Hlukhiv

Hlukhiv or Glukhov is a historic town in Sumy region of Ukraine, just south from the Russian border (see map). As of 2001, the city's population is 35,800. It is near the air base of Chervone Pustohorod. First noticed by chroniclers as a Severian town in 1152, Hlukhiv became the seat of a branch of the princely house of Chernigov following the Mongol invasion of Rus. Between 1320 and 1503 it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before being conquered by the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1618 it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was granted Magdeburg Rights in 1644 by Władysław IV Vasa.

Since the first school of singing in the Russian Empire was established there in 1738, the town has a rich musical heritage. Composers Dmytro Bortniansky and Maksym Berezovsky, whose statues grace the Bortniansky Square of Hlukhiv, are believed to have studied there.