Architecture and decor of Mazepa’s palace in Baturyn and Western analogies

This article summarizes the architectural and archaeological research of the remnants of Hetman Ivan Mazepa’s principal residence in Baturyn, the capital of the Cossack state or Hetmanate, 17^th-18^th centuries. It compares its design and exterior decorations with similar early modern palaces and monastic buildings in the Polish Kingdom and Western Europe. The comparative analysis is based on Western publications, Internet resources, as well as firsthand on-site explorations and photos of the structures in Ostroh, Volhynia, and Warsaw by Volodymyr Mezentsev in 2013-2015. He attributes Mazepa’s headquarter to the Central European baroque architecture and shows its distinction from the known mansions (“kam’ianytsi”) of the Cossack elite of the folk tradition. This work highlights the introduction of the advanced Western baroque palatial art to Baturyn by this hetman. It is illustrated with the colour hypothetical computer graphic reconstruction of his main residence before its destruction by Russian forces in 1708, as well as drawings and photographs of comparable early modern edifices in Poland. This article was published in the “Ukrainian Echo”, the English-language section of the popular Ukrainian Canadian newspaper “Homin Ukrainy” (Vol. LXXVII, No. 23, Toronto, June 17, 2025).

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In the news of Ivan Mazepa Name

08.08.2025

Article about Baturyn and Mazepa in the popular American archaeological magazine

Findings of the archaeologists in Baturyn have attracted the attention of the Archaeological Institute of America in New York (web.: archaeology.org). In 2023, the popular Archaeology magazine of this Institute published a nicely illustrated article about Baturyn and the tragic destruction of this capital of the Cossack state and the residence of the distinguished Hetman Ivan Mazepa by Russian troops in 1708, as well as the impressive archaeological findings there titled “Excavating Ukraine’s Lost Capital… a Bastion of Cossack Independence and Culture”. Mr. Daniel Weiss, executive editor of Archaeology, has prepared this article using the extensive consultations with Prof. Zenon Kohut, eminent historian of the Cossack polity and ex-director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta, and Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev of this Institute, executive director of the Canada-Ukraine Baturyn Research Project at CIUS and the associate leader of the excavations in Mazepa’s capital in 2001-13. Mezentsev’s photos of selected archaeological finds were published in the article. This highly reputable American magazine provides a broad publicity for the Baturyn history and culture and its study in the West. Article

07.08.2025

Architecture and decor of Mazepa’s palace in Baturyn and Western analogies

27.03.2025

League of Ukrainian Canadians supports “Ivan Mazepa’s Name” website in 2025

In March of this year, the Ucrainica Research Institute and the League of Ukrainian Canadians in Toronto donated their next subsidy to support our website "Ivan Mazepa Name". These institutions also rendered similar subsidies in 2017-2024. We acknowledge this annual financial support from Canada, which helps us to maintain the site and update it with new materials, thus continuing to popularize the life and deeds of Hetman Ivan Mazepa and his era, as well as the recent publications on these topics of Ukrainian history. We kindly thank Orest Steciw, M.A., President of the Ucrainica Research Institute and the Executive Director of the League of Ukrainian Canadians, and hope for further cooperation.

24.03.2025

Research on Archaeological Finds from Baturyn, Ukraine, in 2024

This illustrated article by Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev in PDF examines the glazed ceramic stove tiles featuring the angels or putti of the Renaissance tradition which were excavated among the remnants of Ivan Mazepa’s palace in Baturyn (ca. 1700). These archaeological finds show the ornate interior decoration of his principal residence and the stimulating influence of the European Christian art on the Cossack Ukraine capital promoted by the hetman. The article was published in the bulletin Canadio-Byzantina, No. 36, University of Ottawa, January 2025. This Canadian academic series has published Mezentsev’s brief reports and updates on the Baturyn excavation results from 2002 onward (https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ottawa/index.php/cb/issue/archive). Article

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