, five Catholic religious houses (Dominicans, both male and female houses, Franciscans, Jesuits and Carmelites), one Jesuit college, two Latin hospitals (St. Lazarus and St. Catherine) and three Armenian churches co-existed within the city.
Through the following centuries, the city declined and its glory was all but forgotten. Now, as Eastern Europe emerges from its decades of Soviet domination, a new generation of scholars has set forth to challenge long-held notions and properly access how people lived in this once famous city in the east. In a groundbreaking research program, which began in 1991, a multinational team continues to challenge our notions of the past and push at the boundaries of knowledge.
Since 1991 archaeological excavations have been carried out by the Kamianets-Podilskyi Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to the study and preservation of the Old City's cultural heritage. These excavations are part of an ongoing international program in the city's historical core and are sponsored in cooperation with St. John Fisher College, (Rochester, N.Y.), the University of Alberta (Edmonton), the Krakow Politechnical University, the Lviv Institute of Social Sciences, the Lviv Institute of Restoration and the Kamianets-Podilskyi Historical-Architectural Preserve.
This summer, Dr. Mandzy is taking six student volunteers from North America on an adventure of a lifetime to Kamianets-Podilskyi. In the six weeks spent in the field, the team will conclude excavations of the Ukrainian Church of the Holy Trinity, evaluate the still-standing 14th century city hall, and explore the entrance to the city's monumental stone castle. Student volunteers will excavate archaeological features, discover parts of long-lost buildings, dig up hidden artifacts and process the finds from which the new history of Ukraine is being written. Most importantly, while experiencing the past they have the unique opportunity of living in Ukraine - not like tourists, but as part of something greater.
Volunteers will take time off to get better aquatinted with modern-day Ukraine. Every other weekend they plan to travel to nearby archaeological and historic sites, as well as other points of interests, including the cities of Lviv and Kyiv, and the historic fortresses at Khotyn and Zhvanets. Perhaps one of the most romantic aspects of the summer is the festival of Ivana Kupala, which is celebrated every year with the Podilske Bratstvo (Podilian Brotherhood), a local group of Ukrainian folklorists.
At the end of this summer's excavations, like last year, team members are planning a 10-day field trip to Odesa and Crimea, where they plan to first visit the 14th Genoese fortress of Bilhorod (Akkermann) near Odesa, as well as explore Odesa itself. In addition to spending time on the pristine sandy beaches of the Crimea, they will explore the former capital of the Crimean Khanate at Bakhchisarai, the port city of Sevastopol, the 13th century Italian fortress of Sudak and Crimea's world-famous vineyards. On the return trip the group plans to stop in Zaporizhia to visit the birthplace of the Zaporozhian Sich on Khortystia Island.
The cost for participation in the summer dig program runs $1,500 (U.S.). This includes all local transportation in Ukraine, food, housing and instruction. For those who want to go for the 10-day excursion to the Black Sea, there is an additional cost of $350 that covers the cost of housing and transport.
Applicants of all backgrounds, age 18 and older are invited. Volunteers need not be fluent in Ukrainian but must be in good health and able to do physical labor in a hot, sunny climate. A sense of humor and a spirit of adventure are a must. No previous archaeological experience is needed. Volunteers with previous archaeological experience are also welcome.
For more information about Kamianets-Podilskyi, visit the website: http://www.lviv.ua/kamianets/. For further information and forms for participating, please contact Dr. Adrian Mandzy, Kamianets-Podilskyi Foundation, 2033 Westfall Road, Rochester, NY 14618; (716) 442-1597; [email protected].
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 2, 1999, No. 18, Vol. LXVII
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