Berdychiv: Town of Greatness

Berdychiv: Town of Greatness

Editor's note: This story is one of the winning entries from the "Teach Us about Ukraine" writing contest sponsored by VOA Learning English and GoGlobal.

About 300 kilometers west, away from the crowd and the noise of the capital city of Kyiv lies the historic and picturesque¹ town of Berdychiv.

It is a place where the sound of birds singing blends with the morning mist at sunrise. Nobody hurries here. Life goes on in Berdychiv.

The town in northern Ukraine was founded in 1430. It is a place where three world cultures, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish, meet and are preserved.

Britannica Dictionary says the town started as a Lithuanian fortress² before turning into a Polish city from 1569 until 1793. At one point, it was the fourth-largest city in Ukraine with a large Jewish population.

Overlooking the Hnylopiat River is the ancient monastery³ fortress of the Barefoot Carmelites, known as the Sanctuary⁴ of the Mother of God of the Holy Scapular. The complex was built in the 16th century by the Janusz Tyszkiewicz family. The Internet Encyclopedia⁵ of Ukraine says the complex, along with a school and publishing house, turned the city into an important Polish religious center.

The complex is popular with visitors who take pictures of its magnificent buildings and lifelong residents who take part in life ceremonies like weddings and graduations.

Across the Catholic church in the same complex is a museum to celebrate the life of Joseph Conrad. The English writer was born in 1857 in Berdychiv to a family of Polish patriots⁶ who fought against Russian rule. They were arrested and exiled to northern Russia where Conrad first learned English at the age of four. Conrad left Russia and traveled the world as a mariner⁷ before starting his writing career.

Down a narrow path near the complex is an old building on the river banks. It is an art school where Ukrainians study to become designers, artists, and photographers. It is a place where many modern Ukrainian artists come from and a place filled with great works of art.

In the city center is an art installation: Suit from Berdychiv. Here visitors often take pictures, eat pizza, and sit in a café with a view of the center. Not far from the city center is the Berdychiv Historical Museum. Founded in 1926, the museum has a collection of valuable fabrics⁸ and paintings.

Berdychiv is known for one event related to the world of literature. The well-known French writer Honoré de Balzac married Éveline Hanska, a Polish countess, in 1850 in St. Barbara's Church after an 18-year courtship.

Some believe they chose the church for its beauty and history in a city of writers, and a city of love and culture.

Oleksandra Kravchenko wrote this essay.

I'm Anna Matteo.3

1 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

2 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

3 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

4 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

5 encyclopedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• The encyclopedia fell to the floor with a thud.那本百科全书砰的一声掉到地上。
• Geoff is a walking encyclopedia.He knows about everything.杰夫是个活百科全书，他什么都懂。

6 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

7 mariner   

n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者

参考例句：

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
• A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星，还要注意暗礁和险滩。

8 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。