The Cities of Transdniprian Ukraine at the End of the 18th — in the First Half of the 19th Century in the Travelogs of English Travellers

Abstract

The article investigates the records of English travellers about their visits to Transdniprian Ukraine in the end of the 18th - in the first half of the 19th centuries. The travelogues are characterised by the subjectivity of descriptions, absence of clear structure, and irregular presentation of data. However, they also contain unique information that cannot be found in other resources. In the course of the investigation it was established that the majority of the travellers preferred to visit Kyiv and Odesa, as opposed to provincial towns. The authors paid special attention to different aspects of city life, such as landscape description, building peculiarities, and architectural monuments of predominantly religious nature. Furthermore, the travellers observed such typical issues of the Ukrainian cities as desolate streets and houses, low service level and so on. The authors also analysed the attribution of sacred orthodox properties to some Ukrainian cities and to Kyiv in particular. This phenomenon attracted attention of the protestants who perceived certain features of the Orthodox Church, for instance pilgrimage, as local superstitions. In addition, they viewed the Church as a tool of mental manipulation and enrichment. A part of the travelogues is dedicated to the polyethnicity of the Ukrainian cities, although it interested the travelers only in the context of cultural interaction. In their description of the Ukrainian territories and cities the authors not only wrote down what they had seen or heard, but also referred to geographical, historical, ethnographical, and statistical data about the regions they had visited. This data was collected from researches made by their predecessors or from statistical and administrative accounts provided by the Russian officials.