Berezhany

The Armenian Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Berezhany was built at the expense of the Armenian community, which played a significant role in the life of the city in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The church was built in the Baroque style with defensive elements. The fortification purpose of the building is indicated by the defensive walls that surrounded it. During the fire of 1810, the church was badly damaged, but in 50 years it was restored to its original appearance.

After the Second World War, when the Lviv Armenian-Catholic Archdiocese was liquidated, the church was abandoned and transformed first into a granary, later into a collective farm club. Subsequently, the church building was not used for a long time and began to gradually collapse.

During the time of Ukraine's independence, in order to prevent the destruction of the church, the Greek-Catholic community carried out a major repair of the church. At the end of 2016, the local Greek-Catholic parish of the Holy Trinity handed over the ensemble of the former Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary to the city's Armenian community.

The Berezhany Synyavsky Castle is one of the best examples of Renaissance defensive architecture in Ukraine, which the Poles called the "Eastern Wawel".

Monument of architecture and urban planning of national importance.

The magnificent defensive residence in Berezhany was built in 1534-1554 by the Rus (Ukrainian) voivode, Grand Crown Hetman Mykola Synyavsky. The impregnable fortification with four towers was built by Italian craftsmen according to the New Dutch system by French engineer Hiyom de Boplan using an artificial water barrier in the floodplain of the Zolota Lypa River. The facades of the palace buildings in the castle courtyard were crowned by two-story arcades-galleries like the Italian palazzo, which surrounded the buildings around the perimeter, and the windows were decorated with Renaissance carvings. The interiors of 14 ceremonial halls were decorated with paintings with battle scenes, on the third floor of the palace was a rich art gallery.

The Trinity Church was located on the territory of the castle, the former splendor of which can be judged even in its current dilapidated condition. In the 17th century, the Synyavsky tomb with marble tombstones by Yan Pfister was added to the church. Mykola Synyavsky and his sons Hiyeronim and Yan, as well as Hiyeronim's wife Anna, were buried here.

In the XIX century the castle began to decline, suffered severe damage during the two world wars. In Soviet times, it was abandoned and turned into a landfill.

In 2002, the Berezhany Synyavsky Castle became part of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve in Berezhany, and its restoration began. A small museum exposition has been opened on the territory of the castle, excursions are organized, souvenirs can be bought.

The Berezhany City Book Museum is located on the first floor of Berezhany City Hall.

Founded in 1984, since 1994 it has been a department of the Ternopil Museum of Local Lore. It tells about the history of printing in Ukraine and about outstanding writers of the region.

The exhibition presents old prints of the XVII-XIX centuries, the first edition of Taras Shevchenko's "Kobzar", "Grammar of the Little Russian Language in Galicia, composed by Ivan Vahylevych" (1845), "Grammar of the Ruthenian (Ruthenian) language" by Yosyp Levytsky (1834).

Also on display are paintings by Lev Lepky, graphics by Olena Kulchytska and others.

A separate exposition is dedicated to the public and philanthropic activities of Roman Smyk.

In addition, the Berezhany City Hall houses the Berezhany Museum of Local Lore, the Museum of Sacred Art and Church History, and the Bohdan Lepky Museum.

The State Historical and Architectural Reserve (DIAZ) in Berezhany was established in 2001 to protect, restore and use the city's cultural heritage sites, which preserved European planning buildings from the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, architectural ensembles Rynok Square, Bankova and Armenian streets.

In total, the reserve unites more than 30 architectural monuments, 6 of which are of national importance, including the Berezhany Castle Complex (Synyavsky Castle).

The administration of the reserve is housed in a manor house in the style of late classicism (empire) of the early XIX century, which is an architectural monument of local significance. The central part of the facade is decorated with a portico with four columns of the Corinthian order and a classical pediment. In 1828-1829, while studying at the local gymnasium, the famous Ukrainian writer and educator Markiyan Shashkevych lived in this house.

In the administration of the Berezhany Historical and Architectural Reserve you can book sightseeing tours of the city, thematic tours of the Synyavsky Castle and the outskirts of Berezhany.

The Berezhany Museum of Local Lore is located on the second floor of the Berezhany Town Hall, which is an architectural monument of national importance.

Built in 1803-1811, the two-story town hall building with a clock tower reflects the typical Halician style of provincial urban planning of the early classicism period. It is the central architectural dominant of the Rynok Square in Berezhany.

On the ground floor there were shops, and on the second floor in 1805 the Berezhany Gymnasium was opened, where the writer and educator Markiyan Shashkevych and the writer-literary critic and public figure Bohdan Lepky studied.

The Berezhany Museum of Local Lore opened here in 1980. The museum exposition is opened in 26 halls: "Natural Hall", "Archeology Hall", "Middle Ages and Cossack times in Berezhany", "Berezhany Gymnasium - center of education, science and culture", "Literary Berezhany", "Plast History and Political Repression Hall", "World War II", "Boyan Choir", "National Revival Hall", "Lemko Room", etc.

The model of Berezhany Castle attracts the attention of visitors, as well as exhibits that tell about the history of the Sieniawski family and the birth of Berezhany, the coat of arms of the Potocki dynasty.

Valuable artifacts are an authentic Cossack battle braid, Cossack cradles, a spearhead and a Cossack pistol.

A separate exposition is devoted to the history of the USS (Ukrainian Sich Riflemen) in the Berezhany region, in particular the battle on Mount Lysonya.

In addition, the Berezhany Town Hall houses the Regional Communal Museum of Bohdan Lepky, the Museum of Sacred Art and Church History, and the Berezhany Book Museum.