Канів: Тарас Шевченко және тарихы бар қала

City in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine

Kaniv is a historical town that was founded in the 11th century by Kievan prince Yaroslav the Wise. The city is known today mostly for the burial site of Taras Shevchenko, the great Ukrainian poet and artist. Picturesque and ancient, Kaniv was once one of the largest cities of Kievan Rus'. At that time, it was an outpost used for diplomatic meetings between Ruthenian princes and ambassadors of militant tribes. Later, in the 18th century, it became a popular destination for elderly Cossacks, who wanted to live out their days on the banks of the great Dnieper River, and on the Chernecha Mountain, where, according to legend, a monastery stood in the past. The mountain remains one of Kaniv's most important places, attracting thousands of tourists to the city. Today it is most famous as a burial place of the celebrated Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko, who is considered a founder of modern Ukrainian literature, which is located on Taras Hill overlooking the Dnieper. The Kaniv reserve is the oldest historical and cultural reserve in Ukraine. Industry in the city includes Kaniv hydroelectric power plant located on the Kaniv Reservoir on the Dnieper, fruit and vegetable, condiments factory, large milk and cheese factory, poultry processing.

The city's date of establishment is unknown. It was first mentioned in the Paterikon of Caves Monastery in Kyiv of the 11th century where it is mentioned about relocation of icon painters from Constantinople during rule of Vsevolod of Kyiv. There is no definite information on the source and meaning of the city's name; supposedly its name is derived from the personal nickname Kanya ('buzzard'). Янко Микола Тимофійович in his Toponymic dictionary of Ukraine says that the name is derived from Turkish word meaning the place of khan. There are other hypotheses on the city's name. From mid 12th century Kaniv became a big city and played prominent role in the Kievan Rus' (Ruthenian state) where it was a center of an apanage principality within the principality of Kyiv. Until the 13th century, the central part of Kaniv was so called "Hellenic town" located at the Moskovka Mountain. Kaniv has been mentioned in report of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine after his 1245 travel to the Mongol Empire. In the report the city is mentioned as a Tatars post. In the Middle Ages it was located on the Road from Varangians to Greeks. Initially part of Kievan Rus', in the 1362 it was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 14th century, Grand Prince of Lithuania Vitautas built in Kaniv a castle that existed until 1768.

Kaniv is the administrative center of the Kaniv Raion (district). However, the city is a city of oblast subordinance, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed within the city itself.