Babai

The Babai History and Local Lore Museum is located in the Palace of Culture and Arts of the village of Babai. The exposition in six halls tells about the history and culture of the Slobozhanshchyna region.

In particular, in the hall of ethnography, tools of the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, ancient household items, and samples of traditional Slobozhanshchyna Ukraine clothing are presented.

The history hall of the village of Babai, from its origin to the present, contains information about the Shcherbinin princes, the Archangel Michael Church, as well as about the stay of the Ukrainian philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda in the village.

In other halls, materials about prominent residents of Babai, collections of porcelain, clocks and bowed instruments, paintings by local artists, etc. are presented.

The estate of the Shcherbynins family in Babai is more than 200 years old. A dilapidated one-story manor house has been preserved, next to which there used to be a garden with ponds.

In the 18th century, the manor belonged to the Babai priest Yakiv Pravytskyi, a friend and student of the philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda at the Kharkiv Academy. During his travels through Slobozhanshchyna, Skovoroda often stayed at Pravytskyi's house. Here he wrote his "Fables of Kharkiv".

In the 19th century, the manor became the property of the Shcherbynins. One of them, Colonel Oleksandr Shcherbynin, was a participant in the Battle of Borodino and is mentioned in the novel "War and Peace" by Lev Tolstoy. He was a member of the secret society "Chivalry" and was in the masonic lodge "Iron Cross" (the manor house has masonic signs).

Another representative of the family, lieutenant Mykhaylo Shcherbynin, was a friend of the poet Oleksandr Pushkin, which is the basis of the versions about the visits of the Babai by Pushkin's brother Lev, the poet's friend Baron Delvig, and even Oleksandr Pushkin himself.

The Shcherbynin estate in Babay is recognized as a monument of history and culture of Slobozhanshchyna, but its condition causes concern. One half of the building remains residential, while the other half is vacant and falling apart.

The sourse in the forest to the west of Babai is named after the poet and philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda, who visited Babai several times.

According to legend, while walking in the forest, the famous Ukrainian philosopher stuck a stick into the ground, and a cold key came out from under it.

The water in the spring has a peculiar tonic taste.

Currently, Skovorodynivska Well (Krynytsya) has the status of a hydrological monument of nature.

Downstream of the stream is the picturesque Chorne (Black) Lake, on the surface of which multi-colored lilies grow. There is a small cozy restaurant right by the water.