ITINERARIES
GUIDE
70 a motor-car trip GUIDE-BOOK FOR MOTOR-CAR TOURISTS FROM «BALTIA-DRUK»
through
ukraine 1
25
68
10
50 21 P RO J E C T M A E C E N A S
Baltia-Druk
a motor-car trip through
ukraine
Baltia-Druk Kyiv
ББК 26.89(4УКР) я2 А22
ISBN 966–8137–59–0
Guidebook “A Motor-Car Trip through Ukraine”TM
DISCOVERY OF UKRAINE KYIV: SKETCHES OF THE PORTRAIT
By Ihor lylio, Yulia Ferentseva, Andriy Hlazovyi, Ihor Chekhovsky Published by “Baltia-Druk” Director General Ruta Malikenaite Editor-in-Chief Virginijus Strolia Project director Yulia Ferentseva Text moderator Ihor Lylio Lay-out and art work by Olena Zhelezniak Design by Stanislav Stefanovych Printing preparation by Volodymyr Sulzhenko Photography by Viktor Khmara, Oleksandr Ivanov, Mykola Ivaschenko, Mykola Ferentsev, Olena Zhelezniak, Yuriy Buslenko, Vadym Veresiuk, Serhiy Klymenko, Yevhen Prudkyi, Anton Mamay, Roman Mykhailiuk, Heorhiy Isaiev, Sviatoslav Kolesnikov
3 PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY.................. 30 4 STRONGHOLD OF POWER........................... 37 5 IN MAIDAN......................................................... 41 6 ANOTHER JERUSALEM................................... 43
Axonometry by Yaroslav Martyniuk, Oleksandr Sedak Recommended by the Council for Tourism and Health Resorts Maps and schematic plans by Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
By A. Hlazovyi 1 BY THE ROADS OF THE UPPER TOWN...... 20 2 UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS.............. 26
IN THE REALM OF CARPATHIAN BEAR (TRANSCARPATHIA) By I. Lylio
The publisher record their thanks to Ye. Polozhiy and M. Ohdanets
7 RUDKY•SAMBIR•TURKA•UZHOTSKY PASS• . NEVYTSKE•UZHGOROD ............................... 50 8 SEREDNIE•MUKACHEVE•CHYNADIEVE... 60 9 BEREHOVE•VYNOHRADIV•KHUST............. 67
© “Baltia-Druk” 2011 © TS AF of Ukraine
10 TIACHIV•SOLOTVYNE•RAKHIV.................... 70
“Baltia-Druk” Ukraine, 03150, Kyiv, 51/2 H. Barbusse St. tel. +3 8 044 502 1047 e-mail: baltija@ukr.net
UNFORGETTABLE LVIV By I. Lylio 11 THE MAGIC SQUARE OF THE MARKET..... 88
State Register of Publishers, certificate No. DK 643 issued Oct. 23, 2001, by the Ukrainian State Committee for Information Policy, Television and Broadcasting All rights reserved. No part of “A Motor-Car Trip through Ukraine” guidebook may be produced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owner. References to it may be made only with the documented consent of the copyright owner. The authors and the publisher made every effort to ensure that the information given in this guide. However, telephone numbers, prices, and opening and closing hours are subject to change.
12 ARMENIAN SECTION OF LVIV..................... 93 13 THE MANY-SIDED WORLD
OF THE HEART OF THE CITY........................ 94 14 A STROLL BEYOND THE BOUNDS
OF THE OLD WALLS......................................... 98 15 BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLD WORLDS.103
LVIV’S ENVIRONS (LVIV REGION) By I. Lylio 16 LVIV• KULYKIV•ZHOVKVA•KREKHIV.........110
ББК 26.89(4УКР) я2 А22
17 LVIV•STARE•SELO•SVIRZH•
ISBN 966–8137–59–0
ZOLOCHIV•PIDHIRTSI•OLESKO.................114 18 LVIV•DROHOBYCH•NAHUIEVYCHI
4
TRUSKAVETS•URYCH(TUSTAN FORTRESS).. 120
CONTENTS THE HUTSULIAN ROAD (IVANO-FRANKIVSK REGION) By I. Lylio 19 ROHATYN•HALYCH•IVANO-FRANKIVSK•
ЗМІСТ
BLUE-EYED VOLHYNIA By I. Lylio 24 OLYKA•LUTSK•ZYMNE•
VOLODYMYR-VOLYNSKY•SHATSK...........212
MANIAVA•NADVIRNA•YAREMCHA..........130 20 TATARIV•VOROKHTA•VERKHOVYNA•
KOSIV•SHESHORY•SNIATYN•
KOLOMYIA•KOSMACH ................................142
THE KNIGHTLY SONG OF PODOLIA (KHMELNYTSKY REGION) By I. Lylio 25 BERESTECHKO•TARAKANIV•DUBNO•
BILOKRYNYTSIA• KREMENETS•SHUMSK•
ONYSHKIVTSI•MEZHERICH•OSTROH•
RIVNE•KORETS ...............................................228
THE KNIGHTLY SONG OF PODOLIA (KHMELNYTSKY REGION) By I. Lylio 26 LETYCHIV•MEDZHYBIZH•KHMELNYTSKY•
SUTKIVTSI•KAMYANETS-PODILSKY•
ZHVANETS•BAKOTA .....................................250
THE NOISE OF THE PRUT AND CHERMOSH RIVERS(CHERNIVTSI OBLAST)
By I. Chekhovsky 21 KHOTYN•CHERNIVTSI•SADAHURA•LUZHANY
DUBIVTSI•ZELENIV•CHORTORYIA•VASHKIVTSI
VYZHNYTSIA•VYZHENKA•BILA KRYNYTSIA..154
THE LAND OF CASTLES AND CAVES (TERNOPIL REGION) By I. Lylio 22 POCHAIV•VYSHNIVETS•ZBARAZH•
TERNOPIL•MYKULYNTSI•TEREBOVLIA•
CHERVONOHOROD•ZALISCHYKY . ........182 23 BEREZHANY•PIDHAITSI•BUCHACH•
AMONG PALACES, GRANITE AND WOODS (ZHYTOMYR REGION)
By I. Lylio 27 ZHYTOMYR•VERKHIVNIA•CHERVONE•
ANDRUSHIVKA•BERDYCHIV•KHMILNYK•
CHORTKIV•HUSIATYN•
STAROKOSTIANTYNIV•DENYSHI•
SKALA-PODILSKA•KRYVCHE•
VOLODARSK-VOLYNSKY•KOROSTEN•
PECHERA “KRYSHTALEVA”• OKOPY . ......196
OVRUCH• NOVOHRAD-VOLYNSKY..............273
ON THE BORDER OF THE WILD FIELD (VINNYTSIA REGION) By I. Lylio 28 STRYZHAVKA•VINNYTSIA•VOLONOVYTSIA•
NEMYRIV•TULCHYN•BUSHA•
MOHYLIV-PODILSLKY•LIADOVA•
MUROVANI KURYLIVTSI•
SHARHOROD...................................................286
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THE ENVIRONS OF THE CAPITAL CITY (KYIV REGION) By Yu. Ferentseva
STEPPE LAND (ZAPORIZHIA AND DNIPROPETROVSK REGIONS) By I. Lylio
29 VYSHGOROD•NOVI•PETRIVTSI•
CHORNOBYL....................................................300 30 KOZYN•OBUKHIV•TRYPILLIA•RZHYSCHIV•
36 PETRYKIVKA•NOVOMOSKOVSK•
DNIPROPETROVSK•STARI•KODAKY•
ZAPORIZHIA•VASYLIVKA............................376
BALYKO-SCHUCHYNKA• KAHARLYK•BOHUSLAV................................305 31 BOYARKA•VASYLKIV•MARYANIVKA•FASTIV•
KOZHANKA•BILA•TSERKVA• PARKHOMIVKA................................................310 32 PEREYASLAV-KHMELNYTSKY•TASHAN•
DOBRANYCHIVKA•YAHOTYN•BOHDANIVKA•
SULYMIVKA•BORYSPIL.................................321
THE COSSACK LAND (CHERKASY REGION) By I. Lylio 33 UMAN•TALNE•SHEVCHENKOVE•
CHERNIHIV - THE CAPITAL OF THE FOREST EMPIRE By A. Hlazovyi
MORYNTSI•MLIIV•KHOLODNYI•YAR•
37 REMPART, OR WEARY FORTRESS.................... 403
SUBOTIV•CHYHYRYN•CHERKASY•
38 KRASNA SQUARE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS...407
MOSHNY•KANIV•TRAKHTEMYRIV...........328
39 HOLY CLOISTERS............................................409 SIVERSCHYNA’S GOLDEN DOMES AND EXQUISITE PARKS (CHERNIHIV REGION) By Yu. Ferentseva 40 PRYLUKY•HUSTYNIA•SOKYRYNTSI•
TROSTIANETS•KACHANIVKA.....................414 41 OSTER•KOZELETS•DANIVKA•LEMESHI.....418 42 LIUBECH•SEDNIV•MENA•SOSNYTSIA•
THE HEART OF UKRAINE (POLTAVA REGION) By I. Lylio 34 BEREZOVA•RUDKA•LUBNY•MHAR•
NORTHERN STARS (SUMY REGION) By I. Lylio 43 NIZHYN•KRUTY•OLENIVKA•BATURYN•
MYRHOROD•HOHOLEVE•VELYKI•
SOROCHYNTSI•OPISHNIA•
DYKANKA•POLTAVA......................................345
GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF UKRAINE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WILD FIELD (KIROVOHRAD REGION) By Yu. Ferentseva
MYKOLAIVKA•VESELI•BOKOVENKY•
POBUZKE...........................................................365
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VYSHENKY•HLUKHIV•OBRAZHIIVKA• PUTYVL•SUMY................................................430
WITHIN A HALO OF THE CAPITAL CITY (KHARKIV) By Yu. Ferentseva 44 UNIVERSITY HILL............................................452 45 AROUND CONSTITUTION SQUARE.........454
35 ROZUMIVKA•KIROVOHRAD•
NOVHOROD-SIVERSKY................................423
46 ALONG SUMSKA STREET............................456 47 ARCHITECTURAL ENSEMBLE
OF LIBERTY SQUARE.....................................458
CONTENTS ROMANTIC SPIRIT OF “THE NOBILITY NEST” (KHARKIV REGION) By Yu. Ferentseva
ODESSA – A CITY BORN ADULT By A. Hlazovyi
48 TROSTIANETS•OKHTYRKA•PARKHOMIVKA•
56 PRIMOSKY BOULEVARD..............................523
KRASNOKUTSK•HORODNE•VOLODYMYRIVKA•
57 RICHELIEU STREET.........................................525
SHARIVKA•STARYI MERCHYK•LIUBOTYN•
58 LANGERON STREET.......................................526
SKOVORODYNIVKA.......................................462
59 GOGOL STREET...............................................527
49 VERKHNIY SALTIV•PECHENIZKE MORE•
60 PUSHKIN STREET............................................528 61 DE RIBAS STREET............................................529
STARYI SALTIV•CHUHUIV............................472
62 CATHERINE’S STREET AND SQUARE.......531
DONBAS - AN UNKNOWN GIANT (DONETSK AND LUHANSK REGIONS) By Yu. Ferentseva
63 OPERA HOUSE.................................................532 64 PRIVOZ...............................................................533 UNDER THE SUN OF BESSARABIA (ODESA REGION) By A. Hlazovyi 65 БBILHOROD-DNISTROVSKY•BOLGRAD•
IZMAIL•STARA NEKRASIVKA•VYLKOVE...536
50 IZIUM•SVIATOHIRSK•BILOKUZMYNIVKA•
ARTEMIVSK-SOLEDAR-DONETSK............478 51 KOMSOMOLSKY•MARIUPOL•BERDIANSK•
MELITOPOL•HENICHESK• ARABATSKA STRILKA....................................490 52 MILOVE•BILOVODSK•NOVOLYMARIVKA•
DANYLIVKA•LUHANSK•KRASNODON....496
BY THE ROADS OF THE NORTHERN BLACK SEA MARITIME REGIONS (MYKOLAIV AND KHERSON REGIONS) By Yu. Ferentseva 53 MYHIYA•MYKOLAIV•PARUTYNE•
OCHAKIV• KOBLEVE......................................504 54 KHERSON•TIAHYNKA•BERYSLAV•
KAKHOVKA•ASKANIA-NOVAА..................509 55 HOLA PRYSTAN•KINBURNSKA KOSA•
SAGI-DZHARILGACH....................................514
THE FAIRYLAND OF CRIMEA By Yu. Ferentseva 66 BAKALSKA KOSA•CHORNOMORSKE•
OLENIVKA•YEVPATORIA•SAKI...................548 67 SEVASTOPOL•INKERMAN•BALAKLAVA•
FOROS................................................................554 68 SIMEIZ•ALUPKA•LIVADIA•YALTA•
MASANDRA•GURZUF•ALUSHTA..............558 69 OLD CRIMEA•SUDAK•NOVYI•SVIT•
KOKTEBEL•FEODOSIA•KERCH...................565 70 BAKHCHISARAY•CHUFUT-KALE•
TEPE-KARMEN•MANGUP-KALE•
KACHI-KALYON•ESKI-KERMEN..................572
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DISCOVERY OF UKRAINE “Dear reader, if it seems to you that something in my work is uncertain or incorrect, it may be really so. If you manage to get more perfect sources or some other chronicles, correct me with your heaven-born intellect, however, do not destroy my paltry work. It is difficult for a man to acquire perfect knowledge in everything, previous authors could make mistakes in their works, so could I, together with them.” S. Velychko “Chronicle of a Self-publisher”
DISCOVERY OF UKRAINE Ukraine has changed over the last fifteen years. From “Terra Incognita” in Eastern Europe it has turned into a fashionable tourist country. The number of guests visiting it is growing annually. In 2005 Ukraine was admitted into the world tourist’s organization. Citizens of the European Union, USA, Canada and some other countries obtained the right to enter our country without entrance visa. Today every visitor can find “Ukraine of his/her own,” though he or she will have to give up certain stereotypes such as, for instance, the legends of its boundless steppe expanses. Over the last century their territory considerably decreased because of the growing number of agricultural holdings. However, land remains one of our greatest riches. During the Second World War Nazis took Ukrainian fertile soil out to Germany. In Soviet times great regions in the east and center of Ukraine were turned into industrial centers. Waste heaps and multicolored dry mist over metallurgical plants became habitual for these parts of Ukrainian landscape. At the same time Ukraine can offer you 11 national natural parks, numerous biosphere and natural reserves, dendroparks, examples of landscape architecture and gardening of Ukraine. The most famous of them are the National Natural Park Askaniya-Nova (Kherson oblast, late 19th cent.), Shatsky National Natural Park (Volhynian oblast), dendrological parks “Sophiivka” (Cherkasy oblast), and “Alexandria” (Kyiv oblast), Trostianets dendropark (Chernihiv oblast), as well as numerous natural memorials of Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, Stone Burial Mounds reserves in Donetsk and Zaporizhia oblasts, Great Canyon in Crimea. A tour around Ukraine is an excellent chance to find islets of authenticity so rare in modern world. Lately the image of Ukraine is often lost beyond neon signs and the rapid pace of life. However, let’s begin our trip…
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ARCHITECTURAL PEARLS OF UKRAINE
Kyiv. Panorama of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Yalta. View of V. Lenin Seafront
and Marine passenger terminal
Poltava. Nobleman’s and Rural bank Lviv. Eastern part of Rynok Square
In the past Ukraine was traditionally considered an agrarian country, however, established views change in the course of history, and the country, which numbers more than 450 cities in which two thirds of population reside, changed its status long ago. In Ukrainian terrains there are many beautiful places, and you will make sure of it turning over the pages of our guide. Some of them are described in separate sections. Kyiv, the capital city of the State, is the first to start a narrative of Ukraine. Lviv and Kharkiv represent the west and the east of the country, Chernihiv and Odesa, respectively, the north and the south. Architecture and the local coloring of eastern, western, northern and southern parts of Ukraine are different to a large extent. Dignified Kyiv, trim Poltava, restrained Chernihiv, somewhat haughty Lviv, business-like Dnipropetrovsk, tidy Chernivtsi, respectable Kharkiv and Donetsk, concerned Zaporizhia, foppish Odesa – every city or town has its own character and identity. Architecture is called music in stone. And it is really so – the impregnable fortress in Kamyanets-Podilsky can be compared with
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Pochaiv. View of Assumption Lavra Kharkiv. Derzhprom Mukacheve. Vista of Pushkin Street Chernivtsi. Theater Square a grandiose symphony, the ensemble of Bukovynian metropolitans’ residence, with a refined oratorio, and the well-proportioned bell-tower at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, with a dynamic orchestra piece. The Ukrainians can be proud of a great many architectural pearls created in the course of centuries. Particularly noteworthy are majestic fortresses and castles the construction of which was caused by the peculiarities of the geographical situation of the country located at the intersection of the worlds and civilizations. It is no mere chance that this system of fortifications was called “the Ukrainian shield of Europe” – it defended European states from the Mongols, Tatars, Turks and other aggressors for centuries. The best complexes have been preserved to our time, namely: the Old and New fortresses in KamyanetsPodilsky, Mukacheve castle, Khotyn fortress, Genoese fortress in Sudak, and a few dozens of other structures. A story about each of them is found in an appropriate part of this guide. As regards civil architecture, mention should be made of the palace-park complexes in Kachanivka and Sokyryntsi
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ARCHITECTURAL PEARLS OF UKRAINE
Sevastopol. View of the Seafront Vil. Zymne. Sviatohirsk monastery Crimea. Vorontsov’s palace in Alupka Vil. Mezhyrich. The Trinity Monastery Crimea. Khan-Dzhami Mosque
Lviv. Church from vil.
in Siverschyna region; the Crimean pearls in Alupka, Masandra, Livadia, and Bakhchisaray; Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa palaces, parks in Uman and Bila Tserkva, and so on. The terrains of our country have preserved many examples of unique wooden architecture – temples, dwellings, household premises and production structures transferred to reservations of Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Uzhgorod, PereyaslavKhmelnytsky, and located in villages and towns of Ukraine. Ukrainian sacral architecture has very old traditions – it embraces Orthodox cloisters (three of them have the status of Lavra –
Kyiv-Pechersk in Kyiv, Pochaiv in Ternopil region, and Sviatohirsk in Donetsk region); Roman Catholic churches (real architectural masterpieces were built in Lviv, Kyiv, Fastiv, Berdychiv); Moslem mosques in Yevpatoria, Old Crimea, Izmail; Karaite praying houses in Bakhchisaray, Yevpatoria, and Kyiv; synagogues in Odessa, Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhgorod… The diversity of styles and forms reflects a true religious freedom. In this brief introduction we do not intend to provide historical data or enumerate sights – we just invite you, dear reader, for a breathtaking tour around Ukraine!
Kryvka at the museum in the open
Medzhybizh. Seniavskies’ castle Kamyanets-Podilsky. Old fortress
Here are a few words about the guide’s structure. The book is made up of 27 sections. Each of them is devoted to a separate region, which usually coincides with the borders of the administrative-territorial division of the country, but sometimes there are discrepancies – for instance, the itinerary Nizhyn-Baturin was added to Sumy region, while it actually runs through the territory of Chernihiv oblast, but is historically closely linked with Hlukhiv of Sumy oblast. This fact will hinder our trip in no way, but will preserve the integrity and logicality of the historical sketch. Some oblasts are united in one section (for example, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia), which also has a historical background. Sections are divided into itineraries under through numeration – so proceeding from the contents it is easy to find an appropriate story of the sights you are interested in. Each section contains practical information – addresses and telephone numbers of railway and bus stations, hotels, and so on. The authors and the publisher made every effort to make this book possible. We would like to thank you beforehand for your comments, remarks and more accurate definitions, which you can mail to the address of “Baltia-Druk,” or use the website or e-mail addresses of the publisher and authors – www.baltia,com.ua, lylolv@yahoo.com, baltias@i.com.ua. Your remarks will be taken into consideration without fail for new edition. We wish you a happy and interesting trip!
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1–6 KYIV: SKETCHES OF THE PORTRAIT
1 1 BY THE ROADS OF THE UPPER TOWN 2 1 UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS 3 1 PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY 4 1 STRONGHOLDS OF POWER 5 1 IN MAIDAN… 6 1ANOTHER JERUSALEM
Whatever you may say of Kyiv, you are afraid to blurt out just another banality. It is very difficult to express your feelings toward Kyiv after what has been told about it in the course of fifteen centuries by a world of extraordinary and talented people in love with this wonderful city.
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KYIV
© TS AF of Ukraine
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KYIV: SKETCHES OF THE PORTRAIT 5th century A.D. – It is supposed that Prince Kyi founded the city of Kyiv. Latter half of the 9th century – Kyiv became capital of the great Eastern Slavic state known as Rus’. 882 – Varangian leader Oleg killed his co-rulers, Princes Askold and Dir, and seized Kyiv’s throne. After his death in 912 Prince Igor took his place. In 945 he perished and Princess Olga, the first Christian occupying the Rus’ throne, was later canonized. From 964 her son Sviatoslav, a brave warrior and staunch pagan, occupied the throne. In 980 his son Volodymyr followed him. 988–989 – Prince Volodymyr the Great (Saint) baptized Rus’ according to Byzantine Orthodox ceremony. 1019-1054 – Prince Yaroslav, later named the Wise, occupied Kyiv’s throne. 11 – 12th century – Rus’ became a generally recognized great European State. The KyivPechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), St. Sophia Cathedral, the Assumption Cathedral at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (1073), St. Michael’s Monastery of the Golden Domes (1108), St. Cyril’s Church (1150) and many other churches and cloisters were founded in its capital city. 1157 – Prince Yuriy Dolhorukyi, founder of Moscow, and pretender to Kyiv’s throne, was killed in Kyiv by boyars. 1169 – Prince Andriy Boholubsky of Volodymyr-Suzdal, son of Yuriy Dolhorukyi, destroyed and plundered Kyiv. Kyiv, on the decline, changed hands of many princes fighting for the supreme power in Rus’. 1240 – The Mongol-Tatar Horde of BatyKhan took Kyiv by storm and completely plundered the city. 1362 – Kyiv and a large area of Rus’ became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Before long the city was granted Magdeburg right (15th century).
1632 – foundation of Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium. 1648 – beginning of the Liberation war under the leadership of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Hetman solemnly entered into Kyiv. As a result of the Pereyaslav Rada (Council) of 1654 and subsequent political developments, powerful units of Russian infantry and cavalry were stationed in Kyiv. 1687-1709 – the period of Hetman Ivan Mazepa’s rule. 1701 – Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium converted into academy. 1706 – foundation of the Old Pechersk Fortress. 1731-1744 – construction of the Great BellTower at Lavra. 1749-1753 – construction of St. Andrew’s Church. 1750-1755 – construction of Mariinsky Palace. 1804-1805 – construction of the first City Theater. 1811 – conflagration in Podil district. 1831-1861 – construction of the New Pechersk Fortress. 1834 – Inauguration of St. Volodymyr University. Foundation of municipal duma. 1838 – inauguration of the Institute for Noble Girls. 1839 – laying out of the University Botanical Garden. 1849 – first city Post Office in operation. 1853 – inauguration of monument to Prince Volodymyr. 1862-1882 – construction of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. 1886 – first telephone exchange set in operation.
1569 – Kyiv under the power of the Polish crown.
1888 – inauguration of monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
1615 – Kyiv brotherhood, Brotherhood school, and Kyiv-Pechersk printing-house – centers of cultural life of Eastern Europe – founded in the city.
1892 – first tram in the Russian Empire started in Kyiv.
1632-1647 – Petro Mohyla, an outstanding enlightener and builder of temples, occupied Kyivan and Galician metropolitan’s see.
1899-1901 – construction of Opera House.
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1898 – foundation of Polytechnical Institute.
1905 – setting in operation of Kyiv funicular.
1913 – inauguration of the Conservatoire.
principal international airport of Ukraine.
1917-1920 – Civil War. Kyiv changed hands fourteen or nineteen times (according to different sources).
1960 – first line of Kyiv Metro set in operation.
1918 – Ukrainian Academy of Sciences began to work. 1921 – foundation of Medical Institute. 1924 – foundation of Historical Museum. Construction of city airodrome in Zhuliany. 1926 – Opera and Ballet Theater, Russian Drama Theater, Ukrainian Drama Theater set in operation. Construction of film studio. 1934 – Kyiv became the capital city of Ukraine again. 1930s – hundreds of churches, cloisters and other historical relics, in particular St. Michael’s Monastery of the Golden Domes, were destroyed in Kyiv. 1935 – first trolley bus in the city.
1970 – inauguration of “Ukraina” Palace. 1982 – celebrations in honor of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv. 1986 – Chornobyl catastrophe. Despite a high ionizing radioactive background the May Day demonstration took place in Khreschatyk Street according to the instruction of the Communist Party leadership. 1990 – blue-yellow flag hoisted near the building of the city council. 1991 – declaration of Ukraine’s independence. 1995 – the image of Archistrategos Michael, the old coat of arms of the city, became the emblem of Kyiv.
1937-1941 – construction of the Republican Stadium.
1997-2000 – reconstruction of St. Michael’s Cathedral of the Golden Domes.
1941-1943 – Nazi occupation. Mass slaughter, mostly of Jews, in Babyn Yar.
1998-2000 – reconstruction of the Assumption Cathedral at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
1951 – first number of “Vechirniy Kyiv” (Evening Kyiv) newspaper came out in the city. First Ukraine’s TV center set in operation. 1957 – inauguration of “Boryspil” airport, the
1999 – law on “The capital city of Ukraine – the hero-city of Kyiv” adopted by Supreme Council. City head (mayor) elected for the first time. Monument to St. Volodymyr
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BY THE ROADS OF THE UPPER TOWN
1 ITINERARY 1 BY THE ROADS St. Sophia Reserve, OF THE UPPER TOWN Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Our trip around the city of Kyiv begins from Andriivsky Descent, Khreschatyk the Golden Gates. The more so as the Metro Street, “Building with Chimeras,” station “Golden Gates” is situated almost in Botanical Gardens, Podil. the heart of the city, which was called the upper town for centuries. Most of Kyiv Metro stations are beautiful – exquisitely old-fashioned “University” and “Khreschatyk,” the stylized stations of new lines. But “Golden Gates,” undoubtedly the most beautiful station of Kyiv subway executed in Rus’-Byzantine style, is a wonderful prelude to our trip through the princes’ town. During the times of Volodymyr – first great rulers of the young and quickly expanding Kyivan empire – the main entrance to the capital was the gate located at the crossroads of presentday Volodymyrska and Velyka Zhytomyrska streets. In 1037, under Yaroslav the Wise, there was built a new principal entrance to the city, the Golden Gates. Kyiv turned into a powerful fortress encircled by a ditch 15 meters wide and 8 meters deep. A wooden bridge was thrown across the ditch, which was to be burnt down in case of an enemy approach. The second tier of the gates was adorned with the little elegant Annunciation Church. The Golden Gates were not just a defensive, but rather a ritual structure, and the width of their To the left of the Golden Gates gateway (7.65 m.) was the same as that there is a little charming of the nave of St. Sophia Cathedral built shortly before. It was a monument… to a cat. great honor to enter into the city through the Golden Gates, and This cat, named Pantiushko, Bohdan Khmelnytsky with his Cossacks had this honor when they was, so to speak, a real arrived in Kyiv in 1648. historical “personage” who Unfortunately, the Golden Gates today is just a beautiful plaster lived in the 1890s not far cast, in a sense – a “case” hiding the real remains of the gates. In away, in the restaurant “Pantagruel,” and perished 1982, when this “case” was built, not all Kyivites were delighted under the wheels of a with the project. With time, however, people got accustomed to it. car or during a fire at the Nearby there is a picturesque public garden and a monument to restaurant… The owner Yaroslav the Wise. of the expensive restaurant In Yaroslav’s time a striking panorama of numerous temples decided to immortalize and palaces opened up before the eyes of a traveler entering the cat in bronze. Today the Golden Gates. Today the picture is different, but beautiful the bronze cat is a popular all the same. The best way to Sofiivska Square is to walk place for tourists to be along Volodymyrska Street, where you can see buildings of the photographed, and a late 19 th century: in their time Jaroslav Haљek wrote there landmark for dates… his famous “The Dashing Soldier Љvejk,” the popular singer Aleksandr Vertinsky composed his songs, and the prominent Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov painted his “Epic Heroes.” Characters from Kuprin’s and Bulgakov’s works met at the local coffee-houses located also in this street. The gloomy gray building on the right side, the Security Service of Ukraine, is not quite in harmony with the rest of the buildings in “bourgeois” style. Before the war it was
IT IS WORTH VISITING
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occupied by NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs), during the war, by Gestapo, later, by KGB… St. Sophia Cathedral is the main point of interest in Sofiivska Square. It was founded by Yaroslav the Wise in 1017, and completed between 1032 and 1037. The construction site for the main cathedral of the princely city was chosen not by mere chance: the four main roads leading to Kyiv met exactly in this place. It is a little-known fact that a cloister had existed there long before Rus’ was baptized: it had been founded by a devout Christian, Princess Olga, great grand-mother of Yaroslav the Wise, so this place had been already “prayed for.” The cathedral obtained a special status right away: princes were enthroned there, the burial service was read for them, and they were buried there. The temple was built using a special technology: stone-work alternated with very strong thin brick, and the mortar was made of
lime and ceramic pieces. Present-day outward appearance of the cathedral has nothing to do with its original appearance – now it is a typical baroque of the 17 th- 18 th centuries, when the temple was radically rebuilt. The model of St. Sophia Cathedral of the princes’ time can be seen inside the temple. However, the main thing is to see its frescoes and mosaics. The Virgin Orans, the protectress of Kyiv and Kyivites, is the most noteworthy of all the mosaics. There exists a very popular belief saying that until the Virgin Orans stands in St. Sophia Cathedral with her hands lifted up, Kyiv is imperishable. The best-known fresco is the family portrait of Yaroslav the Wise and his family. It is not uninteresting to see frescoes representing Kyivites that lived a thousand years ago.
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Mosaic at St. Sophia Cathedral
Landscape plan of St. Sophia monastery
St. Sophia Cathedral
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Hundreds of books have been written about St. Sophia’s mosaics, murals and graffiti, but it’s better to see them with your own eyes. Worthy of note are the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise and his wife Ingigerda, and the font in which infant-princes were baptized. The three-tiered baroque St. Sophia Bell Tower of the 17 th18 th centuries is distinguished for its beauty and elegance. It has a miraculously preserved bell weighing 800 poods (more than 12,800 kg.). Walking through its arch we come to Sofiivska Square with a monument to Bohdan Khmenytsky in the center. The monument was erected exactly in place where the hetman and his Cossacks were welcomed in 1648. The monument’s first project was proposed by M. Mikeshin in 1868, but it took twenty years to raise money for it, and the monument was inaugurated in 1888. Not far away there is St. Michael’s Monastery of the Golden
St. Sophia Bell Tower
Monument to Bohdan Khmelnytstky
transport Airport “Boryspil” tel.: (044) 296-7343 Airport “Kyiv” tel.: (044) 242-2308 Railway Station 1 Pryvokzalna Sq., tel.: (044) 0-05 Central Bus Station 2/1 Nauky Ave., tel.: (044) 265-0430 BUS STATIONS: “Darnytsia” 1 Gagarin Ave., tel.: (044) 559-4618 “Dachna” 142 Peremohy Ave., tel.: (044) 444-1403 “Podil” 15a Nyzhniy Val St. tel: (044) 417-3215 “Polissia” T. Shevchenko Sq. tel.: (044) 430-3554 “Pivdenna” 3 Academician Glushkov Ave., tel.: (044) 263-4004
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Domes. The monastery and St. Sophia Cathedral make up a wonderful architectural ensemble. Unfortunately, St. Michael’s Cathedral of the Golden Domes is not the original of the 12 th century, which was blown up in the 1930 s, and reconstructed in 1997–2000. Now it looks like it was after restoration in the 18 th century, like a Ukrainian baroque temple. Nearby there are a monument to victims of the famine of the 1930 s, and the upper funicular station. This kind of transport is quite rare in the world, but in Kyiv it has been in operation since 1905. Kyiv’s another symbol, monument to Volodymyr the Great, is located below in the park, Kyivites’ favorite Volodymyr’s Hill. It was created by the famous Petersburg sculptors V. DemutMalinovsky and P. Klodt and inaugurated in 1853. The expressive figure of Prince with a cross in his hand on a high pedestal looks particularly impressive from the side of the Dnieper. Near the monument there was laid out a park, which became Kyivites’ favorite Volodymy’s Hill. It is berhymed by poets and described by writers, every year Kyiv high-school and university graduates spend there the whole night. It has a beautiful view down the Dnieper River, Pechersk district and European Square.
Our itinerary leads to the Old Kyiv’s Hill, a place where a little, but a well-fortified town with a prince’s palace, pagan temple, the nobility and body-guards’ buildings sprang up fifteen hundred years ago. It was named Dytynets (the word derived from the word “to hide”) – inhabitants of the lower town, Podil, and neighboring settlements found refuge there during enemy onslaughts. Later it was renamed Volodymyr’s town for Prince Volodymyr raised many churches and other buildings after the introduction of Christianity. Kyiv particularly expanded and flourished under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and the upper town was given his name. The center of the old prince’s town was situated near the present-day National Museum of the History of Ukraine (2 Volodymyrska St., tel.: (044) 278–6545, 10.00–18.00, Wed. – day off ). Its renovated and representative collection will be undoubtedly of interest to Kyiv’s guests. The foundations of the 10 th-century princes’ palaces, and the famous Tithe Church, the first stone temple of the newly-christened Rus’, have been preserved nearby. Unhappy lot befell the Tithe Church: in 1240 it was the final stronghold of Kyivites against the Mongol invasion. There they died under the wreckage of the walls destroyed by Mongol battering-rams… Nearby grows an old lime-tree. Scholars consider it to be about 800 years old. This tree, a witness of Baty-Khan invasion, has been in blossom so far… Almost a real knight’s tournament takes place in front of the museum on the last week-ends of May every year. Kyiv’s another architectural relic is St. Andrew’s Church situated close by (23 Anriivsky Descent). According to an old legend set forth in the “Chronicle of Bygone Years” twenty hundred years ago Apostle Andrew the First Called mounted a cross in that place, and uttered prophetic words, saying that there would be a great and glorious town there, and blessed the picturesque hills over the Dnieper. It was built by request of Empress Elisabeth I who laid the first stone in its foundation in 1744, during her stay in Kyiv. Relatively little and restrained as compared with other emperor’s creations, St. Andrew’s Church is considered perhaps the most
Another surviving monument is situated in Mykhailivska Sqare. It is a monument to Princes Olga by the sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze, inaugurated in 1911. On the left and right of the princes there are the figures of the apostle Andrew the First Called and SS. Cyril and Methodius, founders of the Cyrillic character. The Bolsheviks destroyed the beautiful snow-white monument in 1919, but in 1996 it was restored. Today it has become a tradition for newly-weds to lay flowers at its pedestal.
National Museum of the History of Ukraine
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In 1999, near the stairs leading to St. Andrew’s Church, there appeared another monument. Every Ukrainian remembers perfectly well that the unsuccessful wedding ceremony of Svyryd Holohvastov and Pronia Prokopivna in the classic comedy film “Kill Two Birds with one Stone” took place exactly in this place. M. Starytsky’s personages performed by Oleg Borisov and Margarita Krynytsyna became the prototypes of the “monument.” One thing is not clear: why Kyiv’s newly-weds come there with flowers as well. The “romance” of Pronia and Holohvastov is seemingly not quite a good example for them…
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refined masterpiece by B. Rastrelli. The Moscow architect Ivan Muchurin was a direct performer of the project. Because of Kyiv’s steep slopes a socle had to be cut into the hill as the ground floor of the temple. This two-storied structure is presently occupied by a theological seminary. Cast-iron stairs lead to the entrance of the church. The temple is adorned with a wonderful wood-carved and gilded iconostasis, murals and paintings by prominent artists. Today St. Andrew’s Church is a museum, a functioning church, and a concert hall at the same time. It is distinguished for its extraordinary acoustics and refined chamber music concerts. To attend such a concert will be an unforgettable memory of Kyiv. In 1999, near the stairs leading to St. Andrew’s Church, there appeared another monument. Every Ukrainian remembers perfectly well that the unsuccessful wedding ceremony of Svyryd Holohvastov and Pronia Prokopivna in the classic comedy film “Kill Two Birds with one Stone” took place exactly in that place. M. Starytsky’s personages performed by Oleg Borisov and Margarita Krynytsyna became the prototypes of the “monument.”
One thing is not clear: why Kyiv’s newlyweds come there with flowers as well. The “romance” of Pronia and Holohvastov is seemingly not quite a good example for them… The next place of note is the Western Gate. The Landscape Lane leads to it along the former fortress rampart of Yaroslav’s city. From there opens up a beautiful view of the Dnieper and the left bank region, Dytynka and Zamkova Hills, the spur of the Old Kyiv Hill, presently a meeting place of Kyiv’s “advanced” youth: rockers, hippie, “Indians,” and others. Here, in the alley, there has been recently set up a monument to Prince Sviatoslav, a glorious warrior, son of Princess Olga, and father of Volodymyr the Great. Our next stop is Lviv Square. In princely times it was the border of Yaroslav’s town. Beyond the border there were thickets, where, according to bylinas and fairy tales, Kyiv’s dragon behaved like a hooligan. Yaroslaviv Val Street leads into the depth of the old city. The name of the street makes it clear that it ran along the fortress rampart of ancient Kyiv (“val” = rampart). The names of many streets in this area are associated with olden days: Reitarska (Rider’s St.), Striletska (Rifleman’s St.) …At the close of the 17 th century a Russian garrison was quartered there (previously it was stationed in Podil district, but soldiers pestered the local
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Yaroslaviv Val Street
In these streets almost every building is a work of art executed mostly in modernistic style of the late 19th century. Of special note among them is the Actor’s House (7 Yaroslaviv Val St.), formerly the Karaite praying house constructed by the outstanding Kyiv architect of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, Vladislav Gorodetsky.
merchants so much that the latter persuaded Moscow voevode to move it to some other place, as far as possible).Then we pass by an original building-castle (1 Yaroslaviv Val St.) with a tower, spire and Gothic gate guarded by two winged demons, and return to the place wherefrom we started our tour – to the Golden Gates.
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UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS…
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An elegant building in 1 Yaroslaviv Val St.
KYIV ITINERARY 2 UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS… Under Yaroslav the Wise and during the ensuing centuries here passed the border of the upper town. However, Podil, Pechersk, Vydubychi, Dorohozhychi and other neighboring settlements existed as well, being part of the city of Kyiv. At the close of the 18th - early 19th centuries Kyiv began to expand very quickly, becoming a political, administrative and cultural center of the South of the Russian Empire. In the latter half of the 19th century Kyiv turned into a rich commercial city of a European scale, the “sugar capital” of the empire. Within a few years many sumptuous cottages sprang up in place of formerly neglected grounds and suburban woods. The National Opera House of Ukraine is situated nearby the Golden Gates, in 50 Volodymyrska Street. This structure is very typical of that epoch. The magnificent and a little pompous temple of art was built in 1901. It is one of the most beautiful opera houses in Europe, and the famous singer Feodor Shaliapin, after performing there, enthusiastically stated that similar acoustics existed only in Grand Opera and La Scala. The building is also well known for the fact that during a performance, the Russian prime
National Opera House of Ukraine
transport River-boat station 3 Poshtova Square, tel.: (044) 416-1229, (044) 462-5019. In summer you can make trips up and down the Dnieper by routes: Kyiv-Kaniv, Kyiv – Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, Kyiv-Kyiv Sea, KyivTrypillia. “Capital Ship-sailing Company” c. Kyiv, 3 Poshtova Sq., River-boat station, quay No.7. Obolon Bay, 9 Pryrichna St., (rescue station No.7), tel.: 428-7141, 8 (050) 346-0284 “Universal” Insurance Company Kyiv office of direct sales Kyiv, 24/1 P. Orlyka str. tel.: 8-800-5003810
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minister the reformer, Peter Stolypin, was mortally wounded there in 1911. Volodymyrska Street is one of the oldest and longest streets of Kyiv joining the ancient prince’s town with the “new” Upper town. Within one quarter between the Opera House and University one can see a number of exquisite structures of the late 19th – early 20th centuries: Presidium of the Academy of Sciences (55 Volodymyrska St.), the conference hall of the Academy, Teachers’ House (57 Volodymyrska St.) in which Central Rada (Council) worked in 1917-1918. Near the building there is a monument to Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Head of Central Rada. Later a monument to another Ukrainian patriot, Viacheslav Chornovil, was erected not far away. On reaching the crossroads of Volodymyrska Street and Shevchenko Boulevard we proceed straight to the University. In 1834, when present-day National T.H. Shevchenko University was founded (60 Volodymyrska St.), it was named in honor of St. Volodymyr – hence its black and red color (colors of the ribbon of St. Volodymyr imperial order). It is difficult to enumerate all
the celebrities who studied or taught at the university. It is enough to say that the name of Taras Shevchenko is closely connected with it. On each side of the large building there are two University libraries built in the same classic style. In front of the University there is T. H. Shevchenko Park with a monument to the great Ukrainian poet, Kobzar. Its cozy alleys are a favorite place of Kyiv mothers with babies, and also of amateur chess players – a spontaneous chess-dominoes club has been in existence there for many decades. Walking from the park down the stairs we come to a short, but well-known Terescheko Street. The Tereschenkos was a glorious dynasty in pre-revolutionary Ukraine. Descendents of serfs as they were, they became
The former Teachers’ Training Museum
lodging “Adria” 2 Raisa Okipna St. tel.: (044) 568-4457, www.adria.kiev.ua “Bratislava” 1 A. Malyshko St., tel.: (044) 559-7570 “Vozdvyzhensky” 60 Vosdvyzhenska St., tel. (044) 531-9900, www.vozdvyzhensky.com “Holosiivsky” 93 Holosiivsky Ave., tel.: (044) 250-7672 “Gintama” 9 Triokhsvetytelska St., tel.: (044) 278-5092, www.gintama.com.ua
“Red” building of Kyiv University multimillionaires and “sugar emperors.” However, they became famous due to their charity activities rather than their millions: they donated money to hospitals for the poor, orphan’s homes, schools, Polytechnical Institute and St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. In the 1870s they acquired plots of land where now runs the street named after them. There are three wonderful museums in this street and all of them are closely connected with the biography of the Tereschenko family. Barbara, daughter of the magnate and Maecenas, Mykola Tereschenko, married Bohdan Khanenko, a lawyer, descendant of an old Ukrainian aristocratic family (one of the Khanenkos was Ukrainian hetman). The married couple travelled a lot through Europe. The portraits of the beauty Barbara were painted by the best portrait-painters of the time. One day nostalgia made the brilliant lawyer and the daughter of the millionaire return to Kyiv. By that time they already had a wonderful collection of works of art. They took a keen interest in the archaeological relics of Kyivan Rus’ of the princes’ period, works of Ukrainian and Russian art, gathered a fantastic collection of West European and Oriental art.
Monument to Taras Shevchenko
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UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS…
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UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS…
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Interior of Museum of Russian Art
“Portrait of Infanta” by D. Velázquez. Museum of Western and Oriental Art
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Bohdan Khanenko bequeathed to Kyiv his rich collection of art and unique library. After Ukraine was declared an independent state, Museum of Western and Oriental Art was named after Bohdan and Barbara Khanenko (15 Tereschenko St., tel.: (044) 235-0225, 10.00- 17.00; Mo.,Tu. - days off ). Khanenko’s collection is not a rival of the Louvre or Hermitage as regards its volume, but it contains unique masterpieces; and the building of the museum in itself is an architectural relic. Museum of Russiaan Art (9 Tereschenko St., tel.: (044) 234-6218; 10.00-17.00. Tu.and Fri. - days off) is also situated in Tereschenko Street and was created to a large extent on the basis of the Khanenkos’ collection. Bohdan and Barbara were friends with the famous Russian Maecenas and collector Tretiakov who helped them acquire many unique masterpieces from the emperor’s collection. T.H. Shevchenko Museum (8 T. Shevchenko Boulevard, tel.: (0044) 425-3188; 10.00-18.00. Wed. – day off) is situated not far away, at the crossroads of Khanenko St. and Shevchenko Boulevard. The elegant palace in the Italian Renaissance style was built for Kyiv’s head Pavlo Demidov who acquired for himself a beautiful Italian title of count San-Donato. However, before long the palace became Mykola Tereschenko’s residence. From the “museum streets” we go up T. Shevchenko Boulevard, pass by the “yellow building” of the University (formerly the famous First city gymnasium; among its graduates were such celebrities as Bulgakov, Paustovsky, Bogomolets, Sikorskyi), and proceed to St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral (20 T. Shevchenko Boulevard). This majestic temple was built at the close of the 19th century in new-Byzantine style. The cathedral was painted by such renowned artists as Vasnetsov, Nesterov, Vrubel, Pymonenko and other well-known artists. This galaxy of brilliant masters created an original ensemble of paintings. Vasnetsov was the author of the famous central composition “The Holy Virgin with the Infant Christ,” and many other paintings, no less splendid. The walls are decorated not only with murals on biblical subjects, but also with a gallery representing old Rus’ princes and saints, scenes from old Rus’ history. The grandeur and beauty of this cathedral cannot but impress one despite its “young” age as compared with other temples of Kyiv. Opposite the cathedral there is the University’s Academician Fomin Botanical Garden. It is not large by the area (22 hectares), but is a really unique natural research center with more than 8,000 species of plants. Its picturesque slopes and gullies are yet another romantic corner in the very center of Kyiv. If we go down the main alley of the garden we get to the intersection of Tolstoy and Tarasivska streets, to the old district of Pankivschyna, which was often called “the Latin Quarter of Kyiv” by analogy with “the Latin Quarter of Paris.” After the foundation
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of St. Volodymyr’s University there appeared rent houses there, which were rented mostly by professors, students and later by Ukrainian intelligentsia. Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Hrushevcky, Mykola Lysenko, Panas Saksahansky, Mykhailo Starytsky and many other prominent figures of national culture resided in this district. Small cozy streets - Tarasivska, Mykilskko-Botanicha, and Pankivska – remain a place for leisure walks today as well. ITINERARY 3 PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY Every historical city has an inimitable character of its own. It concerns primarily capital cities. They, like people, may have happy and evil days, wealthy and miserable times. They may be suffering and jealous, may change their appearance, but remain invariable in their essence… The proud and impregnable prince’s town became deserted for several centuries after the Mongol invasion; it began to break up into separate monasteries, military settlements, and noblemen’s residences. Kyiv’s life moved nearer to the Dnieper riverside, formerly the district of the common people, Podil. In the course of a number of centuries it had the status of a town almost independent of Kyiv – it had its own self-government, rights and privileges, even its own army with cavalry and cannons!
St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral
Murals of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral “The Day of Judgment” by V. Vasnetsov
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A corner of St. Andrew’s Descent
During eleven centuries of its existence Podil was regularly flooded by the Dnieper, or burned in fires. However, what happened in droughty July 1811 was a real catastrophe. Within three hours Podil disappeared. Practically everything burnt down – boardwalks, trees and shrubbery. Only stone structures survived: churches and some buildings. So Podil had to be built actually anew.
View of Podil
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However, we’ll get to know about this in detail in course of our further trip. The best way to get to Podil from the Upper town is to walk down the well-known St. Andrew’s Descent. It is considered perhaps the most picturesque street of historical Kyiv. Some historians believe the descent existed as far back as the times of Kyivan Rus’. It is quite possible for it was really a very convenient road linking the palaces and mansions of the princes’ town with commercial and handicraft Podil. Now most of the buildings in this street date from the 19th century, their architecture is not too much refined. However, let’s quit the stylishness of the Upper town and Pechersk Lypky: the charms of St. Andrew’s Descent are different. It was described with loving care by Mikhail Bulgakov and Viktor Nekrasov; art students and famous artists painted and paint its fascinating landscapes; numerous galleries and art studios turned it into an original Kyiv Montmartre. New life of the street began about twenty years ago when the Descent became the center of the semi-official art festival “Kyiv’s Days,” which today is a wellknown and popular art festival held annually on the last rest-days in May. Unfortunately, it has lost some of its original sincerity and naturalness… Properly speaking Kyiv’s Days never cease on St. Andrew’s Descent. Every day the whole year round (except very nasty weather), you can buy there original works of art: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and, in general, whatever you like – for the most part from the author. It should be noted, however, that lately there has appeared a caste of local professional speculators who trade on their stalls in obvious rubbish: fake antiques, something resembling balalaikas; imbecile matreshkas with faces of Ukrainian,
Russian and American (!) politicians, Soviet flags, phoney budyonovkas, grotesque, allegedly Soviet uniforms. All this is naturally counted on wealthy and undiscriminating Western tourists. And, strange as it may seem, all this is purchased…The most noteworthy structure in St. Andrew’s Descent is building No.15, which Kyivites call “Castle of Richard the Lion-Hearted.” Built in 1902-1904 in English neo-Gothic style, it really looks like a romantic knight’s castle with a tower, lancet windows and arches. It was an ordinary rent house built after a stolen project, and the builders swindled by the contractor took revenge on him by immuring in the walls, in a tricky way, empty pots and bottles. For a long time the dwellers of the “castle” were horrified by the weird wailing produced by the pots in windy weather. The originality of the structure made it popular for ever. Cast-iron steps along the wall of the “castle” lead up to a lookout platform on Uzdykhalnytsia Hill from where opens up a fantastic panorama of the Dnieper and the Left Bank. The name of the hill is derived from the verb “sigh.” According to a legend women climbed up the hill in olden times, peered into the distance, sighing and weeping, in expectation of their husbands returning home from campaigns and voyages… The Descent is also noteworthy for little but unique museums. The small and elegant old building No. 13 is Mikhail Bulgakov Museum (tel.: (044) 425-3188; 10.00-18.00. Wed. - day off). The great writer was born in Kyiv, spent there childhood and youth, and returned there after the Civil War. But what is particularly interesting is that Bulgakov’s apartment is an exact copy of the apartment in which the heroes of his novel “The White Guard” lived. Now the interiors of that time have been restored. On the façade of the neighboring building No.11 there is Bulgakov’s cat Hippopotamus, a character from his masterpiece “The Master and Margarita.” Museum of One Street (No. 20, tel.: (044) 425-0398; 10.00-18.00. Mo. - day off) was a unique museum for a long time, the only one of its kind. It was from Kyiv that fashion for similar museums came to Europe (although Kyiv’s museum, according to its “weight,” has been considered the world’s best so far). It was founded by a public initiative group rather than by the state. On entering this museum you find yourself in the atmosphere of Kyiv of the early 20th century. Besides, it is also known as an original cultural center. It is worth spending some time in old and very picturesque Pokrovska Street. There you will find a number of old churches and public buildings. The imposing villa under No. 5 attracts special attention – now it is the residence of American ambassador. Before the early 19th century Pokrovska (Intercession) was named Hnyla
PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY
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On Kyiv Montmartre
M. Bulgakov
13 St. Andrew’s Descent
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PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY
3 Interior of the Turbins’ (Bulgakov’s) House
Before the mid-17th century the town hall in Contract Square was a wooden structure. Later there was raised a stone building with a tower 30 meters high. The town hall was decorated with a clock and a bronze sculpture of Kyiv’s protector, Archangel Michael. The baroque building had a special gallery upon which the magistrate orchestra and chorus entertained passersby on holidays.
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(Rotten) street. Such a disharmonious name, however, did not prevent it from being the main street of Podil for four centuries, until the awful fire of 1811. In the past Contract Square, the main square of Podil, was a brisk market. This market and the wharf, perhaps the largest on the road “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” gave birth to Podil. In olden times Kyiv developed as a classic European medieval city: castles of the nobility were situated in the upper town, and the lower town, the valley, was inhabited by handicraftsmen, merchants and other common people. It was an original symbiosis – the “upper town” and the “valley” could not exist without one another. The town hall was located In Contract Square until 1811, where a monument to the outstanding and a little enigmatic traveler and philosopher, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, stands today. As far back as the end 15th century Lithuanian Prince Olexandr granted Magdeburg right to Kyiv. Since then wealthy Kyivites elected their local city council, which consisted of a magistrate and burgomaster, six councilors and six assessors. They had very wide latitudes. In 1835, however, Kyiv’s Magdeburg right was abolished by Russian czarist government. Unfortunately, the town hall, a symbol of Kyiv’s old democracy, burnt down. Contract Square and Podil as a whole remained in a neglected state until 1982, when the city celebrated its 1500th
anniversary. The revival of “a city within city” and Contract Square began at that time and continues hitherto. In 1997-1998 the old Church of Our Lady Pirogoscha mentioned in “The Lay of Igor’s Host” was restored. The name of the church was derived from the Greek word “pirgotis” denoting particular icons in Byzantium; one of such icons was the main relic of the temple. It was built in the 1130s, destroyed by Bolsheviks in 1935, and restored in strict and noble forms of old Rus’ architecture. As regards the church’s appearance there were many discussions: the point is that only the foundation revived, and nobody knew exactly how the temple of the Holy Virgin looked like. So the newly-built church is not considered a historical restoration, but rather the reconstruction of a conventionally classic old Rus’ temple. Contract Square acquired its name in 1817, when a special Contract building was built in place of a thousand-year-old market. During annual fairs, which had been resumed in Podil by that time, it became the place for making commercial contracts. The building was also occupied by notary’s offices and expensive stores; and served as a concert hall and reception – in a word it was a typical business center of the 19th century. Shevchenko, Pushkin, Gogol, Mickiewicz, Balzac, Liszt and other outstanding figures visited this building. Now it is occupied by the interbank currency exchange. The Arcade is another elegant old structure in Contract Square. The construction of the two-storied building started in 1809. It was designed as a great shopping center in the form of a quadrangular closed structure with a yard inside, where trading was supposed to be carried on as well. However, only the first story was completed when a fire stopped
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Hryhoriy Skovoroda in Contract Square
The Church of Our Lady Pirogoscha
Kyiv maintained its own police and armed forces at its own cost. The “Golden Banner,” the detachment of elite municipal cavalry, was the pride of Kyiv residents. Kyiv had its own artillery. Apart from their main duties, the artillerymen were in charge of keeping in order the main city chiming clock on the tower of the town hall, and organizing municipal festivals.
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the ambitious project. The stone walls withstood, but construction work was mot recommenced. It was only in the 1980s that Kyiv restorers found the old design drawings and the building of the Arcade was finished, almost 180 years after the work had started. Now the premises of this good-looking building are occupied by Restoration Institute and a library, numerous shops, restaurants, coffee-houses, and a theater. Nearby there is the old fountain “Samson.” The pavilion was built in the mid-18th century, and in 1808 it was decided to adorn it with the figure of biblical Samson tearing up the mouth of a lion – in a manner similar to the famous “Samson” in Petergof. There was the only difference: Kyiv composition was made by an unknown sculptor – either an amateur or a half-educated sculptor. His athlete Samson came out underfed and asthenic, and the lion looks like an outgrown cat. However, the comic couple took the fancy of Kyivites very quickly, and they were very sorry when in 1935, at the height of the Bolshevik campaign for the destruction of temples, the fountain found itself among them… In 1981 it was restored, but now Samson and the lion were only copies. Not far away there is a sun-dial made by the French master Brullion, mathematician and physician at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the most esteemed national universities. Its revival marked the outset of the revival of Thinking Ukraine. It was the year 1615. A number of Ukrainian intellectuals unite into Kyiv Brotherhood – a circle of wise men and enlighteners. “Samson” fountain and view of the pavilion
The Arcade
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
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They set up Brotherhood School, and the woman aristocrat and Maecenas, Halshka Hulevychivna of Kyiv, donates her Podil estate – with all profits from it – to the School. Five years later the Zaporozhian Army entered the Brotherhood with its full complement. It is unlikely that the severe warriors decided to study five languages, grammar, rhetoric, poetics, philosophy, history, music, i.e. the curriculum of the Brotherhood School. It was just a gesture in support of Ukrainian culture and education. Hetman Petro KonashevychSahaidachnyi (recently a monument to him was erected in Contract Square: some people like it, others do not) made a donation to the School of a huge amount of money, and expressed his will to be buried in its grounds. Another Ukrainian figure well known to the whole Europe, archimandrite Petro Mohyla, founded a school
at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which in 1632 united with Brotherhood School. Since then it was called Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium, and later, Academy. It was a classic European university. In the 17th-18th centuries the Academy was considered the largest and the most prestigious institution of higher learning in Orthodox Europe – from Greece and Transylvania to Russia. Among its graduates were outstanding figures of these countries, including five Ukrainian hetmans. In 1817 the Academy was closed by czarist decree, since its traditions of independent thinking, professors’ and students’ freedom of thought, did not coincide with the standards of imperial system of education. In Soviet times it was the Higher Naval Political College. At the close of the 1980s, during the last years of the USSR, a group of Ukrainian intellectuals headed by the Academy’s future president, Viacheslav Briukhovetsky, started the movement for the revival of the Academy. They even managed to obtain an appropriate resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. The admiral, head of the College, just waved off, saying that his command was in Moscow. Professor Briukhovetsky came to him more than once to require that at least a room should be allotted for the “headquarters” of the future establishment. Once, during such a meeting, the admiral – an inveterate chess player – proposed Briukhovetsky to play chess, and added: “If you win, I’ll give you a room, but if you lose, you’d better never come here again with your papers!” While saying this he didn’t know that Briukhovetstky was an excellent chess player… After the third lost game the admiral fulfilled his promise, and the keys to the lost room were brought. Shortly after Ukraine became an independent state, and the Academy obtained its premises. Today the revived Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, with its very high level of education, is the forge of the national intellectuals, and a dream of thousands of ambitious entrants. Many relics in the grounds of the Academy perished in stormy years, but its rich library and the Annunciation Church have been restored. The sun-dial of the metre Brullion in the center of the yard has been indicating time for the third century.
PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY
3
P. KonashevychSahaidachnyi
lodging “Dnipro” ½ Khreschatyk St., tel.: (044) 254-6777, www.dniprohotel.kiev.ua “Domus” 19 Yaroslavska St., tel.: (044) 462-5120 “Druzhba” 5 Druzhba Narodiv Boulevard, tel.: (044) 268-3406 “Express” 38/40 T. Shevchenko Boulevard, tel.: (044) 239-8995 “Impressa” 21 Sahaydachnyi St., tel.: (044) 239-2939, www.impressa.com.ua “Kyiv” 26/1 Hrushevskyi St., tel.: (044) 253-0155, www.hotelkiev.com.ua
The yard of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
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PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY
3 However, Contract Square is not the whole Podil, and it is worth walking about it to feast your eyes on romantic and sometimes unusual old relics. Apart from those mentioned above, there are many old temples and cloisters here such as St. Florus Convent; St. Elijah Church (in the 10th century in its place stood a Christian temple, long
Church of St. Nicholas Prytysk
Hetmans’ Museum
In 16a Spaska St. there is a two-storied 17th cent. stone building. It is the so-called “Mazepa’s House.” Mazepa never stayed there, as well as Peter I in the tavern. This fact, however, did not hinder the opening in this building of Hetmans’ Museum with an interesting collection of artifacts on display (tel.: (044) 462-5290; 10.00-18.00. Mo. – day off).
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before Kyivan Rus’ was baptized. Its parish consisted mostly of the Christian Varangians of prince’s guard), the Churches of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St. Nicholas on the Embankment, St. Nicholas on the Water (an original modern church emerging from the Dnieper), St. Nicholas Prytysk (the name derived from the word “prytysnuty”= drive into a corner. According to a legend St. Nicholas drove into a corner a thief who was going to rob the temple), and others. Don’t be surprised to see so many temples in honor of one saint: the point is that St. Nicholas was not only a favorite of children, but also the protector of travelers – so such a respect for the kind saint was quite natural in commercial Podil. An original memorial of the past is the old two-storied stone building at the intersection of Kostiantynivska and Khoryva streets. Since olden time it has been called “Peter I’s House.” The czar really visited Kyiv several times during the Northern (RussianSwedish) War, but he never put up at this building – in reality from 1699 it was for some time a tavern the owner of which was Kyiv magistrate; later, in the 19th century, it was a lunatic asylum. The memorial pharmacy in 7 Prytysko-Mykilska St. (tel.: (044) 425-2437, 9.00-16.00. Sun. – day off ) is yet another very interesting museum in Podil. In 1728 a pharmacy was opened there, the only one in the city for a long time. Now it contains a fine collection of pharmaceutical implements, and, at the same time, it is a functioning chemist’s shop. Podil’s “Broadway,” present-day Sahaidachny Street, for a long time ran all the way to Pecherk district. Building No. 27 is the family estate of the Balabukhs, “the kings of dry jam” (candied fruits). It is said that Catherine II’s confectioner, Swiss Ballyi, shared a secret of preparing candied fruits with them. Ukrainian fruits proved very convenient for candied peels. Before the revolution “Balabukh’s dry jam” was a great success, and was exported not only to Europe, but to Australia as well.
STRONGHOLDS OF POWER
4
KYIV Sahaidachnyi Street
lodging Poshtova Square (Postal Sq.) was given this name since passenger- and mail-coaches arrived there and departed from there (the post-office has been preserved; now it is an exhibition hall). Recently the Nativity Church has been reconstructed in the square. In 1861 the burial service for Taras Shevchenko’s remains was read in this church, on the way from Petersburg to Kaniv – the place of his eternal rest. The lower funicular station is also found in the square. The River-boat Station looking like a ship (according to the architects’ design) is the largest and the most noticeable structure. Our trip continues up Volodymyrsky Descent, to Pechersk district. ITINERARY 4 STRONGHOLDS OF POWER Volodymyrsky Descent is short, but rather steep (it is hard to believe that the first tram in the Russian empire was put into action in this street more than a hundred years ago). On reaching European Square you will see the old building of Philharmonic Society noted for its excellent acoustics and the fact that such outstanding musicians and singers as Liszt, Chaikovsky, Lysenko, Rakhmaninov, Skriabin, Sobinov, Shaliapin performed there, and in 2002 the late Pope John Paul II met with Kyivites. On the right there is a massive structure of the Ukrainian Home (formerly Lenin Museum), a place for arranging exhibitions, presentations, conferences, and whatever you like – the only thing which is needed is to have enough money for its rent. European Square (it is its pre-revolutionary name, and it sounds today quite relevant) is the beginning of Khreschatyk Street, the main thoroughfare of the city. However, we proceed to Pechersk – from Philharmonic Society, passing by wonderful parks over the Dnieper, up Hrushevsky Street, and further. The first park on our way is Khreschatyi (in the past it was named Merchant’s, Proletarian, and Young Pioneer’s). Already in
“Kazatsky” 1/3 Mykhailivska St. (044) 229-4925 “Lybid” 1 Peremohy Sq., (044) 236-0063 “Myr” 70 Holosiivsky Ave., (044) 264-9646 “Natsionalnyi” 5 Lypska St., (044) 291-8787 “Nika” 16 O. Dovzhenko St., (044) 446-3367 “Park-Hotel” 2 Tsurupynska St., (044) 422-0344 “Predslava” 100 Gorky St., office 30, (044) 269-9750 President hotel “Kyivsky” 12 Hospitalna St., (044) 256-3256, www.ukrhotel.com
The fairy-tale palace of Puppet Theater
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KYIV
STRONGHOLDS OF POWER
4
The fairy-tale palace of Puppet Theater
On the “Kissing-bridge”
lodging “Premier-palace” 5-7/29 T. Shevchenko Boulevard, tel.: (044) 537-4500; www.premier-palace.com “Rus’ ” 4 Hospitalna St., tel.: (044) 256-4000, www.hotelrus.kiev.ua “Salute” 11a Sichneve povstannia St., tel.: (044) 494-1420, www.salutehotel.kiev.ua “St. Petersburg” 4 T. Shevchenko Boulevard, tel.: (044) 279-7364
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pre-revolutionary times it was an entertainment place, where orchestras played, people danced, and the passenger dirigible “Kiev,” the first one in the Russian empire, rose into the sky. Recently a charming structure, a real fairytale palace appeared in the park – the new building of Kyiv Puppet Theater. In Soviet times it was placed in Kyiv’s Central Synagogue in 13 Shota Rustaveli Street. In 1997 the synagogue was returned to orthodox Israelites, and puppets and puppeteers found themselves in the street. Now, in return, they have at their disposal perhaps the most beautiful puppet theater in the world. Further we have to cross “Kissing-bridge.” The name is unofficial, it is simply because loving couples like to stop there, on the openwork cast-iron bridge wherefrom opens up a wonderful scenery. The bridge was designed by the young engineer Yevhen Paton and has another unofficial name invented by less romantic people – “Devil’s bridge,” for there is a real abyss beneath. Under the bridge begins picturesque Petrivska Alley named so in honor of Peter I (and by no means in honor of the Bolshevik G. Petrovsky a monument to whom was cunningly placed nearby in 1970). The “Dynamo” stadium named after the famous soccer coach Valeriy Lobanovsky is situated close by. The City Park is another charming locality of the city, where you can see in its alleys small, but lovely monuments to Lesia Ukrainka and Maria Zankovetska. In summertime performers of classic, jazz or modern music from Ukraine and from abroad give concerts there on the open stage. In the past the park was named Czar’s park.
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Catherine II to Field Marshal Kutuzov. In 1819 the palace was damaged badly by fire, and was restored only half a century later. At beginning 20 th century the palace was given the name Mariinsky in honor of Empress Maria Aleksandrovna who cared for its restoration. Today the former imperial residence serves for official receptions and banquets of the higher state level. The park around the palace is also called Mariinsky. Beside the palace there is the building of Verkhovna Rada (the Supreme Council) built in the 1930 s. It was there that independence of Ukraine was declared, Constitution adopted, and President Yuschenko inaugurated. It is the seat of people’s deputies determining the fate of the country. Almost in front of it there is another stronghold of power, the building of the Cabinet of Ministers, built also in Stalin’s time. It is a real temple of totalitarianism – gray, gigantic in size, with a cyclopean colonnade – any Pharaoh would have been bursting with envy. Further in the depth of Lypky, in Instytutska Street, there is the magnificent neo-Renaissance building of the National Bank (1902–1905, two upper stories were added in 1934). Not far away, in Bankova Street, there is the majestic building of the Administration of the President of Ukraine (in Soviet time headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR). Pechersky Lypky is one of the most interesting
STRONGHOLDS OF POWER
Mariinsky Palace is another adornment of Kyiv. This masterpiece by B. Rastrelli was part of the project that included St. Andrew’s Church and envisaged the creation in Kyiv of structures for imperial visits. It was built from 1744 through 1752. The baroque palace served as a residence for VIPs visiting Kyiv, from
The architectural ensemble of Mariinsky Palace
lodging “Slavutych” 1 Entuziastiv St., tel.: (044) 561-1111, www.hotel-slavutich.com “Sport” 55a Chervonoarmiyska St., (044) 220-0252 “Tourist” 2 Raisa Okipna St., tel.: (044) 517-8832 “With Valentine” 4 Strutynsky St., tel.: (044) 295-6085 “Ukraina” 4 Instytutska St., tel.: (044) 279-0347, www.ukraine-hotel.kiev.ua “Khreschatyk” 14 Khreschatyk St., tel.: (044) 279-7339 “Radisson SAS hotel” 22 Yaroslaviv Val St., tel.: (044) 492-2200, www.radissonsas.com
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STRONGHOLDS OF POWER
4
“Building with Chimeras”
districts of the city noteworthy for many other architectural relics. In the past this picturesque locality was called Klov; today this lodging name has been preserved by the wonderful baroque 18 th century Klovsky Palace located in Pylyp Orlyk Street. One day there was a «Sherborne guest linden grove there, which gave a new name to the area (“Lypky” house» “Sherborne guest house” is derived from the word “lypa”=linden). It appeared in the 19 th 4 Staronavodnytska St., century, when the grove was cut down to make room for villas Office 43, resembling palaces and fairy-tale castles, and little estates with tel.: (044) 295-8832, parks built by Kyiv aristocracy in the new fashionable district. Many www.sherbornehotel.com.ua of them have been preserved to our time: “Building with Caryatids,” “Chocolate Building,” the “House of Weeping Widow”… Similar meals masterpieces can be hardly enumerated: almost every building in Ukrainian cuisine “Dumpling-House No.1” Lypska, Shovkovychna, and Pylyp Orlyk streets is a work of art. 28 Esplanadna St., However, the best known among them is the “Building with tel.: (044) 287-1539 Chimeras,” which is located opposite the President’s palace. Its architect, Vladislav Gorodecki, was the author of dozens of brilliant works in Ukraine, Poland, and Iran, among them the RomanCatholic Church of St. Nicholas, the National Art Museum, and the aforementioned Karaite praying house in Kyiv, the railway station and the palace of the Shah of Iran… However, he didn’t have a home of his own until he was forty. The construction of his house he turned into another adventure story: to begin with, he chose a steep slope, which in the opinion of specialists was absolutely unfit for any kind of construction (an experienced colleague of his even made a bet with him, saying it was impossible); then he used quite a new building material – concrete; and, finally, turned the building itself into a chimerical tale in stone. “House of Weeping Widow” It took two years to raise the building. He was assisted by the famous Elio Sala, the author of animal sculptures, real and fantastic,
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and zoomorphic ornaments that decorated the façade. From the side of the street one can see only three stories, while in reality there are six – three other stories were cut into the slope; in order to secure the building’s safety on the dangerous slope 50 piles were driven into Kyiv’s perfidious ground. The interior was distinguished for ostentatious smartness: the architect reserved a modest ten-room apartment to himself; the remaining seven (on six floors!) were rented by the wealthiest citizens of Kyiv. Now the building is at the disposal of the Administration of the President. The stairs descending beside Gorodecki’s house lead to Ivan Franko National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater, one of the best theaters in Ukraine. In the quiet public garden near the theater there is a nice sculpture devoid of any pomposity; it represents the great actor of this theater, Mykola Yakovchenko, sitting on a bench in a natural pose, with his dachshund Fanfan beside. Not far away, in the Passage, there is a similar monument: it shows a well-dressed, mustached gentleman sitting at a coffee table and smoking a pipe beside an old coffee-house; before him there is a coffee cup and his book “V. V. Gorodecki. In the Jungle of Africa.” ITINERARY 5 in maidan… Gorodecki Street that starts from the theater leads down to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Once there was Liadski Gate in this place through which Baty-khan’s horde burst into Kyiv in 1240. Today Maidan is known for different
5 IN MAIDAN…
KYIV
Vladislav Gorodecki (18631930), a descendent of a noble Polish family, was not only a brilliant architect, but also a traveler, literary man, adventurer, mystifier, and gentleman of the world. Kyivites liked to watch him driving in an open car, with a very long scarf around the neck and a little monkey on his shoulder… But the main passion of Gorodecki, certainly after architecture, was hunting - and not game-shooting, but rather lion hunting in Africa. This passion of his he reflected in “Building with Chimeras.”
Maidan Nezalezhnosti viewed from “Ukraina” Hotel
reasons. First it was the main scene of the “Orange Revolution” of 2004; second it is a place for concerts, various musical and political shows, round-the-clock and all-the-year-round, and youth festivals; third Maidan has the greatest density of monuments per
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IN MAIDAN…
5 Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Kyiv regional office Kyiv, 11 Mechnikova str., office 33 t. 8 800 500 38 10
meals
“Za dvoma zaitsiamy” (“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”) 34 Andiivskky Uzviz, tel.: (044) 279-7972 “Zakarpatska kolyba” (“Transcarpathian tavern”) 12/16 Wanda Wasilewska St., tel.: (044) 236-3292, 11.00-23.00
Khreschatyk Street
Mikhail Panikovsky at the intersection of Khreschatyk and Prorizna streets
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KYIV hectare in the city. In Soviet time the only huge monument to Lenin in company of a soldier, sailor, and somebody else stood in the square. Today monuments are galore: to Kyi, Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid; to Cossack Mamay; the Independence memorial – a 60‑meter high column with the statue of a woman on top, holding a branch of guilder-rose in her hands; a model of the historical Liadski Gate; a pseudo-baroque statue of the protector of Kyiv, Archangel Michael. Many people do not like such a conglomeration of monuments. However, be that as it may, Maidan remains the center of important events in the capital. Khreschatyk Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, has been changed to a large extent over the last few years. In the evening it is lit up with street lamps, advertisement hoardings, and windows of numerous shops. It is hard to believe that two hundred years ago it was an out-of-town water-logged
waste ground, where first clay-walled and wooden huts of petty bourgeoisie began to appear. By the end of the 19 th century it was already the main street of the city. In autumn 1941 Khreschatyk actually stopped to exist: mined beforehand its buildings were blown up by Soviet underground. Most of the buildings could not be restored, only a few, including the main department store, survived. After the war Khreschatyk was rebuilt in a pompous style, according to socialist conception of luxury: with colonnades, stucco-work, and numerous statues. Khreschatyk is the shortest metropolitan main street in Europe, being only 1200 meters long. At the same time it is perhaps the widest, in some places it is up to 130 meters wide. Ukrteleradio, Kyiv city counsel, and a great many offices, shops, restaurants, and coffee-houses are situated in Khreschatyk Street. Prorizna Street with the Young Theater and a funny “monument” to Panikovsky, a character from the famous novel “The Golden Calf” by I. Ilf and Ye. Petrov, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street with Lesia Ukrainka Russian Drama Theater, and T. Shevchenko Boulevard connect Khreschatyk with the Old town.
ANOTHER JERUSALEM
6
Bessarabska Square (Bessarabka) terminates Khreschatyk Street. In the 19 th century it was a market place trading in wines, fruits and tobacco from Bessarabia (present-day Moldova and southern Odesa oblast). Built in 1910–1912, the covered market is the richest (regarding the assortment of food products) and the most expensive market in present-day Kyiv. Before the revolution of 1917, beyond Bessarabka (Baseina and Shota Rustaveli streets) there was a Jewish quarter. There you will find the building of the Main synagogue, a monument to the writer Sholom-Aleikhem who lived there for a long time. There is a memorial plaque saying that Golda Meir, the future Prime Minister of Israel, was born there. A few blocks of buildings upward and we get to Pechersk district again, where the building of a huge defensive citadel was started in 1831. The fortress was supposed to be the greatest in the world; there was even a project for an underground railway communicating numerous forts for transportation of soldiers and ammunition. It is said that Nicholas I was the author of the idea, and after his death construction work stopped. The idea itself smacked of paranoia – the nearest frontier was located hundreds of miles away… Finally the fortress turned into a prison and ammunition depot. Most of the structures of the uncompleted fortress have been preserved, and today it is an interesting museum. The acme of a tour around Pechersk district is certainly the famous Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. ITINERARY 6 ANOTHER JERUSALEM This name was given to Kyiv by our ancestors. The inventory of Kyiv’s spiritual treasures always began with Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Numerous ordeals fell to its lot: it was ruined by the Mongol horde and communists, but remained the greatest sanctuary of the country for almost a thousand years.
Bessarabska Square
meals
“Khutorok” NaberezhnoKhreschatytska St., Spasky prychal No. 1, tel.: (044) 463-7019 “Tsarske selo” 42/1 Sichnevoho povstannia St., tel.: (044) 280-3066 National cuisines “Kampay Sushi-Bar” 20a Saksahansky St., tel.: (044) 246-7479 “Caravan” 10 Klovsky Uzviz, tel.: (044) 280-9577 “Hanoi” 6 Sichnevoho povstannia St., tel.: (044) 280-3228 “Pina” 30/18 Yaroslaviv Val St., tel.: (044) 234-1701; 12.00-24.00 “Avalon” 3 Leontovich St., tel.: (044) 234-7494; 13.00-02.00 “Il Patio” 5a Bessarabska Square, tel.: (044) 246-4327; 11.00-24.00 “La Russe” 1 Mezhyhirska St., tel.: (044) 467-7517; 12.00 – to the last client
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ANOTHER JERUSALEM
6
Murals of the Assumption Cathedral
Panorama of Lavra
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Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the bestknown monasteries of the Orthodox world, was founded in 1051 by Reverends Anthony and Theodosius. The monastery quickly grew up and in the 12 th century it already assumed the name of Lavra (the title given to the most revered Orthodox monasteries). The main and first stone temple in the territory of Lavra – the Assumption Cathedral – was built in 1073–1089, other wonderful churches appeared later. Historically Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra formed as an architectural complex of three parts: the upper Lavra, the Near Caves on the slope of a hill, and the Far Caves on another hill. It took 16 years to build the Assumption Cathedral. Many secrets of its builders have not been clued hitherto – their technology of producing thin bricks, extremely strong mortar (the only thing is known that they added white of egg). With time such walls turned into a real monolith. In the 17 th century the cathedral was reconstructed in Ukrainian baroque. In April 1718 Lavra suffered heavily from a conflagration. The interior of the cathedral perished, with the exception of the holy icon delivered to Kyiv by Byzantine architects. The temple was restored in hetmanite or Mazepa’s baroque a few years later and has preserved its outward appearance to our time. The interior was
decorated with murals on biblical themes and subjects from the history of Ukraine. The iconostasis was carved by Hrigoriy Petrov and painted by Yakym Hlynsky. The holy gates were created by Mikhail Yurevych, icon settings, by Lavra goldsmiths, in particular by the famous Ivan Ravych. The church was decorated with sacred objects and relics anew. The Greek image of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the wonderworking icon of God’s Child – painted by an armless, mouth painting artist – were held in profound respect among the faithful. Shortly after, in 1731–1734, the Great Lavra Bell Tower was raised beside the cathedral. Its founder, Johann Gotfried Schädel, considered the tower the highest masterpiece of his creations. It is 96 meters high and is the symbol of Ukrainian capital city. They say the bell tower has bent and is slowly falling. It really inclined for 62 cm. (obviously the impact of the Dnieper quick ground), however, this inclination has remained unchanged for a long time. Visiting the Caves is the main aim for pilgrims who have been coming here for ages. Imperishable relics of many Pechersk saints are lying there, among them SS. Anthony and Theodosius, the healer Agapit, Nestor the chronicler, the epic hero Illia Muromets and many others. The total number of burial places with imperishable relics is one hundred and eighteen (according to other data – one hundred and sixty). The sanctuary on the slopes of the Dnieper experienced the ordeals of the previous century. In the late 1920 s the Bolsheviks closed the monastery and plundered it. On November 3, 1941, during Nazi occupation, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up under rather enigmatical circumstances. In Soviet time the
6 ANOTHER JERUSALEM
KYIV
The wonderworking image of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin
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KYIV
ANOTHER JERUSALEM
6
In the labyrinths of Lavra caves
meals
“Mambo” 5 Druzhba Narodiv Boulevard, tel.: (044) 522-8224; 12.00-02.00 “Baboon” 39 B. Khmelnytsky St., tel.: (044) 234-1503; 08.00-02.00 “John Bull Pub” 36a Saksahansky St., tel.: (044) 2889-1369; 12.00-23.00 “Celentano” 41 Saksahansky St., tel.: (044) 425-0046; 10.00-23.00 “Pan-Pizza” 5 Comintern St., tel.: (044) 234-5592; 08.00-23.00 Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Kyiv branch Kyiv, 1-A Khoryva str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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Germans were accused of this crime. Today, however, there are many proofs to the effect that the cathedral, as well as Khreschatyk Street, was blown up by Soviet underground (in order to annihilate several Nazi leaders during reciting the liturgy). In 1988–1990, after a long post-war difficult life, the KyivPechersk Lavra was returned to the Church after all. In 1999 a grandiose reconstruction of the Assumption Cathedral was started. It was completed two years later, acquiring the outward appearance of the 18 th century. Among other historical relics of the Upper Lavra and the Near Caves there are the Trinity Gate Church, St. Nicholas Church, and the Church of All Saints with the Economic gate (all the churches were restored at the expense of Ivan Mazepa). The Refectory Church (of a later date) is noted for the fact that nearby its walls there are the graves of the Cossack chieftains Iskra and Kochubey, and Peter Stolypin, Prime-minister under Nicholas II (Iskra and Kochubey informed Peter I of Mazepa’a negotiations with the Sweeds, and Mazepa executed the informers). The main temple of the Near Caves is the little three-domed Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Several unique underground churches are located in the territory of the Near Caves as well. The Far Caves are also known for their burial okaces, underground churches and a picturesque architectural ensemble – the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin (1696) and the Kovnir bell tower (named so in honor of its builder, the serf architect Kovnir). This 42‑meter-high structure is justly considered one of the best masterpieces of Ukrainian baroque. A number of museums are located in old monastery buildings – the most interesting of them being the Museum of Historical Treasures. Its rich collection is known world-wide for its famous Scythian gold pectoral. Other Lavra museums are also worthy of notice. Quite nearby, behind the monastery walls, there is the old Church of our Savior at Berestove, which became the burial-vault
of Prince Yuriy Dolgorukyi, the founder of Moscow killed by the boyars in Kyiv he had seized. “Berestove” was the name of the wooden country-castle of Kyiv princes. Not far away from Lavra, on the Dnieper slopes, there was built a huge complex of the Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War with a gigantic metal statue of “Motherland.” This monument is perhaps the most unpopular with Kyivites – beside the golden domes of the Lavra temples this coarse “woman with a sword” (the politest nickname of many others) looks gross and out of place. At the same time the recently renewed museum exhibition is very interesting, and a few years ago an international jury recognized it the most original military museum in Europe In front of the Holy Gates, the main entrance to Lavra, there are the premises of the Old Arsenal and some other neighboring buildings, where there has been started a project driven by too much ambition, under the name of “Art Arsenal.” It will be a cultural center containing museums, various expositions, a library, etc. However, this megaproject is rather far from completion. On the Dnieper slopes our trip comes to the end. Unfortunately, many interesting and beautiful sights remained beyond the borders of our itineraries. They include the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohove, the Central Botanical Gardens, St. Cyril’s Church, the temples of Vydubytsky Monastery, the palace “Ukraina” and Olympic stadium, Kyiv zoo, the biggest in Ukraine, and many other wonderful places. This fact may be a good reason for another visit to this city, one of the most beautiful on earth.
ANOTHER JERUSALEM
6
Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War
Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohove
Vydubytsky Monastery
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7-10 IN THE REALM OF THE CARPATHIAN BEAR RUDKY•SAMBIR•TURKA 7 1 UZHOTSKY PASS•NEVYTSKE UZHGOROD 8 SEREDNIE•MUKACHEVE•CHYNADIEVE 9 BEREHOVE•VYNOHRADIV•KHUST 10 TIACHIV•SOLOTVYNa•RAKHIV
“Silver land” is an unofficial, but very popular name of Transcarpathia. It seems to mirror a traveler`s impression of a great many blinding, pure rivers and springs that fill the land with sonorous and pleasant noise, as well as of the transparent and magnificent air …
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7 RUDKY•SAMBIR•TURKA•UZHOTSKY PASS• NEVYTSKE•UZHGOROD
POLAND
© TS AF of Ukraine
IT IS WORTH VISITING The castle and museum in the open in Uzhgorod, the castle in Nevytske, the bridge over the Uzh River, the coffeehouses of Uzhgorod, the “Detsa u Notaria” restaurant.
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SAMBIR was built by the people who came to this place after the onslaught of the Tatars in 1241. Besides the Ukrainians, the town was populated by the Poles and Germans. In the early 17 th century False Dmitry (G. Otrepiev) gained strength here before his campaign against Moscow. In 1788 the city obtained coat of arms with the representation of a deer with a neck pierced by an arrow. Common people have always supported the Ukrainian liberation movement; that is why from 1939 through 1941 Soviet power tortured to death more than 900 citizens. Beyond the city, to the left of the road, there is the local ostrich farm. Several kilometers further, after turning to the left and crossing the bridge across the Yablunka River, there is the town of Stary Sambir, which is an original gate to the Carpathians. On leaving it you will see the tombstones of a well-preserved Jewish cemetery. The city of TURKA, the remotest district center of Lviv oblast, borders on the Transcarpathian oblast and lies over the Stryi River. Its name supposedly comes from the fact that in the past these lands had a large population of wild aurochs (Ukr. – “tur”). Turka was first mentioned in 1431. In 1730 it obtained the Magdeburg Law. It its time it had defensive walls, which were destroyed by Hungarian and, later, Swedish troops in 16 th-17 th centuries. Of historical monuments worthy of note is the wooden Church of St. Nicholas (1700). On the hill nearby there is an old cemetery. Built in a characteristic Boiko style, it excellently blends with the local natural landscape. Uzhotsky Pass is situated at a height of 889 m above sea-level and is a natural border between Galicia and Transcarpathia. It was a place of intensive military operations. In 1799–1800 and 1805–1806 Russian troops under the command of V. Suvorov and M. Kutuzov respectively passed here on their way to Western Europe. During World War I soldiers of the Russian general V. Pleve fought here with the Austro-Hungarian army. At the Pass there are the monuments to Sichovi Striltsi and Soviet soldiers who fell in battles against the Hungarian army. Nevytske (12 km from Uzhgorod) is known for the ruins of the observation castle. Its foundation is connected with the growing role of mountain passes and paths, which led through the Carpathians from the East to the West. In the 12 th century the castle was an earthen settlement. In March 1241 the Mongol-Tatars passed the mountains and on the way ruined the fortification in Nevytske. In 1279 king Laslo IV handed over all possessions to the Ung province under the governor Finti. After his death the feudal lord Aba Omodey became the owner of the castle. In 1311 the Hungarian king Karl Robert from the French dynasty of Anjou decided to weaken the influence of this oppositional family. However, despite a strong pressure, Nevytske
7 In September 1919, in St. Andrew’s Church in Kyiv, got married “the citizen of the city of Sambir in Galicia, Oleksandr Kurbas, 32 years of age, of GreekCatholic denomination, and Valentina Chistiakova, a Moscow citizen, 19, of Orthodox denomination.” It was the marriage of the creator and genius of modern Young Ukrainian theater. The first item of the theater’s regulations was the creation of European culture. The dream made a reality was worthily assessed by the world, and was brutally interrupted by the Bolshevik regime, when the NKVD captain Matveiev shot at Kurbas’head at Sandormakh terrain in Karelia.
The Church of St. Nicholas in Turka
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Office of the western cross-border branch Sambir, 13a Peremyshlska str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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Nevytske castle. The remains of the castle walls and towers
There are several legends about the origin of Nevytske castle. The most popular of them claims that it was built by the mythical BAD MAIDEN who ordered to add milk and eggs to the mortar to fortify the walls. She was dethroned by king Matiáš Korvin.
A glance on Uzhgorod
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castle remained in the hands of the family. A new epoch in the life of the fortress began in 1328, when the king handed it over in contemporary and from 1333 constant possession of Ivan Drugeth. The fate of the castle as a fortress came to the end in 1644, when it was ruined during an enemy attack. For a long time it stood as an abandoned house and was even considered a place of evil spirit. It was only in the late 19 th century that attempts were made to revive it. The yard was used for theatrical representations and wedding amusements. Today it is a wonderful place for recreation. The origin of the city of UZHGOROD, the administrative center of the oblast, remains to be one of Transcarpathian mysteries. The local citizens are ready to tell you a couple of their own versions. The Ukrainians prove one version, the Hungarians, another one. Perhaps one thing is clear today: Al-Idrisi, an Arabian traveler and geographer, is considered a “godfather” of the city. It was he who put down the first record about it when he was charting a geographical atlas of the world by order of the Sicilian
governor Roger II. The scientist mentioned it under the name of “Gunkbar” or “Ungu.” Time has turned this word into “Uzhgorod.” However, many citizens are confident that the city was called after the name of the Uzh River flowing through the city’s center. It is worth starting a tour of Uzhgorod from Fedor Koriatowicz Square. Its original name was Gal’kova, which is explained by the fact that it emerged on the left bank of the Small Uzh River where the stream had changed its bed and brought many pebbles (Ukr. “gal’ka”). Later it was the place of the first town fairs. In 1853, when trade stalls were moved to another place, the city authorities decided to turn the square into a park. The area was planted with trees, and benches were installed all around. For a long time there were a fiacre station and a well here. The water from the well was used for washing the square every week.
Assurance company «Universalna» Transcarpathian regional office Uzhgorod, str. Mynaiska, 11/39-40 Tel. 8-800-5003810
© TS AF of Ukraine
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Overview of Korzo Street
The roman-Catholic Church of St. George
An old advertisement on the basement of a building in Olbracht St.
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In historical sources Korzo Street, which connects present-day F. Koriatowicz Square and A. Voloshin Street, was called Mostova. Later it was renamed in honor of the famous Hungarian writer and teacher Kazinczy Ferenc. Today it is one of the favorite walking places of Uzhgorod citizens and guests. Its architectural appearance formed in the late 19 th – early 20 th centuries. The word “Korzo” means “a place for a walk, promenade.” The street leads to Pedestrian Bridge, which is another visiting card of Uzhgorod. Before you proceed along the usual tourist rout, you ought to stop at the crossing of Korzo and A. Voloshin streets, where you will see a house famous in the past. Built of a white silicate brick, the structure was called “White Ship.” The name was derived from that of a tavern opened inside the building in 1780, and not because of its white color. The Roman-Catholic Church of St. George (9 Voloshin St.) is one of the oldest architectural monuments of the city. Its history started supposedly in 1619, when the city’s lord Yuriy Druget (1583–1620), under the influence of the archbishop Peiter Pazman, returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church and decided to build a Roman-Catholic church in place of the Lutheran church. Its neobaroque appearance the church acquired in 1762–1766 due to the care of Archdeacon Emerich Horvat. The altar was built in 1895. A picture by the well-known Uzhgorod artist Lukach Joseph Krakker (1717–1779) was placed in the interior of the altar. In 1820 a clock was mounted on the belfry. After the fire of 1857 the clock was replaced by a new one. The former St. Basil’s Monastery is now one of the buildings of Uzhgorod University. Once here stood a Greek church (54 A. Voloshin St.), another evidence of the city’s national polychromy. The Greeks came to Uzhgorod in the second half of the 17 th century from the Hungarian city of Tokay. Their main occupation was trading in wool. On September 22, 1900, the building and the surrounding area were bought by the Greek-Catholic eparchy of Mukacheve. In 1906 it was decided to reconstruct the church and organize a monastery. On completion of the construction and up to the outbreak of World War I it was the highest structure in Uzhgorod. On September 1, 1937, a classical gymnasium was opened here, where students were taught in Ukrainian. Pidvalny Riad (Cellar Row), (J. Olbracht St.), is situated along the slope of Zamkova Hill. It was famous for its numerous winecellars; they say there was a hundred of them in Uzhgorod. Before World War II the
city residents used to come here to spend some time enjoying a beaker of wine in a friendly atmosphere. Uzhgorod castle (33 Kapitulna St.; museum and art gallery, tel.:3444; open 9.00–18.00; day off – Fr.) attracts everyone who comes to the city even for one day. This imposing edifice can be clearly seen on the approaches to the city. It is situated on a natural hill. The medieval chronicle “The Acts of the Hungarians” links the foundation of the castle with the legendary Slavic prince Laborets. The fortress is an irregular quadrangle with massive towers on each of the corners. In 1384 the stone walls were rebuilt. The dates of reconstructions are carved on the walls. The first one – the year 1558 – can be seen on the tower behind the foot-bridge. Under the carving there are four starlings – the coat of arms of the Drugeths family. Another date – 1698 – is found on the southern gates. On three sides the fortress was surrounded by a ditch carved out in the rocks, and on the north-eastern side, by a precipice; the ditch being 15–30 m. wide, and 5–10 m. deep. The main palace of the castle, built in Renaissance style, contains 40 rooms. A 32‑meter deep well has been preserved in the yard. Artillery that opened fire on the approaching enemy was placed on the bastions. Unfortunately, as a result of military disasters and reconstructions, only separate fragments of the castle’s original interior decorations have survived to this day. They include paintings on secular themes made in graffito technique, and some mural paintings in one of the rooms. In the mid-19 th century, when the castle was converted into a Greek-Catholic seminary, these premises were converted into chapel and served as the rector’s waiting room. In summer 1945. Soviet authorities began to liquidate Greek-Catholic churches in Transcarpathia and turned the fortress into military barracks. In 1947 it became Transcarpathian Museum of History and Local Lore.
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Uzhgorod castle
There are some interesting legends linked with the name of the military and political leader Ferenc II Rákóczi. They say that in the first victorious battle against the Austrians a falcon brought him a saber in his beak. According to another legend this bird was the father of the Hungarian people’s ancestors. A bronze image of the bird can be seen on the fence of the neighboring park.
Ferenc II Rákóczi
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On the territory of Museum of Architecture and Mode of Life Many eminent figures of the Greek-Catholic Church were buried in the crypts of the temple. On June 28, 2003, the relics of the bishop Theodor Romzsa were reburied here. After Transcarpathia was joined to the USSR, Soviet authorities tried to make him repudiate his belief, but he refused point-blank. Then an attempt was made to assassinate him in an improvised automobile accident, but the bishop survived. When he was in hospital a “nurse” gave him a deadly injection of curare. In 2001, during his visit to Ukraine, the Pope John Paul beatified Theodor Romzsa as a martyr for belief.
Bishops residence
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Museum of Transcarpathian Architecture and Mode of Life was opened on June 27, 1970 (33 a Kapitulna St.; tel.:36352; 10.00–18.00, day off – Tu.). In 1965–1970 more than 20 dwelling houses and sacral structures of great artistic value were moved to this area. True, the museum had been built in the territory of one of the oldest Uzhgorod cemeteries. The “Burial Garden,” as it was called by local residents, was a burial place of many prominent figures. However, due to the activities of the museum wonderful monuments of wooden architecture, which Transcarpathia is famous for, have been preserved to the present time. Of special interest in the museum collection are the Lemky wooden Church of St. Michael (1777) from the village of Shelestove, Mukacheve district; the Hutsul house – hrazhda – from the village of Stebne of Rakhiv district; the cottage from the village of Dovhe, Irshava district (second half of the 19 th century); the cottage from the village of Bedevli, Tiachiv district; the Romanian dwelling from the village of Serednie Vodiane, Rakhiv district. The Hungarian mode of life of the late 19 th century is represented by the cottage from the village of Vyshkove, Khust district. The Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Bishop’s Residence (9 Kapitulna St.) appeared when the ruler Janos X Drugeth invited to Uzhgorod in 1640 the monastic order of Jesuits. The monks were generously granted the land and money to build the temple. In 1646 the sanctuary was ready to be solemnly opened. In 1773, after Pope Clement XIV issued the edict on liquidation of the Jesuit order, the monks left Uzhgorod. The temple was passed over to the Greek-Catholic eparchy. The building of the former Uzhgorod zhupanat (3 Zhupanatska Square) was constructed in 1809. Formerly it used to house the city administration. The building was a witness of many outstanding
events. In 1848–1849 it became one of the centers of the Hungarian national revolution. In 1919 the Ruthenian People’s Council made a decision here to join Czechoslovakia. The establishment of “Prosvita” (Enlightenment) society was announced here on May 9, 1920. From 1919 to 1921 it was the working place of the first Transcarpathian governor Hryhoriy Zhatkovych. Today it is an art museum exhibiting the works of Yosyp Bokshay and other local artists (tel.: 37081; 9.00–16.30, day off – Fr.). In the 1920 s-30 s O. Dovzhenko Street was built up with original and, at the same time, functional buildings in the famous constructivist style. The building of People’s Council (architect A. Krupka) has been preserved in Narodna Square. Today it is the seat of the oblast state administration. It is just a few steps from here to the Naberezhna Nezalezhnosti (Independence Embankment), which leads to the Pedestrian Bridge. The street has been functioning since 1923, when the work on regulating the river flow within the city was begun. The most interesting structures situated on the embankment include the former building of Czech gendarmerie (today the building of the medical faculty of Uzhgorod National University), the National Bank (1934–1936) (1 Pushkin St.) built in the late constructivist style, and the former Hungarian gymnasium for boys, built in 1912 in eclectic style (today T. Shevchenko secondary school). A linden alley planted in 1928, which is the longest in Europe (2.2 km), is the embankment’s wonderful adornment. Floods have been a centuries-old and unsettled problem for Transcarpathia. Sometimes they destroyed the bridges and then, despite great risks, people with their goods had to be evacuated by boats. First mention of a bridge in Uzhgorod dates back to
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Cathedral
Pedestrian Bridge
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City Philharmonic Society
The former “Korona” Hotel
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1320. The most famous is the Pedestrian Bridge, which is a favorite place of Uzhgorod citizens and its guests. It is possible to get there by Korzo St. or from A. Voloshin St. through Teatralny side street. The section between present day A. Voloshin Street and the square was built up on money of the Czech shoe-king Bat’a. This area is noted for fine air and wonderful sceneries. Walking across the bridge most of the visitors do not suspect that they are a couple of steps away from the “wall of death.” It is a wall that strengthens the bank on the right side of the bridge. The local inhabitants say that is a place of numerous accidents. Besides, this wall was to suicides’ likingwho jumped from it into the river. Though lately it is not simply to drown for the river has become too shallow. Yevhen Fentsyk (1844–1903) Square in Soviet times was called Teatralna (Theatrical) so many citizens use this name even today. The architectural appearance of the square formed in the latter half of the 19 th century. The fact that it was situated close to the Pedestrian Bridge made it an important thruway and, at the same time, a fine resting-place. Today the outward appearance of the square is determined by the old buildings of the hotel, synagogue and theater. The “Korona” Hotel was built in 1910. The owner of the hotel and the restaurant, Mano Furedi, had a good reputation of a manager of a clean and neat institution with a good cuisine. Every year, on the Feast of St. Paul, balls were given here for the local elite, during which one could strike up useful acquaintances and conclude profitable contracts. The Theater (Ye. Fentsyk Square) appeared in Uzhgorod in 1864. Performances were staged in the Hungarian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak and even Romany languages. From 1921 to 1929 the Ukrainian professional theater worked here, and for three
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years it was headed by the prominent director and actor Mkola Sadovsky (Tobilevych). Since 1988 it has been a puppet show. The building of synagogue (10 Fentsyk Sq.) is an important memorial of the past of еру Uzhgorod Jewish world. It is justly considered the best synagogue of Transcarpathia. It was built in 1904 in neo-Mauritanian style (architects D. Papp and S. Ferenz). In the past the village of Horiany was situated not far from Uzhgorod. Today it is an Uzhgorod suburb notable for the Church of St. Anna (Museum Side Street), one of the best-known monuments of sacral architecture. To get there one should take bus No.2 from S. Petófi Square in Uzhgorod. The structure is of special importance and deserves special attention. It is not known when it was founded. Scientists have been arguing about its origin even today. For a long time it was considered that the first and the oldest part of the church was St. Nicholas’ Rotunda, built in the 13 th century. Sometimes an opinion is advanced to the effect that it was built on the initiative of the monks of the Ionian Order that came to Hungary after the second crusade. So the Transcarpathian sanctuary is compared to similar rotundas in Hungary. However that may be, the church today is the old rotunda in junction with later annexes. At the beginning of the 20 th century, when the church was under repair, frescos of the 14 th-16 th centuries were discovered in the southeastern part of the building. It is not unlikely that some of them were executed by Italian masters to Yuriy Drugeth’s order. The temple is a unique memorial of sacral architecture in terms of the fact that it shows how the Eastern and West European trends could unite in local painting.
Uzhgorod remarks
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It is worth visiting It is worth visiting: the remains of the castle of the Templar Order in Serednie, the castle in Mukacheve, the palace of the Schónborns-Buhgeims in Chynadieve.
Ruins of the castle in the settlement of Serednie
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On the way to Mukacheve, at a distance of 20 km from Uzhgorod, there are interesting historical monuments in the village of Serednie. It was first mentioned in the 14 th century, although the village is certainly much older. According to a legend the fist settlers could not find a suitable place for settlement for a long time. In the end they settled in the center of the regions they had previously inspected. Perhaps this story is partially true because the village is situated exactly between Uzhgorod and Mukacheve. The construction of the castle in the territory of the presentday village was begun by the mysterious Knights Templars, a military and religious order established in Jerusalem during crusades.
After an internecine struggle of many years Serednie became the property of the Polish noble family of Dobo. The most famous member of the family was István Dobo who took part in the heroic defense of Eger fortress during the Austro-Turkish war of 1552, when two thousand defenders resisted the Turkish army of many thousands for almost a month and a half. Captain I. Dobo had been a frequent visitor to Serednie. In 1537 he repaired and strengthened the fortress, and built wine-cellars, using Turkish captives. In the 17 th-18 th centuries the castle in Serednie changed hands more than once during the Austro-Hungarian and AustroTurkich conflicts. During the Kuruci rebellion of 1703–1711 it was badly damaged, and with time lost its fortification significance and turned into a derelict. The remains of the fortress can be clearly seen from the Uzhgorod-Mukacheve highway. Mukacheve is situated 42 kilometers from Uzhgorod. At least in the 11 th-6 th centuries B.C there existed a settlement on the hill of Toupcha. However, first written record of the town was made in the “Hungarians’ Acts” chronicle. In 1086 the fortress was ruined by the Polovtzy, and in 1241, by Batu-khan. For some time Mukacheve and the surrounding lands, on behalf of the Ukrainian prince Lev Danylovych, were under the rule of István Gergel. In 1376 Queen Elizabeth issued a charter on giving the town its own seal, thus strengthening its position to a large extent. In 1445 the owner of the dominion and the castle, the regent of Hungary Janos Guniandi granted Mukacheve the Magdeburg Law. In the middle of the 18 th century amongst the Ukrainian and Hungarian population of the town appeared German settlers. From the end of the 17 th century there was a considerable influx of Jews. For a
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Tasting room From the mid-17th century to this day wines remain to be a subject of active export. The old traditions are evinced by the remains of wine-cellars of the 16th century, which have been preserved and are presently used by the local firm “Leanka” (6 T. Shevchenko St., tel.:03126271031).
The name “Mukacheve” remains to be a subject of various speculations. At least one of them is the best known. It says the hill upon which stands the castle is an artificial one. It was supposedly made by ordinary people at the expense of their great effort and torment. Hence the name “Mukacheve” (Ukr.”muka” – torment). However, this is not true. The hill is 188 m. high above sea level. It is absolutely natural, of volcanic origin. And troubles with it had only those who tried to capture the castle.
Street Myru (Street of Peace)
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View of Mukacheve castle
To get to the castle in the absence of guide signs one should, on coming from Uzhgorod or Mukacheve, turn near the old mill and walk along the earth road less than twenty meters.
The courtyard of Mukacheve castle
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long time Mukacheve was the main political and trade competitor of Uzhgorod, however, Uzhgorod was geographically closerto political capitals, and Soviet authorities, having “obtained“ beautiful administrative buildings from their Czech counterparts, finally decided in Uzhgorod’s favor. In the past the main purpose of the Mukacheve castle was to inspect and control the way from Hungary to Galicia through Veretsky Pass. The attacks of the Polovtsian khan Kutesk and Mongol-Tatar troops severely damaged the fortress, so King Lásló I the Saint (1077–1095) ordered to strengthen its walls. In 1321 King Karl Robert invited Italian craftsmen to continue construction. One of the best owners of the castle was the Podolian prince Fedor Koriatowicz, the nephew of the Hungarian king Zsygmond of Luxemburg. He was the first to install cannons on the castle walls. A ditch was dug around the hill and surrounded with an oaken fence, which is called “palanka.” In the courtyard a donjon was built. A well was dug in the courtyard. It was 85 m. deep and is considered the deepest in Ukraine. In the 16 th-17 th centuries Mukacheve and adjoining lands became an arena of fighting between the state of the Hapsburgs and Transylvania. In the course of military actions the fortress was destroyed several times, resold and even pawned. Finally, in 1633 the Transylvanian Prince Diord I Rákóczi bought it for 200 thousand forints. In 1648 the reconstruction of the castle was continued by his wife Zsuzsanna Lorantffi. Two coats of arms carved in stone are found over the entrance to the tower of the upper castle, and at the museum. They were executed under her supervision and depict the combined coats of arms of Transylvania and the Lorantffi family. For many years the fortress belonged to this family. It was first inherited by the prince’s son Diord II Rákóczi, and then by his grandson Ferenc I. The prince was
an active participant in the anti-Austrian rebellion. When it was quelled, many plotters were executed. Ferenc I ransomed himself for 400 thousand forints. Forgiven, he abandoned politics, and died some time later. In the summer of 1676 his widow, daughter of the Croatian ban (king’s deputy) Zrini Ilona, was threatened with a loss of the castle by the count Imre Tekeli, the leader of the Kuruc. The situation was saved by her marriage to the count in 1682. However, family happiness didn’t last long. In 1686 the great vizier Kara Mustafa heading the Turkish army of many thousands tried to seize Vienna. The count decided to take advantage of the situation and set out against the Austrian monarch. However, the Turkish campaign ailed. The enraged Turks imprisoned the count, interning him later. Meanwhile the Mukacheve castle proved under the siege by the 12 thousand-strong Austrian army of General Eneas Kaprari. Defenders were few in number. Ilona Zrini rejected the proposition to surrender, and as a token of her resoluteness to fight to the end she ordered to hang out flags on every corner of the castle. The defense lasted almost three years. Ilona was a true example of courage and self-sacrifice. Together with her 10‑year-old son – the future leader of another rebellion, Ferenc II Rákóczi – she often came to the bastions under the fire to help the wounded. The Austrian Emperor Leopold I was dissatisfied with how the siege was conducted and appointed General Antonio Karaff a new commander. However, the situation didn’t change. When the Austrian army temporarily retreated, Ilona sent her men to neighboring Galicia to sell her valuables to raise money for the defense needs. The defense lasted three years. To prevent further victims the act of capitulation was signed in 1688. Meanwhile the Austrian Emperor Leopold I ordered to ruin part of Mukacheve castle fortifications and made it look as we see it today. In 1728 the Austrian Kaiser Karl IV handed over the castle and the city to Lotar Franc Schŏnborn. Until 1787 the castle was used as a prison, which was ill-famed. Sometimes it was called Austrian Bastille. Among the famous persons imprisoned here at different times were the Hungarian enlightener F. Kazintsi, the Russian revolutionary and philosopher M. Bakunin, the fighter for Greece’s independence A. Ipsilanti, the French ambassador Camille Tournod. Interesting but depressing recollections were left by the Hungarian poet Sándor Petófi after his visit to the castle on July 12, 1847. The Hungarian revolution of 1848–49 freed the prisoners. As a token of this event a lime tree – the tree of freedom – was planted on the slopes of the hill. The tree had been growing until 1960, when a heavy hurricane swept over the castle. In 1896, to commemorate one thousand years of the Hungarian tribes’ migration to the Middle Danube lowland, the prison was closed, and the castle began to decline. In the 20 th century the fortress was used by Czechoslovak and Hungarian armies. In the
8 The castle’s well has its own legend. They say that the water appeared in the well only with the help of the devil. The latter proposed his services to the lord in exchange for a bag of gold. The prince decided to play a trick considering the fact that the devil hadn’t specified the size of the bag. After the water appeared the devil was given only several coins. Angry and ashamed he jumped into the well, and ever since has been frightening all those who want to drink some water with strange sounds coming from the depth.
Bas-relief of Ilona Zrini
Ilona Zrini with her children in Mukacheve Castle. Victor Madaracz. 1859
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Town Hall
Beside the Town Hall stands a monument to Soviet soldiers and partisans (sculptor P. Yusov). The obelisk was erected in 1945. It has its own story. Before t he war there was a factory in the city that produced famous sport skis. The owner of the factory was the well-known master Dula Choknadi. Soviet authorities confiscated the enterprise. But the workers refused to come to work without their “exploiter.”The officials had to yield to the workers’ demand, but made the master transfer all the money he got from a military order to the erection of the monument to “liberators.”
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TRANSCARPATHIA 1940 s-50 s it was occupied by the NKVD, later it was transformed into a machineoperators’ school, courses for collective farm heads, and a trade school. Since 1993 it has been housing the Museum of History and Local Lore, and a picture gallery (tel.:8 (03131) 44096, 44053; 9.00–18.00; day off – Mo. www.zamokpalanok.mk.uz.ua). In the 19 th century the Mukacheve castle became a place where the greatest relic of the Hungarian state – the Crown of St. Stefan – was kept for three months. Sometimes this relic is called a symbol of the past and present of the united Europe. The crown is composed of two parts. The first one is a gift for the Hungarian kings from Pope Sylvester II, and the second one is the confirmation of power from a Byzantine Emperor. The crown has passed through many adventures. During Napoleonic wars the relic was under the threat of being captured. So in 1805 the crown under the guard of Captain Joseph Czpleni’s squadron was transferred to and kept at the Mukacheve castle. In the 20 th century the relic left Hungary again, and it was only in 1978 that it returned to its place in the Hungarian Parliament. The Town Hall (2 Pushkin St.) was built in the early 20 th century in modern style. On the Town Hall’s tower there was installed a clock made by the master Joseph Czovinski. The smaller bell of the clock chimes every 15 minutes, and the bigger one, every hour. The “White House” (16 Myr St.), known also as the palace of the Rákóczi family, obtained its name due to the color of its white walls with red ornaments at the corners. The palace was reconstructed and converted into a family residence in the middle of the 17 th century, particularly after 1633, when Diord I Rákóczi became the governor of the Mukacheve castle. In 1726 the castle and neighboring lands became the property of the Schönborns family. The Austrian architect Balthazar Newman, on instructions of Count Ervin Schönborn, executed later improvements, which have been preserved to our time. The building is a combination of Renaissance and baroque styles. Especially effective are the baroque portal and open stairs leading to the central entrance. Not far from the White House, in Myr Square, stands a monument to the outstanding artist of the 19 th century, Munkaszi Mihaly (1844–1900), a native of Mukacheve. The artist is considered one of the most important figures in Hungarian art. Unfortunately, to give his paintings more brightness, he had grounded his canvases with dark brown bitumen, which with time revealed its ruinous effect. The best works of the painter are kept in special storages, but it is quite likely that in half a century most of them will be completely lost. Almost in the end of Myr Street stands the Church of St. Martin (51 Myr St.), which was built in 1904 in place of a Gothic structure. This is one of the city’s main relics, at least due to the
fact that St. Martin is the protector of Mukacheve. In the courtyard, to the left of the entrance, there is another unique Transcarpathian sacral memorial – St. Joseph’s Chapel. Initially it served as an altar of the church. Of great artistic value are the fragments of mural paintings and stone sculptures that have come down to us from the 14 th century. Frescos supplement the ornaments around the narrow arrow-shaped windows and the outer buttresses. Outside, to the left and the right of the entrance to the church, between the buttresses, you can see ancient epitaphs. St. Nicholas’ Monastery on Chernecha Hill, and the monastery Church of St. Nicholas (2 Pivnichna St.) are outstanding memorials of sacral art. According to folk legends the monastery was founded in the 11 th century by the monks that came from the Dnieper slopes. The monastery was patronized by the daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Anastasia, who was the wife of the Hungarian
There is a school of art in the “White House” now.
One of the merriest holydays of Transcarpathia is a festival of wine“Chervene wyno”. It is held in January in Mukacheve. It`s a presentation of white and red wines made by the locals. The winner-creator of the best white wine receives a white piglet, of the red wine – spotty.
St. Nicholas’ Monastery king Endrás I. However, the monastery achieved the acme of its development during the rule of Fedor Koriatovych. The monastery received from him moneyed assistance and countenance. After his death in 1414 he was buried in a monastery crypt. The town of Chynadieve was first mentioned in the 13 th century. At that time it was called Sent Miklosh. The remains of a fortified palace of the 14 th-15 th centuries (built by baron P. Pereni) can be seen in the center of the town. In contrast to most of the Transcarpathian fortresses it was a witness of frequent internecine conflicts rather than a defensive structure. In 1657 it was seriously damaged by Polish troops. During Nazi occupation the castle was converted into a prison. Today the structure has been privatized and the new owner tries to breathe new life into the old walls (those who want to see the interior should arrange a visit with the owner Yosyp Bartosh, tel.: 00380313162577; credos@bigmir.net).
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Mukacheve, 6\2 Dostoevskoho str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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Palace clock as a decorative element of the building
It is said that once there were two underground passages that connected the premises of the first floor. The architectural design of the palace embodies an interesting idea: it has 365 windows, as many as there are days in a year; 52 rooms, the number corresponding to that of the weeks; and 12 entrances, the number of months. The pond was designed in an original manner as well. Its lakeside line repeats the outlines of the then borders of Hungary.
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The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker is another sight to be seen in the center of Chynadieve. This temple dates from the 14 th century. At that time it belonged to the Roman-Catholic community. With time the Ukrainian population in Chynadieve grew in number, so the church was handed over to the GreekCatholic community. After reconstruction the church acquired the features of a fortified structure. In 1814 a tower was added to the western façade, and the nave and the altar were reconstructed. In 1900 Count F. Schönborn proposed, on the occasion of his daughter’s marriage, to build a church or school, for choice of the local residents. The latter chose school. Today the Church of St. Nicholas belongs to Orthodox believers, and Greek-Catholics attend the Church of St. Elijah built in 1937. The Palace of Schönborns-Buhgeims cannot but impress a traveler with its nicety and architectural perfection. It seems it has been created by a magician who masterly combined the architectural distinctiveness of the building with the adjacent park (architect Ferenc Baschinda, 1849). The palace was built as a summer and hunting residence by request of Count Ervin Friedrich Schönborn. It was most intensively used by Count FriedrichKarl Schönborn-Buhgeim. The building has come down to us with minor outer and inner changes. It is a massive pentagonal structure with two round three-tier towers at the corners. The walls were executed without excessive architectural details. Decorative loopholes were placed along the perimeter of the building, over the windows of the second floor. Numerous fireplaces inside can be considered additional decorations. She was proud of the beauty and architectural perfection of the dwelling-place, which attracted numerous guests and family friends. Once many well-known personalities rested here. The postwar history of the estate is a process of its conversion into a resort. Opened in Soviet times, the sanatorium “Karpaty” (Carpathians) has been functioning to this day.
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IT IS WORTH VISITING The town of Berehove is often called “Ukrainian Hungary.” For a long time Thermal baths in Berehove, narcissi negotiations have been carried out on vale, deer farm in vil. Iza, church creation of a separate Hungarian national valley near Khust. district. A tourist may find it difficult to communication with local residents for the majority of them, especially elderly people, speak only Hungarian. In this case you should stress that you are a tourist. Another problem is that some residents use the Hungarian time zone. Berehove is situated on a picturesque bank of the Verke River near the vineyard-covered hills. According to the writer P. Ferenc’s assumption these lands once were the border territory of the Roman Empire. First records of the settlement date from 1063. Ferenc II Rákóczi Square formed at the beginning of the 20 th century. Once it was enclosed with a two-meter high
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Centre of Berehove
Outward appearance and interior of the RomanCatholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
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wall with loop-holes, and was called Yarmarkova (Fair Square). Among the most interesting sights found in the square is the Roman-Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, an excellent example of sacral Gothic. Its beginnings date from 1418. In 1565 the structure suffered from military operations as well as from Protestant adherents. It was plundered by the Turks and Tatars. Today, the temple`s extended nave, altar, the bell tower and numerous buttresses produce a vivid impression. It has a harmonic interior. Due to its excellent design the play of light on the walls intensifies aesthetic effect. The southern portal looks more elaborate owing to its detailed profile. During construction two capitals were embedded in the church’s northern wall. Presumably they could have belonged to another sanctuary. One of them is decorated with a human head, another one, with a lying lion. Many details are noted for definite features of Romanesque style, which is a rare occasion for other territories of modern Ukraine. In 1657 the church was plundered by the troops of Prince Yu. Lubomirski. In 1686, during the Hungarian rising, it was set on fire. In 1839 it was partially reconstructed by the architect Albert Tihler. The last restoration was made in 1975–1978. There is a monument to King St. István in the yard. The former count palace (1629) of Gabor Betlen is situated nearby (1 Betlen St.). The palace was built in place of the former Catholic cloister destroyed by the Reformers. This small single-storied building with a mezzanine was built in baroque. The façade is decorated with six pillars and an inscription reading “Betlen, 1629.” The basement under the main building has preserved the original Gothic ceiling. In its time under the inscription there was the coat of arms of the Betlen family. Unfortunately, only separate elements of its outer décor have survived from the palace’s former grandeur.
On coming back to Ferenc II Rákóczi Square let’s stop before the building of the former casino of Berehove Zhupa (1 Ferenc II Rákòczi Sq.) that was built in 1841 and became the center of local cultural life. The first building was erected on the initiative of Tomas Evtes, and the present-day secession stone structure was built by the architect Dula Beshenski (1912). At that time the square was paved with stone, and on the eve of World War II it was planted with Oriental cherry-trees. Literary soirees held in this building enjoyed great popularity. One of them was attended by the well-known Hungarian writer Mòricz Zsigmond. Unfortunately, in 2005 the building’s roof was badly damaged by fire. On crossing the bridge over the Verke River we get to the Square of Heroes that emerged in the mid-19 th century. Here, on the crossroads, the Oroslan (Lion) Hotel was built as far back as the 17 th century. Numerous memorial plaques indicate that all prominent figures who visited the city stayed in this hotel. The present name of the square comes from the monument to the Soviet Army soldiers that was erected nearby. A little further, at the crossing of L. Koshut Square and the Square of Heroes there is the Protestant Church built in pseudo-Gothic style. The temple was built when Calvinism was widely spread in Transcarpatia. Today Berehove has the biggest community of this branch of Protestantism. One of its first priests, Balazh Radan, fell victim to the Catholics. After numerous reconstructions and
alterations made in the 18 th century the church acquired its present-day outward appearance. On May 2, 1918, the church burned down again. It was only in 1921 that new bells were cast and in the spring of 1922 the church was rebuilt again and a new organ (“Riger” firm) from the city of Eger was installed. Opposite the church is the building of zhupa (city) court that dominates the square. It was built in 1908–1909 after the project
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Berehove, 63\1 Secheni str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
The writer Mihaly Tompa (1817-1868) told a doubtful but beautiful legend. According to him a town rose in place where a mythical shepherd, Sas by name, found seven troughs of gold in a hole dug by two fighting bulls, and decided to build a temple.
The former zhupa court
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of architect Ferenc Yablonski and builders Istvan and Ferenc Kopasi. Soviet power converted the building into a fine mechanic plant, which resulted in its almost a complete ruination. Today the building is being revived for the needs of an educational institution.
The ruins of Vynohradiv castle
King Zcigmond of Luxemburg
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Vynohradiv, 5 Shevchenko str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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VYNOHRADIV is situated 108 km from Uzhgorod. The Vynohradiv rayon is the warmest one in Transcarpathia and offers fine conditions for farming. Today Vynohradiv is a small cosy city. The main sights are concentrated in the city’s center. Sightseeing can be started from Vynohradiv Castle (Kotsiubynsky St.). It was first mentioned in records of 903 in the “Chronicle” by an anonymous author. Some historians believe that a military squad was quartered in the city to secure safety of salt cargo transfer by the Tysa River. The old plans of the castle give ground to assume that its construction started in the 14 th century. There exists information that the castle was designed by the feudal lord Beke Borczo in 1307. Be that as may, in 1399 King Zcigmond of Luxemburg (1386–1437) handed over the fortress to Baron P. Perényi. On the site of the wooden fortifications the new owner built a stone fortress; one of the architects being Aristotle Fioravanti. The coat of arms – the river, fish and the main fortress tower – was carved on the main gates. Gabor Perényi died in the battle of Magocz. For some time the castle belonged to Minorites who turned it into a cloister. At that time the relics of St. J. Kapistran (1386–1456) were kept in the castle. He had been a Bernardine and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1724. A restless preacher of crusades against heretics and the Turks, he had gathered a 60‑thousand-strong army and waged a war against the Turks in the terrains of Hungary. During the Reformation Janos Perényi went over to the Protestants and began to oppress the monastery. In 1672 the fortress was badly damaged in military actions and has not been restored ever since. The slopes of Chorna Hill, upon which the ruins of the fortress are to be found, are located at a height of 565 m. above the city level, and are covered with thick vineyards. The very hill, which is an extinct volcano, can be regarded as a certain tourist zest. If you have time you ought to stay on the hill for some time to admire the magnificent scenery. At the foot of its southeast slopes there are wine-cellars of the local winery, which is 350 meters long. The enterprise is considered part of the Transcarpathian “wine path.” By primary arrangement you can taste local wines.
On climbing up the mountain and staying among the ruins of the fortress it is almost impossible to imagine that a stone chapel and a church surrounded by defensive walls once were part of the fortress. The castle’s central area was quadrangular in form. Five quadrangular towers and several projections jutted out outside. Some 60–70 meters from the castle to the northeast the remains of an old Gothic church are to be found. Once it was a single-nave structure with an altar and sacristies on two sides. To the west of the center, upon the highest part of the hill, one can see a stone chapel of the 16 th century. This small one-tier structure with a round altar is the only structure surviving to this day. Not far from the city center, in the depth of an old park laid out in 1848, there is a small two-storied building. This is the former palace of the barons Perényi (Kopanytska St.) built in the 14 th century. In the course of centuries it was re-designed more than once, and now baroque features dominate in its outer décor. On the façade there is a relief coat of arms of the Perényi family. An original roof and baroque tower at the corners once added a monumental solemnity to the building. Unfortunately, only separate fragments of these decorations have survived. Today the premises of the palace house the district education department. To the right of the entrance there is a memorial plaque on the façade, which was installed in honor of Zsygmond Perényi. The Franciscan Church (2 Myr Sq.) is situated in the city center and was first mentioned in 1516. At that time some twenty friars
took care of it. Initially it looked like a Gothic structure, but in 1556 the building was destroyed. In 1668 monks of St. Francis’ order restored the church. The fire of 1747 caused another reconstruction of the church. Sometimes it is said that there was
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Coat of arms of the Perényi family
The former palace of the barons Perény
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a secret underground passage between the fortress and the monastery, however nobody has found it so far.
Franciscan cathedral in Vynohradiv
On top of the Zamkova hill
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Those who have visited the city will agree that Khust, in spite of rapid civilization changes in Transcarpathia over the last few years, meets its guests with a specific provincial atmosphere of the Ukrainian-Hungarian-Jewish world. For a long time the old section of the city had been built up chaotically, atypically of European cities. The remains of such building up have survived to this day. The best way to begin a tour of the city is to get lost in the lace of more than a hundred wide and narrow streets. The city is situated at the picturesque foot of the mountains where the Rika and Tysa rivers flow together. First written reference to the city dates from the 10 th11 th centuries. In the 13 th century, after the Tatar assaults and partial depopulation, it was populated by Hungarian migrants sent by King Geza II. In 1329 King Karl Robert granted Khust privileges of a royal city. Later on Khust and its castle went through a great variety of adventures, persistently passing from one owner to another. Khust is probably the only city in Transcarpathia, which has so many legends about its origin. On entering the city from Vynohradiv, near the bridge, there is a rock noted for reddish color. They say that during the Tatar invasion the local voevode, Khust by name, killed his son there, having taken him for a Tatar. On realizing he had made a mistake, the voevode took his own life. The blood of the father and son got mixed and changed the color of the rock forever. The ruins of the Khust castle tower over the city on the hill at a height of 150 meters. Today, while being among the picturesque witnesses of history, one ought to use one’s imagination to fully immerse oneself in the past. In plan the castle was an oblong structure composed in the upper and lower yards. It was first mentioned in 1191. It withstood the Tatar siege of 1241, the attack of khan Ghirey in 1594, and that of the Turkish army in 1661. In the course of its complex history the castle was reconstructed several times. A tower with a sharp corner directed outwards defended the gates from the southeastern side. In the yard there were living quarters, household facilities, water gathering reservoirs, palace structures and other premises. Sometimes the castle was used as a prison. In
the 15 th century King Mátyás presented the castle and salt mines to his wife, Queen Beatrice of Aragon. In 1661 the well-known Turkish traveler and poet Evlia Chelebi, while being a member of the Turkish embassy, compared this stronghold with the famous fortress Iskander. In various periods the castle belonged to the kings Zsigmond of Luxemburgi and Lajos II (1516–1526). Later on the magnate István Boczkoi, and then the Transylvanian prince Gábor Báthori became its owners. In the 16 th century it was sold to chancellor Mihály Teleki for twenty thousand. The 17 th century, when the Khust castle belonged to the Redei family, was the period of the castle’s flourishing. In the early 18 th century, when the rising under the leadership of Francis II Rákóczi broke out, his accomplice Emerich Ilosvai bribed the guards and took hold of the castle. The fortress turned into an important strategic stronghold of the uprising. In the 16 th-17 th centuries, along with the development of firearms, the castle was persistently reconstructed and fortified. In the upper part of the castle there was an arsenal, and in the lower, cellars from which several underground passes branched off. The castle had a well 160 m. deep. On July 3, 1766, a real catastrophe befell the castle when a thunderbolt struck its powder-magazine and the fortress blew up. The Austrian emperor to be Joseph II came in person to see the consequences of the disaster and, as a result, decided to move the garrison to Mukacheve. In 1788 the fortress was again hit by a lightning. Afterwards the Khust castle has never been restored.
Today one can see only the ruins of the outer gates, the powder tower, bastions, and the wall around the periphery. A tour around Khust is an easy walk. Most of the monuments are located in the central section of the city near Karpatska Sich St. and Narodna Square.
Sometimes one can hear a legend according to which the fatal explosion was caused by the legendry folk brigand Pyntia who, during a siege, hit the powder tower with a single shot
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Khust, 6 I. Franko str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
The ruins of Khust castle over the city
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9 In the “Czech block” There are many exotic versions of the city’s name origin. One of them says that once the devil decided to jump out of the Underworld. He broke through the earth with his head in the middle of a picturesque plain. The devil had a brush at the end of his tail that caught on the earth. His attempts to pull it out were unsuccessful. Then he stained every nerve, started with a jerk, and tore off part of his tail. Out of pain the devil began to bawl:“Khvust;, khvust, khvust!” (tail).Since then a mountain has been standing in place where the devil jumped out, and the locality itself was given the name of Khust. Another version says that Khust (Hungarian - Huszt) originated from the first letters of the neighboring cities: H (Hosszúmező – Dovhe Pole), U (Uisk – Vyshkove), SZ (Sziget – Siget), T (Técső – Tiachiv).
St. Elizabeth church
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A wonderful view of the castle opens up from the square. Yet, you might find it a bit difficult to get there in a day time when the whole area turns into an oriental bazaar. If you are liking for authenticity and national character, a meander along Repin and Poperechna streets will be a good choice. Calvinists’ Church (St. Elizateth’s Church) (45 Zhovtiana St.) acquired its outward appearance in the first half of the 15 th century. From the outside it is surrounded by a defensive wall. Later reconstructions did not spoil its aspect. It consists of three parts: an isolated tower, a nave, and an apse connected with them. During the restoration carried out in 2004–2005 the remains of frescoes of the 15 th century were discovered here. In contrast to other cities of the region Khust has a partially preserved authentic Jewish community. Today it rallies round the synagogue (11 Nezalezhnosti Sq.). This structure is about 150 years old. It is the only synagogue in Transcarpathia, which almost never stopped functioning. During World War II it was used as a warehouse for belongings of Jews taken by the Nazis. In Soviet times attempts were made to convert it into a club of the local shoefactory. Today the synagogue is under repair, but still it is functioning. The majority of the believers are elderly people who carefully preserve the memory of the past. Among other architectural monuments there are the remains of the so-called local “Czech office” built in the early 20 th century. It is situated not far from school No. 1. Another witness of Czech stay in the city is the building of the city council built in the 1920 for the district government. In the neighbor of Khust there is a “Valley of narcissi”. Every spring, in the end of April and in the first half of May, five
kilometers away from the city in the valley of Kireshi on the height of 180–200 m. on the wide territory thousands of flowers blossom. Wild plants, that are used to hide high in the mountains, cower the field with beautiful flowers. Every year the time of their blossom attracts a lot of tourists. The surrounding area is filled with the flowers aroma and in combination with the view it leaves the unforgettable impression.
The valley is a reservation, so picking up flowers is strictly forbidden. The violators will face a penalty. The locals usually offer you the flowers in the places tourists are brought to. The entrance during the blossom season is paid.
9 According to a legend a mythical Narcissus was wandering around and saw the streamlet Khustets flowing across a picturesque valley. The water was pure and transparent. Narcissus saw himself in it like in a mirror, fell in love with the image and stayed there for good. They also say that narcissi once helped the local residents withstand in their struggle against enemies. When the latter seized the castle, the people, as if as a token of submission, made for them pillows stuffed with flowers. It was an artful trick because narcissi are a strong soporific and those who fall asleep on such a pillow may never wake up.
The “Valley of narcissi” in blossom
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TIACHIV is interesting due to the fact
IT IS WORTH VISITING that the Ukrainian-Romanian frontier is
“Kunihunda Lake” in Solotvyno, “Brynza Festival” in Rakhiv, Look-out platform on the Yablunytsky Pass
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Tyachiv, 10 Lenin str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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running almost across the city. In a comparatively narrow river fishermen are quietly engaged in fishing in the territorial waters of the neighboring country. The time of the city’s foundation is not certain. In chronicles Tiachiv was first mentioned in 1329, with reference to the Hungarian king Karl Robert’s charter. The first mention of the city’s coat of arms is dated June 28, 1701. The well-known Hungarian artist Simon Hollósy, who headed Munich art school and founded the creative artists’ union in Nodban (Hungary), lived and worked in the city from 1914. On May 1, 1992, a bronze bust of the artist made by the Hungarian sculptor Emike Tovt was inaugurated in the center of Tiachiv. The city has three interesting sacral memorials: the Protestant, Roman-Catholic and Greek-Catholic churches, all of them being located near the main street.
Built in the 12 th century by the king Ladislav the Great the Roman-Catholic Church was handed over to the adherents of Calvinism (29 Lenin St.) in 1556. Its roof is covered with gaily colored tiles. The temple was reconstructed in 1748 and 1810. Its walls are fortified with strong buttresses. The nave is decorated with paintings of the mid-18 th century. Until 1944 it housed a very rich Máramaross library. The Greek-Catholic Intercession Church (91 Kosut St.) was built in 1852. However, it was first mentioned in 1801, when it was a wooden structure. Presentday icons and the altar were made in Budapest workshops. There are two bells in the belfry: one was made by the master F. Egri (1924), and the other came from the Romanian city of Arad, and was initially intended for the cathedral in Syget. In 1948, after the Greek-Catholic Church was forbidden, it was transferred to the Orthodox community. SOLOTVYNO became famous due to its salt deposits and salt-mines, which have been in operation since times of old. The town is situated on the right bank of the Tysa River, between the mountain ridges Sklavan and Mahura, close to the UkrainianRomanian frontier. The oldest reference to the town dates from the 14 th century. The beginning of industrial extraction of salt turned it into an important economic and political center. Beginning from the Middle Ages salt has been considered a real monetary unit, that is why Hungarian rulers and other grandees gave much consideration to the development of Solotvyno. Today the town is famous not only for its salt production and the Transcarpathia regional allergology hospital, but also for the local analogue of the Dead Sea – the saline Lake of Kunigunda. In summer thousands of visitors come here on days off to revel in the salubrious waters of the lake. On the way from Tiachiv to Rakhiv, near the village of Dilove, scientists of Vienna Royal Academy of Sciences of the AustroHungarian Empire installed a geodesic sign symbolizing the Geographic center of Europe. Upon it there is a carved inscription in Latin: Locus Perennis. Dilicentissime cum libella librations quae est in Austria et Hungary conffectacum mensura gradum meridionalium et pralleloumierum Europeum. MD CCCLXXXVII (Constant, exact place. Very precisely, with the help of a special apparatus, using the scale of meridians and parallels, there was determined the Center of Europe. 1887). We do not recommend you to tell the local residents about the recent attempts of French geographers to “transfer” the center
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Reformed Church Tiachiv has always suffered more than other Transcarpathian cities from floods. The most destructive of them were those in May 1913 and in autumn 1937. Many people perished. In May 1970 the dam burst again and within two hours flooded the city. In rescuing people B. Kosenko and Sél Kuno showed real heroism. The level of water of that flood was marked on a monument located near the district polyclinic (Zhovtneva St.). Big floods recurred in 1993 and 1998.
An underground hospital
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Sanatorium on the Kunihunda lake
of Europe to the environs of Vilnius. At least they will not believe you…
Rakhiv is the highest Alpine city in Ukraine (820 m above sea level). Its lowest street is at a height of 400 m, and the highest one, 1,000 m. Rakhiv’s another distinctive feature is that thunderstorms and thunderbolts here are more frequent than in any other part of Ukraine – 43 a year.
In literature RAKHIV is often called “Hutsul Paris.” The distinctiveness of the original Carpathian coloring is especially evident at the famous brynza (sheep’s milk cheese) festivals held in the first decade of September. Rakhiv was founded in 1447. Some might call legendary Rakh the founder of the town, but most of the local experts of local lore are convinced that the name Rakhiv originated from the word “rakhuvaty” (to count). Naturally the case in point is money. All stories about the valiant gangs and their adventures rest upon real
Kind to Rakhiv
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facts: the point is that smugglers played an important role in the life of Rakhiv.
They actively used the fact that their town was a natural boundary between Galica and Transcarpathia. Once it was located on the Polish-Hungarian frontier, then Polish-Czechoslovak one, and now on the Ukrainian-Romanian frontier. The town was the center of various brigand gangs. Oleksa Dovbush was their renowned leader. This Carpathian “Robin Hood” left behind a vivid trace in the folklore of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Historical reference source testifies that in 1782 a wooden bridge across the Tysa River was built in Rakhiv. Thousands of Italians and specialists from other European countries worked at the building of the railway, which was put into operation on August 15, 1895. Some of them fell in love with the local beauties and stayed in the city, thereby diversifying the ethnographic face of the Hutsul land.
On January 5, 1919, the Hutsul republic headed by Stepan Klochurak was proclaimed in the village of Yasynia. It managed to hold out till June 11, 1919. To liquidate revolutionary sentiments the Romanian troops occupied the city. Luckily, under the postwar treaties Rakhiv became part of Czechoslovakia, whose liberal rule made a lot of good for this land. In 1939 Rakhiv was occupied by the Hungarian troops. During Nazi occupation the city suffered heavy losses. Mizhhiria rayon of Transcarpathian oblast is famous, primarily, for its unique scenery. Yet the most precious gem in its crown is the National Natural Park Synevyr. The best way to get there is to start from Khust along the road A 263 to the rayon center Mizhhiria, or from the Volovetsky Pass, turning off the road E50/M06 near the village of Nyzhni Vorota.
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Trembitas are a symbol of the Ukrainian Carpathians. This musical instrument is sometimes called Carpathian tam-tam. One of its varieties is 3.5 meters long. Considering the fact that settlements were situated far from one another trembitas were particularly handy for transmitting important reports. Their sound could mean an attack of the wolves on a herd, death of a fellowvillager, report on the enemy, a need for a general meeting. With the appearance of bells in the villages trembitas began to lose their purpose. There existed a special kind of trembita for Christmas caroling, the sound of which announced the birth of Christ. Soviet power often made the Hutsuls play trembitas out of place during various state holidays, thereby amusing the local residents very much.
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Transcarpathian regional branch office Rakhiv, 7\1 Myru str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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10 To get to the territory of the park you should follow certain“procedures.”You have to pass two check-points and pay a double ecological duty. Then you can walk straight to the lake. It should be remembered that Synevyr park is one of a few territories where tents and picnics are not allowed. Near the lake there is a recreation center and a quiet hotel.
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The National Park “Synevyr” was founded in 1989. It attracts travelers by wooded mountains, alpine meadows under the clouds, the rapid rivers Tereblia and Chorna Rika, and the curative mineral springs “Berkut” type. Here also belongs the unique mountain swamp Hlukhania. The highest summits in the territory of the park are the mountains of Strymba (1,719 m.) and Nehrovets (1,707 m.). But the most valuable treasure of the park is the famous Synevyr Lake, also known as the “Sea Eye.” It formed as a result of landslides, at a height of 989 m. above sea-level, which dammed up the river valley in the post-glacial period. The valley was quickly filled with the waters of three mountain streams; the area of the lake and its depth never stop to change depending on the quantity of atmospheric precipitates. There is another, poetic explanation of the lake’s origin. There is a small island in the middle of the lake. According to folk legends it is the top of a rock on the grave of the girl Syn and the boy Vyr. Evil people impeded their love. The envious threw the boy off the mountain. Left alone, the girl cried out a whole lake of blue tears, and then plunged into the water from a steep. The 8–22 meter deep lake covers about 4 or 5 hectares. Trout, already a rare fish in other terrains of the Carpathians, is still in abundance in the clear, cold water of the lake. A visit to the Museum of Rafting on the Chorna River will be of interest without doubt. However, the quality of the road will be right only for a land cruiser. Make your choice. At the beginning
of the road don’t miss the remains of a log pillbox of the famous defensive system “Arpad’s Line.” The museum is partially located on the water and is a hydraulic structure of the 19 th century. It was used for rafting timber bound in rafts. Its complex, for that time, technical and architectural solution was based on the traditions of folk construction. The dexterousness of Transcarpathian masters is well known far beyond the borders of the region. The religious, housing, administrative and other structures they made are real masterpieces and cannot but impress one with their inimitable beauty. (NPP “Synevyr” 90041, Ukraine, Transcarpathian oblast, Mizhhiria district, vil. Synevyr-Ostrilky, tel.:8 (03146) 03418. head@males.uzhgorod.ua)
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On Synevyr lake
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TIPS FOR TOURISTS information Helicopter tours. «Carpaty Avia», Uzhgirid, str. Sobranetska, 145, t. (0312) 43-641, 42-730 RAILROAD STATION Uzhgorod, str. Stantsiyna, 9, t. (0312) 69-2962 AUTOSTATIONS Berehove str. Muzhiivska, t. (03141) 23-368 Vynohradiv str. Tchkalova, t. (03143) 22-802 Volovets str. Shevchenka, 1, t. (03136) 22-202 Irshava str. Gagarina, t. (03144) 21-003 Mukacheve str. Pavlova, 14/16, t. (03131) 21-471 Rakhiv str. Pryvokzalna, t. (03132) 21-558 Svalyava str. Kyivska, t. (03133) 21-321 Tyachiv str. Mayakovskoho, 1, t. (03134) 21-252 Khust str. I. Franka, 118, t. (03142) 23-684
lodging Motel «U Anity» Uzhgorod, str. Bercheni, 24, t. (0312) 61-4019, www.motel-anita.com.ua «Ungvar» Uzhgorod, str. Elektrozavodska, 2, t. (0312) 61-6565, www.ungvarskiy-hotel.com.ua. Ethno-restaurant , parking, five variants of bath, including underground. «Druzhba» Uzhgorod, str. Vysoka, 12, t. (0312(2) 37-233, 61-2600 «Uzhgorod» Uzhgorod, B. Khmelnytskyi square, 2, t. (0312) 61-3858, 61-3856 Motel «Nautilus» Uzhgorod, str. Tomchaniya, 6,t. (0312) 66-0745 «Atlant» Uzhgorod, Koryatovycha square, 27, t. (0312) 61-3799 Hotel-ranch «Zolota Gora» v. Barvinok, t. (0312(2) 72-8580, 72-8644 Recreation base «LA MOARA» v. Solotvyna, str. Krange, 78, t. 8 (066) 517-0295, 8 (098) 804-7464 Hotel «MERILEN-Sim sester» v. Solotvyna, t. 8 (067) 342-1778, www.simsester.com.ua, www.merilen.ho.com.ua
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Tourist-health complex «Tysa» c. Rakhiv, str. Franka, 1, t. (03132) 21-027 Recreation base «Vodohrai» v. Chynadieve, str. Sanatorna, 201, t. (03131) 41-990, 62-273, 8 (050) 372-4326, 372-2497 Sadyba «Vorobei» v. Chynadieve, str. Franka, 12, tel./fax (03131) 62-594, e-mail: alex1582@mail.ru Hotel «Vynohradiv» v. Vynohradiv, square Myru, 4, t. (03143) 23-076, 21-895 Motel «Laguna» v. Baranytsi (6 km from the Uzhgorod centre), str. Sadova, 18, t. (0312) 73-4085, 8 (050) 5076330 – bar, 8 (050) 542-2989, e-mail: laguna-uzh@mail.ru Hotel «Atlant» c. Khust, str. I. Franka, 107, t. (03142) 45-318 Hotel «Renesans» c. Khust, str. Karpatskoyi Sichi, 20, t. (03142) 43-360 Tourist base «Spravzhnya Kazka» v. Podobovets Mizhgirskogo rayonu, 138, t. 8 (067) 403-0218, 8 (097) 241-5854, e-mail: skazka@dkz.info. Skiing and tourist equipment rent, bicycles, excursions around Transcarpathia, hiking (by foot and bicycles), also with a night stay in the mountains, aero planes flights with instructor, rafting, fishing, concerts. Hotel complex «Smerekoviy dvir»
v. Zhdenieve Volovetskoho rayonu, str. T. Shevchenka, 253, t. (03136) 25-708, 8 (067) 382-4595, 8 (097) 272-3329, tel./fax (03136) 25-707, e-mail: Smerekovi_dvir@,ail.ru, www.smerekoviy-dvir.com.ua. Skiing and tourist equipment rent, including the equipment for children, instructors services. Recreation complex «Zhdy nya, EVO» v. Zhdenieve Volovetskoho rayonu, str. T. Shevchenka, 251, t. (03136) 25-430, tel./fax (03136) 25-429, 8 (050) 388-2323; 8 (097) 456-1443, www.sobran.com.ua. Hiking, fishing, excursions around Transcarpathia. Hotel «F`koka» c. Berehove, str. Muzhyivska, 61, t. (03141) 31-709, 43-338, 8 (050) 587-0583, Skiing and tourist equipment rent, excursions around Transcarpathia, fishing, excursions on jeeps around Polonyna Rivna.
TRANSCARPATHIA Sport base «Zakarpattya» c. Berehove, str. Koryatovycha, 1, t. (03141) 23-181. Thermal pool. Private pansion «Vilni Kimnaty» c. Mukacheve, str. Uzhgorodska, 5, t. (03131) 54-522, 8 (050) 502-6430 Sadyba «Liskovets» v. Malyi Bereznyi Velykobereznyanskoho rayonu, t. (03135) 310147, 8 (066) 766-0440, e-mail: josip_tour@ukr.net, www.lemki.com. Table tennis, bicycles, fishing, hiking, there is a chance to do pot making, wood carving. Hotel «Fortuna» v. Polyana Svalyavskogo rayonu, str. Dukhnovycha, 61, t. (03133) 74-435, tel./fax (03133) 74-427, e-mail: fortuna@sv.ic.uz.ua, www.fortuna-hotel.com.ua. Skiing equipment rent, including the equipment for children, excursions around Transcarpathia, horse riding, fishing, movie watching in the hotel yard. Hotel complex «Sophia» v. Polyana Svalyavskogo rayonu, sanatoria «Sonyachne Zakarpattya», str. Kurortna, 6, t. (03133) 95-191, 8 (050) 261-1525, 8 (050) 922-0200. Excursions around Transcarpathia. Hotel «Helikon» v. Yanoshi Berehivskoho rayonu, str. Shevchenka, 45, t. (03141) 78-631, 78-641, 78-651, 8 (050) 260-3591 (administrator), 8 (050) 550-2217, e-mail: helikon.janosi@gmail.com, helikonjanosi@freemail.ru. Excursions around Transcarpathia. Hotel-restaurant «Oksana» Near entrance to Tyachiv from Vynohradiv side, Str. Chervonoamriyska, t. (03134) 21-142, 32-763, 8 (067) 765-3236 Sadyba «U Tsimbora» v. Synyak Mukachevskoho rayonu, t. (0312) 25-2441, 8 (050) 523-5595, 8 (050) 947-5805, e-mail: info@sadyba.uz.ua, www. sadyba.uz.ua. Excursions around Transcarpathia, Hungaria. Hotel «Intourist» c. Mukacheve, str. Dukhnovycha, 93, t. (03131) 37-905, (03131) 37-906, restaurant (03131) 37-908, e-mail: intourist.mukachevo.net. Excursions around Mukacheve, Transcarpathia. Tourist complex «Voevodyno» v. Turiya Pasika Perechynskoho rayonu, t. (044) 201-6343, 8 (067) 500-6171, (03145) 23906, 47-240, 8(067) 312-6001, e-mail: tourcenter@voevodyno.com, www.voevodyno.com. Services of a SPA-center, services of a baby sitter, excursions around Transcarpathia, Hungaria, horse riding, fishing, children play yard, photo-safari, pool, skiing equipment rent, running skies, for children – baby-lifting with an instructor, street bowling, paintball, mountain bikes, carriages, in winter – sledging.
Cottage «Zsin-Svit» v. Yasynya Rakhivskoho rayonu, str. Volovets, t. 8 (067) 466-2098, 8 (067) 339-0122. Excursions, skiing equipment rent, instructors services. Pansionat «Maramarosh» v. Shayan Khustskoho rayonu, tel./fax (03142) 59-326, (044) 273-5076, t. (03142) 59-325, 8 (097) 340-9064, Sauna, children room, massage roads, fitness, massage, hydro massage. Sadyba «U Kubatskyh» v. Lazeshyna Rakhivskoho rayonu, t. (03132) 44-031, 8 (096) 563-3815, e-mail: info@auragor.com.ua, www.auragor.com.ua. Sauna, hiking equipment rent, bicycles, mountain walking tourist routs, rafting on the mountain rivers with an instructor, ethnic traditions, music, dance, children yard, Internet.
food
«Pid zamkom» Uzhgorod, str. I. Olbrakhta, 3 «Karpat Art-cafe» Uzhgorod, str. Rakotsi, 12 «Avgustyn» Uzhgorod, str. Voloshyna, 22 «Shahta» Uzhgorod, str. Tymiryazeva, 17 «Cactus» Uzhgorod, str. Korzo, 7 Restaurant-motel «Country club» Uzhgorod, str. Zaporizska, 2a, t. 8 (095) 540-0712 Korchma «Detsya u Notarya» Uzhgorod, str. Gagarina, 98 Coffee house «Koruna» Uzhgorod, Teatralna square, 5 Coffee house «Medelin» Uzhgorod, str. Koryatovycha, 5 Coffee house «Svit kavy I chayu» Uzhgorod, str. Koryatovycha, 11 Wine hall and a shop of the «Leanka» firm v. Seredne, str. T. Shevchenka, 6 «Traktyr» c. Mukacheve, Rakotsi square, 10 Coffee house «Galka» c. Mukacheve, Myru square, 12-14 Café-restaurant «Zanzibar» c. Mukacheve, Pasazh crossing, 8, t. 8 (050) 936-3228 «Zolota Pava» c. Berehove, str. Rakotsi, 2 «Shteffi bar» c. Berehove, str. Mozhyska, 119 «Colibri Etterem» c. Vynohradiv, Myru square, 2 «Coral» Transcarpathian kitchen. v. V. Koropets, str. Shenborna, 38a
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11-15 UNFORGETTABLE LVIV
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A STROLL ABOUT THE MAGIC HEART OF THE CITY
12 ARMENIAN SECTION OF LVIV 13
THE MANY-SIDED WORLD OF THE HEART OF THE CITY
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A STROLL BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF OLD WALLS
15 BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLD WORLDS
It seems there is no man in Ukraine who wouldn’t like to visit the capital city of Galicia. However, a few days will not be enough to become acquainted with its architectural monuments, and to feel its unusual atmosphere. The explanation of an inhabitant of Lviv that “her female friend invited her to sit on a sofa with a cup of coffee with a cake” may drive our guests into a state of light culturological shock. Though it will pass very soon and turn into an absolute and pleasant dependence on Lviv. And, eventually, the city does deserve to be visited again, and in this particular case in company with the guide from “Baltia-Druk.”
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The eastern side of Rynok suqare ITINERARY 11 A STROLL
IT IS WORTH VISITING ABOUT THE MAGIC HEART OF
THE CITY The heart of Lviv is Rynok (Market) Square. It is enclosed by 45 stone buildings, although the last number of their enumeration is 46. The point is that number 1 is Town hall. Its presentday construction is the third one in the history of the city. The first one – a wooden building – burned down. A new structure, and the rest of the city’s center, was built in Renaissance style. In 1826 the municipal commission that inspected the state of the town hall came to a conclusion that the building, after redecoration, could stand for some time. They say that almost simultaneously with the approval of this decision the tower crashed down. The inhabitants of that time did not like the creation of the architects Yu. Markle and F. Trescher, and called it “a big disgusting chimney.” However, with time, and today, most Lviv residents cannot imagine Rynok Square without the town hall. For more than a century and a half the clock that arrived to Lviv from Austria has been working on the tower to our time. From 1630 Bandinelli’s palace (2 Rynok Sq., late 16 th-17 th cent.) belonged to the Florence resident Roberto Bandinelli. Lviv is grateful to him for the improvement of regular postal transportation. From 1629 he organized, with the assistance of couriers, the delivery of letters from Lviv to the cities of Western Europe.
Rynok Square, St. Yura Cathedral, Armenian Church, Roman Catholic Church, Boims’ chapel, lookout platform on Vysokyi Zamok (High castle) hill, Historical Museum, Lviv picture gallery. You should taste Lviv coffee and beer To get to Rynok Square from the main and local railway stations you should take tram No.1, 9. Entry by car is allowed if special permit is available.
Decor on a facade the Bandinelli palace
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However, according to contemporaries, Bandinelli was noted for hot-tempered character, which complicated the life of his neighbors. Now the palace is a branch of the historical museum. The black stone building (4 Rynok Sq.) is one of the visiting cards of the city. The main part of the building was designed and executed by the Italian architects Peter Barbon and Paul Rymlianyn. The figure of St. Martin sharing his raincoat with a beggar against the background of diamond rustic work and the figures of saints and Madonna produces a special impression. Built of sandstone, which under the influence of the wind and rain became darker with time, the building differs from other structures in its dark-gray color. On the left side of the entrance there is a bench for a guard. The royal stone building (6 Rynok Sq.) obtained its six windows due to joining two Gothic stone buildings (architects P. Barbon and P. Rymlianyn). The Greek merchant Constantine Korniakt from Crete Island bought the building and the adjoining plot. Business of the enterprising Greek was going so well that before long he became the richest man of the city. After his death the building was sold and later it became the property of Jacob Sobieski, father of the future Polish king Jan III. In 1634 another king, Wladislaw IV, lived here for a short time. During the times of Jan III the building was decorated with a beautiful façade and the figures of knights on the attic. It is enough to enter the building and you will find yourself in the “Italian court” with the exposition of the Lviv historical museum “Royal chambers.” In the 17 th century the Lviv Latin archbishop had in this palace sixty eight richly decorated rooms. Part of ornaments for the famous Golden hall was delivered from Gdańsk. The kings Sigismund II Wasa and Wladislaw IV visited this building, and in 1673 the king Mickal Korybut Wiśnewecki died here. The building became particularly famous after the wedding of Lviv head’s daughter Sophia Seniavska. Her bridegroom S. Dengorf lit up 600 torches and 400 lanterns to entertain the guests, and amused them wit wine from the wood. In 1909–1914 an English club was opened here for the English living in Lviv. Lubomirskies’ palace (10 Rynok Sq.) lost its original architecture because of numerous reconstructions. The architects Bernard Meretin and Jan de Vitte took part in the last restoration. For a long time the noble family of Lubomirskies lived in this building. Interior decoration was executed by the masters S. Fisnger and S. Kodetski. For some time the palace was the residence of the Galician governor, and in the 19 th century it became the property of the Ukrainian organization “Prosvita.” On June 30, 1941, a group of Ukrainian public figures headed by Ya. Stetsko announced from
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Black stone building
Lubomirskies’ palace in Lviv
transport Railway station пл. 1 Dvirtsev Sq., inquiry: 005, tel.; (032) 235-4301 Bus station 109 Stryiska St., tel.: (0322) 63-2531, 63-2473 Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Lviv branch office Lviv, 72 Turheneva str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
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1256 – first written reference to Lviv 1340 – the last Galician prince died, and Polish rule was established in the city 1363 – Armenian metropolis founded in the city 1379 – the city gained the storehouse right
January 21, 1786 – first burials at Lychakivske cemetery July 11, 1792 – first flight of man-operated balloon in Lviv April 11, 1811 – “Gazeta Lwowska” is published for the first time
1527 – fire annihilated the city’s center 1572 – beginning of the construction of the Assumption Church January 5, 1585 – foundation of Lviv Stauropegian brotherhood March 4. 1629 – citizen of Lviv, Bandinelli, obtained the right to mail delivery October 22, 1648 – Cossacks under the command of Bohdan Khmelnytsky took by storm Vysokyi Zamok (High Castle)
Lviv’s municipal militia. 1814. J. Bower June 4, 1817 – Ossolinskies foundation comes into being (now V. Stefanyk library) July 14, 1826 – downfall of the last but one Lviv’s city hall 1848 - University library and city hall burnt down as a result of street fighting January 4, 1849 – first professional firebrigades were organized
High Castle. Anonymous author
May 3, 1851 – installation of a new clock. This day was determined as the time for citizens to visit city hall.
April 1, 1656 – solemn promises of the king Jan Kasimir 1658 – Lviv becomes a noble city
July 14, 1853 – chemists Ignaciy Lukasevich and Jogan Zech invented the world’s first oil lamp
1661 – foundation of Lviv University
1861 – building of Lviv-Krakow railway completed
September 26, 1672 – siege of Lviv by the Turkish army September 4, 1704 – the troops of Karl XII burst into the city and destroyed it 1761 – construction of St. Yura Cathedral completed
February 1, 1879 – signing agreement on the construction of Lviv horse-drawn tram June 1, 1894 – General regional exhibition opened in Lviv
September 19, 1772 – Austrian troops enter Lviv. Galicia becomes part of the Austrian Empire 1773 – first number of Lviv newspaper “Gazette de Leopoli” comes out in the city 1777 – Austrian power began to liquidate old fortifications Kaiser receiving application. V. Kossak
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September 13, 1896 – cinematograph demonstrated in Gartman’s passage for the first time 1897 – first automobiles appeared in Lviv’s streets 1900 – inauguration of Lviv’s Opera house January 13, 1901 – curtain made by G. Semiradsky shown to Opera house spectators for the first time March 26, 1904 – opening of Lviv railway station December 13, 1905 – Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi presented National museum to Lviv’s community
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June 30, 1941 – the renewal of Ukrainian statehood declared in Lviv
1941 – beginning of Lviv’s occupation by Germans 1943 – Germans annihilated Jewish population at the urban ghetto March 6, 1946 – pseudo-council of the Russian Orthodox Church declared the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church illegitimate November 27, 1952 – first trolleybus appeared in Lviv’s streets 1955 – opening of a new airport February 7, 1956 – first bus “Lviv” made at the industrial enterprise LAZ (Lviv AutoWorks) December 24, 1957 – Lviv’s first TV broadcast January 18, 1963 – setting up soccer club “Karpaty” August 17, 1969 – “Karpaty” team wins USSR soccer Cup
An old tram in Lviv streets 1906 – introduction in Lviv of traffic regulations, driver’s rights, and registration numbers for means of transport 1914 – 1915 –Russian occupation of Lviv
1980 – opening of first buildings in Sykhiv district January 22, 1990 – “The Wave of Unity” action between Lviv and Kyiv 1990 – first post-war free elections to city council
November 1, 1918 – beginning of the Ukrainian-Polish war
December 12, 1998 – Lviv’s historical center entered into the List of UNESCO world cultural heritage
August 2, 1922 – first aircraft flight of “Junkers F-13” by the route Warsaw – Lviv
May 14-16, 1999 – Central and Eastern Europe summit meeting
February 2, 1930 – Lviv’s representative Christina Gotlinger won the competition “Miss Polonia”
June 25, 2001 – Pope John Paul II visited Lviv
1930 – beginning of broadcasting in Lviv
May 2004 – Lviv singer Ruslana won “Eurovision” competition
October 22, 1933 – member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, M. Lemyk, shot the USSR diplomat A. Mailov as a token of protest against the famine of 1932-1933 October 29, 1939 – meeting of representatives of Western Ukraine at Lviv Opera house supported joining the USSR
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Massarivska stone building
According to a legend in the latter half of the 17th century the building in 30 Rynok Square was occupied by the merchant Lushkowski and his daughter Yadvishka. During his visit to Lviv the king Wladislaw IV Wasa fell in love with the enchanting beauty, and took her to Warsaw. However, kings are not free in loving affairs. At the request of nuncio and prominent figures of the state Wladislaw married in 1637 the princess Cecillia Renata. Yadvishka was given in marriage to the Polish gentleman Jan Wipiski who was compensated for the “inconvenience” of wedlock in the form of an estate in Lithuania. In spite of his marriage the king did not betray his love, and in 1648 he died in Yadvishka’s arms.
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the balcony of this building the “Act of the Renewal of Ukrainian State.” The Venetian stone building (14 Rynok Sq., arch. Pavlo Schaslyvyi) like many other stone buildings in Lviv has been reconstructed more than once. The architects P. Rymlianyn and P. Schaslyvyi took part in the last reconstruction. Above the portal there is a winged lion with an open book, which indicated the presence in Lviv of a representative of Venetian republic. In the western side of Rynok Square (No. 24) stands a building known in the past under the name of Hibliovsky and Massarivsky. In the 16 th century it belonged to the famous Scholz family. Later it passed to the Italian Antonio Massari. In the 18 th century Russian czar Peter I met the local Ruthenians and Polish gentry in this building. From 1946 it has been the property of historical museum. Carved window frames of the 17 th century have been preserved in the interior. Among other interesting exhibits there is one of the main mysteries of Lviv. It is the weather-vane, which was formerly installed on city hall. They say it fell from the roof only on the eve of great calamities. For the last time it fell together with the building of the city hall. The stone building Heppnerivska (1610, 28 Rynok Sq.) is an important relic of the Renaissance period. Near the windows the structure is decorated with Latin inscriptions of moralizing character. The décor of the front door deserves special attention. In the building, which stood in place of present-day one, the Cossack leader Ivan Pidkova waited for being executed by the head. This daredevil interfered in the political affairs of the Turkish vassal of Moldova, and the sultan sent the Polish king the requirement of his arrest and execution. The higher state interests prevailed, and the Cossack was executed on June 16, 1578. On the façade of building No.45 (1803), which is perhaps the best example of Empire style in the city, there are some fragments of Gothic style. In the early 20 th century it housed the only factory in Galicia specializing in candle and wax article production. The firm had great profits for it provided the city with means of candlelight. However, the main zest of the city was the famous restaurant “Atlas” situated on the parterre. It was a meeting place of Lviv artistic Bohemia. The atmosphere of the establishment was supplemented with the wall decorated with works of art and humorous verses and extracts from the “office regulations.” Farmacy-museum is yet another place of interest (2 Drukarska St., Mo.-Fr. – 9.00–19.00, Sat.-Sun. – 10.00–17.00). On seeing the anteroom, you should go to the next rooms to find yourself in the environment of pharmaceutical equipment for medicine production, packings which are more than a hundred years old,
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ITINERARY 12 LVIV’S ARMENIAN SECTION Armenians are the oldest people that settled in Ukraine. Their large colonies existed in Lviv, Kyiv, Kamyanets-Podilsky and Crimea. Good merchants and craftsmen as they were, the Armenians formed an influential community. The professions of interpreters and goldsmiths remained in their hands for centuries. Lviv community had their own school, printing-house, old people’s home. From its midst came out the burgomaster Bartholomew Zimorovich, the historian Sadok Baronch, the researcher of mineral resources Theodor Torosevich, and many others. The construction of the Armenian Church began in 1363.First Maecenases were Akob of Kafa, and Fanos of Gaisarants. It is assumed that the architect Dorkhi (Doring) took as an example the cathedral in the old Armenian capital city of Ani. The structure was rebuilt several times, but the greatest changes were made in 1723, when it was ornamented with elements of late baroque. Inside the cathedral there are impressive mosaics executed by the well-known artist Yu. Megoffer (1912). The most remarkable of them are the composition “Trinity,” which is located under the temple’s cupola, and original modernistic paintings (1925–1929) on the walls made by the artist Jan Rozen to order of the bishop
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a closet for keeping drugs and poisons, the living quarters and workshop of the chemist. You can also get to the humid and somewhat weird basement with the remains of an allegedly underground laboratory.
Bell tower of the Armenian Cathedral
Courtyard of the cathedral and the carved composition “Calvary”
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The Transfiguration Church Tourist-information center: Lviv, Rynok square, 2, tel.+38 032 294 82 04, +38 067 906 29 41 e-mail: lemberg-tour@ ukr.net. www.tourinfo.lviv.ua
View of the royal arsenal and monument to I. Fedorov
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LVIV Yu. Teodorovich. On the walls of the altar part of the cathedral one can see characteristic stone crosses (14 th-15 th cent.). During the restoration of 1925 elements of frescoes were discovered, which are the oldest in Lviv. In the altar section there is the fresco “The Last Supper” in which the figure of Judas is represented in the form of a shadow. The courtyard before the cathedral is covered with tomb stones that remained after the cemetery was liquidated. The walls both inside and outside are adorned with numerous epitaphs. Not far away from the Armenian cathedral there is the Transfiguration Church (26 Krakow St.) built in 1848 in place of the Trinitarian monastery. This monastic order engaged in redeeming captive Christians from Turkish bondage. After its liquidation the premises were given to the university and library. During the revolutionary events of 1848 they all burned down. Sparing no effort the local community resumed book collection activities. The remains of the premises were handed over to the Ukrainian community, and in 1875 the construction of a new temple began, which lasted till 1898 (arch. S. Havryshkevych). The church was consecrated in 1906. ITINERARY 13 THE MANY-SIDED WORLD OF THE HEART OF THE CITY Moving northward to the end of Armenian Street, before the art center “Dzyga” (Peg-top), we turn to the right and get to a square in front of the Dominican Church (1 Muzeina Sq.) – one of the most remarkable structures of late baroque in Lviv. From the 15 th century to 1745 the temple was Gothic. In 1792–1798, after fire, the builder M. Urbanyk worked on its restoration after the design of the architect Jan de Vitte. Inside the temple is adorned with sculptures by S. Fesinger, and the altar made by M. Poleiovsky. Special note should be made of the epitaph of the countess Yu. Dunin-Borkovska (B. Torwaldsen, 1816); inside the church, at the entrance, there are monuments to the Galician governor F. Gauger (sculptor A. Schimser) and the artist A. Grotger (s culptor V. Gadomskyi, 1880). Walking a little to the east we get to a small square with a monument to the printer I. Fedorov, and the royal
arsenal (1639–1646, arch. P. Grodzitskyi, 13 Pidvalna St.) founded by order of the king Wladislaw IV taking into account the strategic location and great importance of Lviv. The city was always under the king’s special care and had two arsenals at the same time – the city arsenal and the royal one. Everyone who was granted Lviv citizenship had to present some arms for the defense of the city. Kings, in their turn, supported Lviv’s defensive capacity with their own money. The courtyard of the royal arsenal was equipped in an original manner, and was a deadly trap for any enemy who managed to get behind the city walls. The arsenal fell into disrepute when its commandant Wojcech Radwanski organized attacks against the residents of the city and its environs. Between Lviv’s eastern defensive walls and Rynok Square there is the Ruthenian section. The architectural ensemble of the Assumption Church is the center of it. For a long time it was a wooden, then a stone structure; it was rebuilt several times. At the The Korniakt tower close of the 16 th century there began the construction of a church, which has been preserved to our time (arch. P. Rymlianyn, A. Prykhilnyi). In the remains of the crypts are buried high ecclesiastics of the Stavropihiysk brotherhood, and relatives of Moldavian rulers. To the left of the altar there are the relics of St. Mercury. Modern iconostasis and altar were executed in 1773 by M. Filevich and F. Olendskyi. With the assistance of T. Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv, and “People’s Trade” organization P. Kholodnyi made beautiful stained-glass windows (late 1920 s). The Korniakt tower (arch. P. Barbon, 1572–1578) adjoining the church is the Chapel of Three Holy Hierarchs highest structure of old town. In 1672, during a storm, a cannonball hit its roof, which burned down. In 1695 the tower was lodging restored by P. Weber. The annex added turned out disharmonious with the rest of the ensemble. The Chapel of Three Holy “Grand-Hotel” Hierarchs (arch. A. Pidlisnyi), the third part of the complex, was 13 Svobody Ave., tel.: (0322) 72-4042 built in 1578–1590. In 1671, after fire, it was restored on money “Dnister” of the Greek merchant A. Balaban. The artist O. Lianytskyi made 6 J. Mateiko St., an iconostasis for it in 1697. It is yet another finest architectural tel.: (0322) 97-1021 example of the Renaissance period in Lviv. “Opera” Not far away, in Ruska Street, there is building No.20 executed in 45 Svobody Ave., tel.: (0-32) 225-9000 secession style with some elements of Ukrainian folk “Shveitsarskyi” (Swiss) ornament and characteristic ceramic inserts (arch. I. Levynskyi, 20 Prince Roman St., O. Lopushanskyi, T. Obminskyi). It was built to order of tel.: (032) 240-3777 the insurance company “Dniester” in 1905. Memorial plaques on its “Suputnyk” façade remind one of the fact that the activity of many prominent 116 Princess Olga St., tel.: (0322) 64-5822, 65-2421 figures, and the outstanding film director and actor Les’ Kurbas in “Zamok leva” particular, was linked with this place. (Lion’s castle) 7 M. Glinka St., On the hill over present-day Vynnychenko St. No.22, there is the tel.: (032) 238-6115, 238former Carmelite’s Church. Now it is the Church and Monastery 6116, 297-1563 of St. Michael. The sanctuary was founded in 1634 (arch. Ya.
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“Golden Rose” Synagogue. A. Kamenobrodskyi
lodging “NTON” 157 T. Shevchenko St., tel.: (0322) 33-3123, 912711, 98-1753 “Walter” 60 Lypynskyi St., tel.: (0322) 94-8888 “Hetman” 50 V. Velykyi St., tel.: (0322) 64-9981 “Leopolis” 16 Teatralna St., tel.: (032)295-9500 “Viking” Motel vil. Pidbyrtsi, Ring road, 522 km. Kyiv-Chop highway, tel.: (0322) 761280, 97-0859 “Perlyna” Hostel 34a Puliuy St., tel.: (0322) 63-2380, 630585, 63-7337
Walking through the western part of Rynok Sq. one should remember that somewhere about there was a pillory near which the sentences were executed. Sometimes curious events took place in this dismal place. Thus, for instance, there was a case when in the process of faggoting straw proved insufficient, and the convict was burnt completely only next day. In the 18th century the portrait of Polish nobleman and Austrian official, Rudolf Strasoldo, who had run away with his lover from Lviv to Constantinople, taking “for the trip” a considerable amount of public money, was “punished”here with a sword.
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Pokorovych). In 1731–1732 it was decorated by the artists K. Pedretti and B. Mzurkevich. History makes Carmelites responsible for the fact that through the gate in the wall near the royal arsenal, which they had “coaxed out” of the city council, the troops of Karl XII burst into Lviv. During World War II the Nazis annihilated almost all Jewish sanctuaries of Lviv. The “Zolota Roza” (Golden rose) Synagogue (Staroyevreyska St., arch. P. Schaslyvyi) was considered the best of them. According to one of the versions its name originated from the mosaic rosette on the floor. In 1580 the merchant Isaak Nakhmanovich purchased a plot and intended to build a house and synagogue. The latter was first called “Golden Gate.” However, Jesuit monks found a document saying that in the past this plot belonged to a padre. So the building was confiscated. A popular (though not very truthful) Kviv legend states that the monks failed to get to the synagogue because they had to go first through I. Nakhmanovich house and courtyard. And private property was considered a sacred thing… Nakhmanovich’s daughter-in-law, Roza by name, was sent to the king for a talk. She returned with a document saying that the synagogue was returned to the Jews. In 1604 the temple became the main Judaic synagogue. The most important documents of the community were kept there. During World War II it was destroyed by the Nazis. Walking along Starjyevreyska Street you will get to the intersection with Halytska Street, and turning to the right you will find yourself before the Boims’ chapel (1609–1615, arch. A. Bemer). Together with other chapels, which have not survived, it was part of the cemetery near Latin Cathderal. Its founder, Yuriy
Boims’ chapel Boim, settled in Lviv at the close of the 16 th century. According to his testament three generations of his family were buried here. The façade and interior were decorated by G. Scholz and E. Pfister. On the outside, apart from the façade with the scenes of the Passion, worthy of note the figure of Sorrowful Christ on the dome. The altar section, besides the remains of polychromy and scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament, contains the
picture of the Last Supper, in which the devil is shown grinning from under the chair of Judas who had already received his thirty coins for the betrayal of Jesus. Noteworthy is the family epitaph on the southern wall of the chapel. The sculptural composition “Mourning” in the center was made of rare “honey” alabaster. The chapel has its own secret. On the right side of the altar there is a door wherefrom begins an underground passage leading to the family’s house in the neighboring street. The construction of the stone Latin Cathedral began in 1360 from the foundation of the king Kazimierz the Great. The project was realized by such masters as P. Nichko, M. Ganseke, G. Blecher, P. Poleiovskyi, and others. Apart from sacral meaning the temple is important for the Polish community in political aspect, for it is connected with many important events of the past. Thus, in 1656 the king Jan Kazimierz, before the altar, placed
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Figure of Mournful Christ on the dome
Architectural section of Latin Cathedral
View of the Latin Cathedral bell tower
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Rzeczpospolita under the protection of the virgin Mary, and promised to make easier the life of the peasants who faithfully defended the country against enemy attacks. The stainedglass windows produce a vivid impression (authors J. Megoffer, T. Arsenovich). The temple’s décor incorporates several styles, namely Gothic, baroque, and mannerism. Annexes, particularly the chapel of the Kampians family, make up or organic unity with the cathedral. In 1619–1629 and in 1660, by request of this well-known family, the chapel was decorated by the masters G. Chorst and J. Pfister. On the walls of the temple’s façade, from the side of Halytska Street, among other memorial signs, one can see a cannon ball as a memory of the Turkish and Cossack storm of 1672. On the other wall of the cathedral, from the side of Kafedralna Square, there is a plaque stating that the Pope John Paul II visited Lviv in 2001.
“Nezalezhnist” 6a Tershakivets St., tel.: (0322) 75-7214 “Sophia” Motel vil. Chyshky (Lviv ring road), tel.: (032) 299-6739 “Sofiivka” Motel vil. Konopnytsia, 7a Horodotska St., tel.: (0322) 69-8784 “Jockey” Motel Stryiska St., hippodrome, tel.: (0322) 64-0402 “Kniazhyi” Hostel 125a V. Velykyi St., tel.: (0322) 63-1214 “Yavir” Motel vil. Kholodnovidka (Lviv ring road), tel.: (0322) 299-3941 “Olena” vil. Briukhovychi, 5 M. Balaban St., tel.: (0322) 59-3470
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Monument to the founder of the city, Danylo of Galicia (sculpt. V. Yarych and R. Romanovych, arch. J. Churylyk), appeared in Galician Square in 2001. As it was set up, there were rumors that Kyiv authorities, because of political envy, did not allow putting a crown of the king’s head, which he received from the Pope. It is obvious that it was a compromise in a sense to place it on the pedestal. Like any other monument in Lviv it called forth emotional discussions among Lviv residents. Monument to Adam Miskiewicz
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LVIV ITINERARY 14 A TRIP OUTSIDE THE OLD WALLS It is better to start excursion from visiting the former Bernardine monastery (3 a Soborna Sq.), which is distinguished for its beautiful façade and interior decorations. First reference to a sanctuary in this place dates back to 1460. In 1600–1630 in place of a wooden church the construction of a stone architectural ensemble was started. In different times it was built by the monk Bernard Avelid, P. Rymlianyn, A. Prykhilnyi, A. Bemer, and others. Despite the fact that the Roman Catholic Church and the monastery were situated beyond the bounds of the walls, they made up an important link in Lviv’s defensive system. Inside the temple it is worth seeing seventeen wooden altars (authors T. Gudder and K. Kutschenreiter) and the original paintings by Benedikt Mazurkevich. Before World War II here were kept the relics of St. Jan of Duklia who, according to a legend, appeared before Bohdan Khmelnystky and tried to dissuade him from the storm of Lviv. On passing the monument to the king Danylo of Galicia (sculpt. V. Yarych, arch. Ya. Churylyk, 2001) we get to A. Mickiewicz Square before the building of “George” Hotel. The construction of this building was completed in 1793. The name originates from the name of its owner, George Goffman. Its present-day appearance formed only in 1900–1901 (arch. G. Gelmer and F. Felner). The extremely integral architectural ensemble of the building is supplemented with the allegories of Asia, Europe, America and Africa in the corners of the façade (arch. A. Popel). Famous persons such as H. Balzac, F. Liszt, M. Ravel, J.-P. Sartre, Iranian shah, and the novelist A. Tolstoy put up at the hotel, and spoke favorably of its service. Monument t Adam Mickiewicz was erected in the square of the poet’s name in 1904 (sculpt. A. Popel). The composition “Inspiration” represents in an allegorical form A. Mickiewicz’s meeting with a winged genius who hands a lyre over to him. The monument was a witness of numerous political and patriotic manifestations of Lviv public. Right away after its inauguration it was criticized and given humorous nicknames. There is a memory that if a student wanted to pass his finals successfully, he had to sit for some time under the angel. The monument to Taras Shevchenko (sculpt. V. and A. Sukhorskies) is an important part of the city’s political life. It was in its place that first meetings and heated debates of many thousands were conducted. Beside the bronze figure of T. Shevchenko towers the sculpture the “Wave of National Revival” on both sides of which there are the
most important figures of Ukrainian history. In the past, almost in the same place, stood a monument to the Polish king Jan III Sobieski, which after the war was transferred to Gdansk. Buildings of the former collegium and the Roman Catholic Church of SS. Peter and Paul of Jesuit’s order (1610–1630. arch. S. Lamhius, D. Briano, 12 Teatralna Sq.) were perhaps a first example of baroque architecture in Lviv. Once upon a time this Church was the highest structure of the city. However, because of a threatening situation, its tower was dismantled in part, and the broach spire was removed. Nevertheless its dimensions could not but impress one even after that. Despite the fact that today the temple is closed, its future has been determined. After the library funds that are presently kept here are moved to another place, it will become Lviv’s garrison temple. S. Krushelnytska Opera-House (Svoboda Sq.) is an architectural pearl not only of Lviv, but also of the whole of Ukraine. The city’s authorities and residents, needing a theater, announced a competition for the best project, which was won by the architect Z. Gorgolevsky. After receiving a loan of 1 million crowns the construction started in 1897 over the bank of Poltva River. The façade of the building was decorated with the figure of Genius with a golden olive-branch, allegorical sculptures and compositions, statues of the Muses (arch. A. Popel, Yu. Markovsky, T. Vyshniovetsky, Yu. Beltovsky). The interior was ornamented even more sumptuously. On the second floor there is a “Mirror Hall.” Here the portrayals of the Seasons of the Year and the allegories of Europe, Asia, Africa and America (author M. Gerasimovich) are
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Roman Catholic Church of SS. Peter and Paul
Half-length portrait of S. Krushelnytska. Sculpt. Ya. Skakun Lviv Opera-House
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14 Lobby of the Opera-House
Detail of Opera-House sculptural décor
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“Viennese CoffeeHouse” 12 Svoboda Ave., tel.: (0322) 72-2021 “Musketeer” 7 Hrushevsky St., tel.: (0322) 74-3076 “Amadeus” 7 Katedralna Sq., tel.: (0322) 97-8022 “Darvin” 6/10 Shevcka St. “Café 1” 5/1 Katedralna Sq. “Cactus” 18 Nyzhankivsky St., tel.: (0322) 74-5061 “Kilikia” 13 Virmenska St., tel.: (0322) 72-6201 “Kryivka” 14 Rynok Sq., www. kryjivka.com.ua “Smachna plitka” 4 L. Kurbas St., tel.: (0322) 403337
Church of St. Onophrios
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organically added with the female sculptural allegories of Love, Envy, Arrogance and Motherhood (author S. Dembinsky). In 2000 the sculpture of S. Krushelnytska, the Ukrainian prima donna after whose name the Opera-House was named, was put up in the hall. The amphitheater alone can seat 1000. In the center, above the stage, there is a sculptural composition of Genius and angel with the coat of arms of Lviv, and the allegorical representation of Glory. On the right of the Opera-House there is the building of M. Zankovetska National Drama Theater, which from the very outset of its foundation was called “Galician La Scala” (1460 seats). In 1837–1842 by request of the well-known adventurer, count S. Skarbek, the architects A. Pihl and J. Zalzman constructed a multifunctional building, the greater part of it being occupied by the theater. To strengthen the foundations of the building, which stands on swampy soil, 16,000 oak piles were hammered into the ground. One of the first plays staged at the theater was O. Fredro’s “Maidens’ Vows.” With time, after long pains, O. Fredro did manage to win over S. Skarbek’s beauty-wife, the actress Sofia Yablonovska. After crossing Horodotska Street and going upstairs to Maria Snizhna Church we get to the oldest section of Lviv, which was formed during the rule of the king Danylo and his descendents. There are many streets here with nice names which have not been changed for centuries. Benedictine Convent (2 Vichev Sq.) was founded in 1593. In 1597 the architect P. Rimlianin started rebuilding of the original structure. The wall near the convent evinces its defensive character. And it is no wonder, for the convent was situated in the outskirts of town and in case of an attack had to defend itself on its own. The tower of the convent is adorned with a beautiful attic, and its walls are supported by buttresses. The main building (1611–1687) of the convent is decorated with the figures of
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assumed that a wooden temple existed in this place as far back as the 14 th century. About 1550, on money of Constantine Ostrozky, appeared a stone church. In course of centuries it was rebuilt more than once; the greatest changes were made during the reconstruction of 1680. In the interior there has been preserved the iconostasis of the early 20 th century; most of its icons were made by the artist Ivan Sosenko. From the 17 th century the monastery had a lodgment for Orthodox pilgrims who came to the Stavropihiyske brotherhood. Also here there is a cemetery, where many prominent figures of the brotherhood were buried, among them the printer Ivan Fedorov. From 1616 a printing-house worked at the monastery, and there was even a beggar’s “trade union” the main task of which was raising money to maintain the shelter. Those who want to be absorbed in the “Viennese world” of Lviv should return to Svoboda Street and go to its intersection with T. Shevchenko Street, which many Lviv residents prefer to call Academic St. even today. Among other buildings noteworthy is the stone building of V. Zalevsky (10 T. Shevchenko Ave.), which has two towers and a big shop-window. Built in 1894 (arch. J. Schulz, sculpt. A. Gerasimovich), until 1940 the building served as living quarters of the famous sugar manufacturer (his produce was supplied to Paris and Vienna). In 1928 the
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saints. Benedictine nuns were known in Lviv as good governesses. After World War II the school for girls, which they took care of, was liquidated. However, recently a high school has resumed its activity. The history of the Church of St. Onophrios and Basilian Monastery (36 B. Khmelnytsky St.) has been mysterious so far. It is
T. Shevchenko Avenue
Building of Lviv commodity and stock exchange
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The Potockies’ Palace
Building of the former Galician Seym
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architect K. Piotrovich designed the art-deco interior of the ground floor and the shop-window. The building of Lviv commodity and stock exchange (17/19 T. Shevchenko Ave., arch. A. Zakharievich) was the main office for conducting the famous “Eastern auctions,” which gathered in Lviv the economic beau monde of the whole Europe. The main task of the auctions was to move ahead Polish commodities to the markets of Asia and Near East. Inside there is a well-adorned assembly hall, which formerly fulfilled the function of the exchange proper. Now it is the Office of Public Prosecutor. Shkotska stone building (27 T. Shevcehnko Ave.) sprang up under the influence of the late English modernist style (arch. Z. Bronkhvich-Levinsky, 1909). The coffee-house in the parterre was a favorite place for meetings of representatives of the famous mathematical school of functional analysis, professors S. Banakh and M. Zarytsky. According to Lviv fable, during their meetings the mathematicians wrote equations for one another. Solving (or not solving) entailed a “mug of beer” (or a glass of wine) or some other reward. The problem was that during these meetings, which sometimes lasted for 17 hours, the equations were written on the table-cloths, which annoyed the waiters very much. At last a special writing-book was acquired for the scientists, which went down in history as “Shkotska book.” The last equation from this book was solved only in the 1970 s. Moving to the west we get to 15 N. Copernicus St., where the palace of Potockies is situated, a wonderful Lviv residence (arch. L. Dovern, Yu. Tsybulsky). Most likely only this noble family, which was called “kinglets of Rus’ ” because of its many members and wealth, could afford such a sumptuous palace. At the beginning of the 20 th century, during an air show over the city, a war-plane crashed down on the palace, causing it considerable damage. In Soviet times it was turned into a Wedding palace, but its
ruination continued. Only recently has the structure renewed its former grandeur. The building of I. Franko National University (1 University St., arch. Yu. Gohberg) was raised from 1877 through 1881 as premises for Galician parliament (Seym). The building is an example of the architectural vogue prevailing in the latter half of the 19 th century. Overhead on the attic there is an allegoric composition “The Custodial spirit of Galicia (sculpt. T. Righer). Galicia itself stands in between the Vistula and Dniester rivers. Below are the figures personifying Love, Justice, Truth and Belief. Before the entrance there are compositions “Education” (on the left), and “Labor” (on the right). The spirit of education and science appeared in this building in 1919. The university named after the king Jan Kazimierz was famous for its school of mathematics, philological and historical ones. Present-day university continues and multiplies the glorious traditions of the past. Scientists’ club (6 Lystopad chyn St.) was built in 1897 as a Noblemen’s casino. Its project was worked out by the F. Felner and G. Gelmer firm in Vienna. A well thought-out approach and a nice courtyard urge the desire to see the spacious halls of the building, which is proud of its wooden stairs, the most magnificent in Lviv. The entrance hall is lit at the cost of the glass cupola. On its façade four atlantes stand motionless in an expressive pose, supporting the balconies. ITINERARY 15 BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLD WORLDS Built in 1889–1903 by the architect V. Sadlovsky, the Railway Station (1 Dvirtseva Sq.) was inaugurated on March 26, 1904. The metal constructions for the platform were made in Czechia. The façade is adorned with the allegorical figures of “Industry” and “Trade” (sculpt. A. Popel). Two figures above the portal symbolize Lviv and railway traffic (sculpt. P. Viytovych).The last reconstruction of the railway station took place in 2002–2003 and was an attempt to return its original appearance. The Cathedral of St. Yura (1744–1761; 5 St. Yura Sq., arch. B. Meritin) is the main sanctuary of the Greek Catholic Church. It was executed in rococo style with some elements of Ukrainian sacral aesthetics. The metropolitan’s palace (S. Fesinger, 1762) and the nearby park make up an organic whole with the cathedral.
Insurance Company UNIVERSALNA Lviv branch Lviv, 42 Hrodotska str. t. 8 800 500 38 10
Railway station
The main façade of St. Yura Cathedral
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15 Architectural section of St. Yura cathedral
Sculptural composition on St. Yura Cathedral façade
Sculpture of St. Leo
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“Vysokyi Zamok” 5 Vysokyi Zamok St. “Puzata Khata” fast-food restaurant 12 Sichovi Striltsi St. “Svit Kavy” coffee-house 6 Katedralna Sq., tel.: (0322) 97-5675 “Zolotyi ducat” coffee-house 20 I. Fedorov St. “Pid synioyu pliashkoy” coffee-house 4 Ruska St. “Tsukernia” coffee-house 3 Staroyevreiska St., tel.: (0322) 74-0949. www.cykiernia.com.ua “Veronika” coffee-house 21 T. Shevchenko Ave., tel.: (0322) 97-8128
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Statues of SS. Athanasios and Leo (sculpt. J. Pinzel) are placed on the main façade. Overhead, at the attic, there is a sculptural composition by the same author, “St. George the Dragon Fighter.” The holy and deacon’s gates in the altar part of 1768 were made by S. Fesingher. The icons in the altar belong to the brush of the artists Yu. Radyvylivsky and L. Dolynsky (1770 s). Epitaphs of prominent religious figures can be seen on the cathedral’s walls. Since the mid-19 th century the temple had been an important center of Ukraine’s political life. A hard time for the church came with the arrival of Soviet power to Western Ukraine. Right away after the death of the metropolitan A. Sheptytsky (1865–1944) the authorities organized in 1946 a “pseudo-council,” which liquidated the church and announced its “union” with Moscow patriarchy. Part of clergy and laity were repressed. It was only in 1989 that the Greek-Catholic Church was able to resume its activity. A number of interesting historical relics are situated in S. Bandera Street. Among them there is the building of Lviv Polytechnic University (12 S. Bandera St.) built in 1874–1877 in neo-Renaissance style, after the project of the young architect Yulian Zakharevych. More than 1 million crowns for the construction were allocated from the Austrian budget. More than 600 builders worked daily. The façade of the building is adorned with symbolical sculptures of “Architecture,”“Engineering” and “Mechanics” executed by the master Leopold Markoni. An inscription on the portico reads: “Litteris et Artibus” (to Sciences and Arts). In the parterre, to the left of the
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entrance, there is the bust of Yu. Zakharevych. The stairs and the entrance hall look like the interior of an Italian Renaissance palace. Murals were made by brothers Mavritsiy and Erik Fletsky. On the left of the main entrance, in the yard, there is a small reinforced concrete bridge, the first one in Galicia (engineer M. Tulle), across which firstyear students, consecrated into students, were led into the building. Memorial plaques in the entrance hall speak of the famous graduates, namely V. Sikorsky, S. Vizental, S. Bandera. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Elizabeth (arch. T. Taliovsky; Kropyvnytsky Sq.) was built in 1903–1911. in neo-Gothic style. It was named after the wife of France Joseph I, the empress Elizabeth (1837–1898). Because of battles that took place near the square, and the attitude of Soviet power to sacral structures, all that have survived of its authentic décor are the composition “Crucifix with John and Maria in front of it” (sculpt. P. Voytovich, 1910) and the main altar made in “art-deco” style (arch. L. Diurkovich, Yu. Shostakevich; sculpt. J. Raihert-Tot; 1928–1933). The first single-nave Roman Catholic Church of St. Magdalene (8 S. Bandera St.) in the lands of the rich bourgeois Erazm Sixt was built by Dominican monks in 1609–1612. Later it was rebuilt, and in 1630 it was re-planned by M. Urbanik, S. Fesingher, and Yu. Zakharevich. Particularly noteworthy is the temple’s interior, namely the apse which is made up of an old altar (design by W. Kelar, 1634), and a new one made of alabaster (J. Raihert-Tot, 1926). In the interwar period there was a correctional facility for women arranged in premises adjoining the church. Now the temple has an organ, the best known in Ukraine, made by the “Brothers Riger” firm in 1932.
Stairs of Lviv Polytechnic University
St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church
Interior of a Boyko cottage
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Church from the village of Kryvky
Lemkos represent one of the ethnic groups that populated the territory between the Uzh, San, Poprad and Dunayets rivers. The Lemkos suffered perhaps more than others during the ethnic purges conducted by the governments of the USSR and Poland after World War II. In memory of the bitter lot of this ethnos a church was built a few years ago on money of the Lemko diaspora in the territory of the museum.
Lemko church
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If you are an adherent of folk authenticity you should visit Museum of folk architecture and mode of life (1 Chernecha Hora St., Tu.-Sun. 10.00–17.30). In the 18 th century this locality was called Lionshanivka after the name of its first owner, the local head and member of the Masonic lodge, Mr. Lionshan. In 1780, in honor of the emperor’s visit, the owner set up a memorial sign in the form of Minerva, and named his possessions “Kaiser’s forest” – Kaiserwald. Plantations of trees were partly cut down during World War I, and the memorial sign disappeared. In the interwar period exuberant villas appeared in the adjoining lands, and the area was named “Professor’s colony.” In 1972 a museum in the open covering 60 hectares was organized there. Ethnographic regions of Western Ukraine such as Boyko region, Hutsulia, Lemko region, Podolia and Polissia are represented therein. 124 constructions have been restored and more than 20 thousand exhibits have been collected here. The museum’s most noteworthy exhibit is the cottage from the village of Lybokhora of Skolivsky district, Lviv oblast (built by Fedir Udych, 1749), one of the oldest living quarters of the Carpathian region. St. Nicholas Church from the village of Kryvky, Turkivsky district (1763) stands in the center of Boyko section. A village school (1880) from the village of Busovysko, Sambir district, is situated nearby. It has two rooms which served as living quarters for the teacher, a kitchen, where meals were cooked for the pupils and the teacher, and a class-room. It is not uninteresting to see the “asinine” bench and the “didactic” method of education in the form of a rod on the teacher’s desk. The most interesting exhibit of Lemko region is the county estate from the village of Zarichne, Perechyn district of Transcarpathia. Hutsulian architectural memorials are represented by the closed yard (grazhda) from the village of Kryvorivnia, Verkhovynsky district. Grazhda is an essentially rational and architecturally perfect structure, which can fully secure not only farming, but also protect its dwellers from bad weather and wild animals.
A characteristic feature of the ethnographic Bukovynian region is its decorativeness, wealth of colors, and picturesque interiors of dwellings. The best examples are the farmstead from the village of Berezhonka of Vyzhnytsky district, and the country estate of the late 19 th century from the village of Toporivtsi, Novoselytsky district, Chernivtsi oblast. The level of any civilization is characterized by certain distinctive features. One of them is the worthy state of cemeteries.
Lychakiv was and remains the oldest cemetery of landscapepark type in Europe. According to researchers the only “competitor” of it is the cemetery Père-Lachaise in Paris. One of the architects of Lychakiv, Karol Bower, clearly laid out the alleys, paths and glades that separated the tombs. Another architect, Titus Tkhozhevsky, had a hand in the improvement of the metropolis’s state. During his time the cemetery occupied an area of 40 hectares. Representatives of different nationalities lie here at eternal peace, so inscription on the tombstones are written in different languages. In 1975 mass burials at Lychakiv were stopped, with the exception of prominent figures of the city and families that have their own vaults. On July 10, 1990, the city authorities approved the decision to turn the Lychakiv cemetery into a historical and cultural reserve. Yanivske cemetery (128 T. Shevchenko Ave.) belongs to places “forgotten” by tourists. In contrast to Lychakiv it has no developed scientific or information infrastructure, so it will be difficult to find tombstones of wellknown personalities. However, this fact notwithstanding, it is worth visiting this place just to see the evidence of Lviv history.
Tombstones of Armenian archbishops Isaac Isakovich (1824-1901) and Samuel Stefanovich (1755-1858).
The memorial “Lviv Eaglets” is the most controversial place of present-day Lychakiv. Here lie Polish soldiers who perished in 1918-1920 in battles against the Ukrainian and Soviet troops.
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BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLD WORLDS
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ukraine
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a motor-car trip through
GUIDE-BOOK FOR MOTOR-CAR TOURISTS FROM «BALTIA-DRUK»
Dear travelers!
Dear reader! This book is the result of work of the staff of “Baltia-Druk” Publisher that lasted many years. Fro ten years we traveled around Ukraine collecting information and “paving” new breathtaking itineraries for you. We hope our publication will be a reliable help and friend in your travels through Ukraine. We wish you pleasant trips! “Baltia-Druk” Publisher
Baltia-Druk