Excavation in Shevchenko Park damages ancient Bila Tserkva site

Excavation in Shevchenko Park damages ancient Bila Tserkva site AI

A construction pit has been dug in Shevchenko Park on Yaroslav Mudry Street in central Bila Tserkva, inside the protected archaeological monument 'Okolne misto of Yuriyev'. Archaeologists warn the area preserves cultural layers spanning the founding-era through the 18th century; the planned building is listed as 13 m high and 991.3 m². The site lies in Kyiv region’s Bila Tserkva; destroying cultural layers risks losing context for artifacts tied to the city’s earliest recorded settlement.

Reporters documented an excavation pit behind the ATB supermarket in Shevchenko Park on Yaroslav Mudry Street in central Bila Tserkva. The plot falls within the locally protected archaeological monument known as "Okolne misto litopysnoho Yuriyeva," where cultural layers from multiple historical periods survive.

Victor Kvitkovsky of the Institute of Archaeology (NASU) tells Espreso that the area can contain evidence from the chronicle-era Yuriyev through early Bila Tserkva and the Cossack period. The development paperwork cited in the report lists a building 13 metres high with a footprint of 991.3 m². Archaeologists warn that once a cultural layer is disturbed, its contextual information is largely lost.

Ukrainian law requires archaeological investigation or archaeological supervision before earthworks on protected sites, and work must stop if finds appear. The Espreso report says the park-boundary designation did not prevent the digging, raising questions for local heritage authorities and residents.

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