Ukrainian Cossacks on USA lands
The museum was opened in 1993, a big contribution for its organization was done by Ukrainian Diasporas in USA and Canada that was very interested in popularization of the history of Ukrainian Cossacks and especially the role of the Cossack military leaders – Hetmans (the word originates from the German Hauptmann and the Polish hetman that means “leader”). In the Polish Kingdom in the 16th century, local military commanders and administrators were known as hetmans. The title was also used for the supreme military commander both in Poland in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the end of the 16th century the commander of the Cossacks, originally known as the “elders” (starshina), also became known as the hetman.
Hetmanate era in Ukraine
From 1648 the hetman was the head of the Cossack state that got the name of Hetmanate (1649 – 1764). The capitals of the Hetmanate in different periods were: Chihirin (1648–1663), Gadiach (Ukr.-Hadiach, 1663–1668), Baturin (1669–1708 and 1750–64), and Glukhov (Ukr.-Hlukhiv, 1708–1734). The Hetmanate coincided with a period of cultural flourishing in Ukraine, particularly during the reign of hetman Ivan Mazepa (1639 - 1709). During the reign of Catherine II, the Cossack Hetmanate autonomy was progressively destroyed. After several earlier attempts, the office of Hetman was finally abolished by the Russian government in 1764, and his functions were assumed by the Little Russian Collegium, thus fully incorporating the Hetmanate into the Russian Empire.
If you want to feel the Cossacks life, join the Mazepa House
The museum is located in the Podol area (Ukr. - Podil, the historic and the oldest one in the city) in the house of the verge of the 17th-18th centuries known as “Mazepa House” though there is no evidence of the fact that Hetman lived here. May be it is so called because of the style of the houses that belonged to rich Ukrainians of that time. And the real house of Hetman could have a look like this one. The house itself is of big interest because it is one of the rare buildings that survived after the fire of 1811 that destroyed the biggest part of Podol quarters. The exhibition contains more than 8500 items, its library has more than 3000 books devoted to the Cossack-Hetmanship period of Ukraine. Among the most interesting exhibits are: the map printed in Germany in 1716, paintings of the churches and monasteries constructed for the donations of Hetmans, personal things, arms, authentic documents, flags, regiment identifying horsetails on pikes, different maces – symbols of power and position, trumpets, seals, inkpots of regiment clerk and so on. Of special interest are the exposition dedicated to famous Hetmans Petro Sagaidachnyi, Bogdan Khmelnitskyi (he signed an agreement of incorporation Ukraine into the Russian state), Philip Orlic (he wrote the first Constitution of Ukraine ), Ivan Mazepa and Pavel Skoropandskyi - the last Hetmans who tried to restore the Hetmanship in 1918.
