Kropyvnytska Oblast — considered the geographic heart of Ukraine — remains one of the country’s least known and most underestimated regions. A new episode from the channel KOKHANETS KLIO sets out to change that: the host, together with volunteers from the Baba Yelka project, dives into millennia of local history, unique ethnography, and the genuine demonology of central Ukraine.
The Land at Ukraine’s Heart
According to one widely cited theory, the geographic centre of Ukraine lies near the town of Dobrovеlychkivka in Kirovohrad Oblast. Despite this, the region remains largely unfamiliar even to experienced travellers and local historians. Yet it holds remarkable potential: hundreds of architectural monuments, fortresses, natural landscapes, rock formations, and a unique intangible cultural heritage shaped by centuries of diverse settlement.
From the Trypilians to the Scythians
The earliest settlements on this land date back to the Palaeolithic. Later, the region was home to the Trypilian culture — its mega-sites at Volodymyrivka and Nebelyvka were among the largest Trypilian settlements known to archaeology. Excavations near Sabatynivka gave their name to a separate late Bronze Age culture: the Sabatynivka culture.
In time, Cimmerians and then Scythians populated the region, leaving behind one of its greatest enigmas: Exampaeus (“Sacred Ways”). According to Herodotus, a colossal bronze cauldron stood here, cast from arrowheads gathered by order of King Ariantes as a kind of census of the Scythian population. It held 600 amphorae and had walls six fingers thick.
New Serbia and the Fortress of Saint Elizabeth
A defining chapter in the region’s modern history began with an imperial decree of 1751 establishing the military settlement zone of “New Serbia” — a defensive buffer against the Ottoman Empire. To protect these settlements, the Fortress of Saint Elizabeth was built between 1754 and 1757. Around it grew a town eventually named Yelysavetgrad — today’s Kropyvnytskyi.
A census of 1764 recorded that, despite strict restrictions, Ukrainians accounted for 65% of the population of the Elizabethan Province, while Serbs made up only 3.22%.
In 2016, as part of Ukraine’s decommunisation policy, the city was renamed in honour of the celebrated Ukrainian playwright and theatre director Marko Kropyvnytskyi, who was born in this region.
The Theatre of Coryphaeus and Cultural Legacy
In 1882, Yelysavetgrad became the birthplace of the first professional Ukrainian theatre company — the Theatre of Coryphaeus, founded by Marko Kropyvnytskyi. Its ensemble included Ivan Karpenko-Karyi, Mykola Sadovskyi, Panas Saksahanskyi, and Mariia Zankovetska, among others. This troupe laid the foundations of professional Ukrainian theatre.
Other notable figures born in Kirovohrad Oblast include the writer and statesman Volodymyr Vynnychenko, the poet Yevhen Malaniuk, the educator Vasyl Sukhomlynsky, and the philosopher Dmytro Chyzhevsky.
Wedding Traditions: Korovai, Embroidered Towels and the Obzhynky Ritual
Weddings in Kirovohrad Oblast were traditionally held in late autumn or winter. An essential element of preparation was the dowry chest — without one, a girl could not be considered a bride. Brides wore wax wreaths, sometimes adorned with hanging ornaments known as visyulky or balabayechky.
The wedding bread, the korovai, was baked exclusively by women in happy marriages — widows were excluded from the ritual. The shape of the bread was believed to foretell the couple’s future: if it rose evenly and looked beautiful, that was a good omen; if it burned, sank, or cracked, a difficult married life was expected.
A special ceremony called obzhynky was held after the last child in a family married. The parents were placed on a cart, crowned with wreaths of wheat and flowers, and driven through the entire village — sometimes rolled in mud or dipped in a nearby body of water — a symbolic rite of purification and transition into a new stage of life.
Demonology and the Secrets of the Black Forest
Kropyvnytska Oblast has its own register of supernatural beings. The perelesnyk — the spirit of a deceased person — takes the form of a fiery ball and visits at night those who mourn a loved one after sunset. The traditional remedy was consecrated poppy seeds scattered around the house and beside the bed.
The epicentre of the paranormal is Lake Berestuvate in the Chornolis Landscape Reserve. The lake does not freeze in winter, and its waters remain cold in summer. Local legends speak of the treasures of Nestor Makhno and a golden carriage belonging to Khan Giray said to rest on the bottom. Locals warn against lingering near the lake after dark, on account of water spirits — rusalky.
Another place of mystery is Monastyryshche — a granite canyon near the village of Zavturove, where legends speak of hidden Cossack and Tatar treasures and where, according to oral tradition, a woman once lived out her life in solitude on a clifftop.
The Baba Yelka Project
Much of the material in this video was gathered through the volunteer project “Baba Yelka”, which has been conducting ethnographic expeditions across Kropyvnytska Oblast for eight years, recording authentic customs, rituals and oral traditions, and making all findings freely available to the public. The project runs its own website, YouTube channel, and an ethnographic laboratory-museum.
“Kropyvnytska Oblast is a land where Trypilian mega-cities, Scythian secrets, Cossack traces and theatrical history lie beneath your feet. If you are tired of the usual tourist routes — just go to Kropyvnytska.”
— KOKHANETS KLIO