Samarchyk

Samarchyk stood on the Samara River, a major left-bank tributary of the Dnipro, amid the wooded valleys of the Zaporozhian country. Also called Novoselytsia, it was the centre of the Samara palanka, an administrative district of the Zaporozhian host. Its earthen defences and Cossack community formed part of the settlement of the river basin.

In the 1770s the inhabitants and Cossack officers decided to build a new Trinity church. Work began while the Sich still existed, and the main altar was consecrated in 1778, three years after the Russian government abolished the Sich. The large wooden cathedral remained a monument to the craftsmanship and communal life of the old Cossack town. Under imperial administration the settlement subsequently became known as Novomoskovsk.