Berezhany

The Berezhany Castle of Sieniawski 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 Mikołaj Sieniawski (Mykola Syniavsky). 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 Sieniawski tomb with marble tombstones by Yan Pfister was added to the church. Mikołaj Sieniawski and his sons Hieronim and Jan, as well as Hieronim'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 Castle of Sieniawski 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 strict complex of defensive monastic buildings of the Bernardine order rises above Berezhany on Storozhisko hill.

The monastery was built in the 17th century in the Baroque style at the expense of the great crown hetman Mykola Synyavsky. The central building is the Saint Nicholas church with a stone fence, which gives it a pronounced defensive appearance. Being near the city walls, the temple was part of the system of city fortifications.

During the Soviet era, the monastery cells were used as cells in a penal colony for minors.

After the independence of Ukraine, services were resumed in the Saint Nicholas church - the monastery church became the church of the Pratulin Martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, whose activities were prohibited in Soviet times. At the expense of parishioners, the dome with the cross was restored in the church, works on the restoration of the church are ongoing.

A picturesque panorama of the old city opens from the height of the monastery hill.

The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the late Gothic-Renaissance style has a pronounced fortification character, as it was part of the system of city fortifications of Berezhany.

It was built in the years 1600-1620 on the initiative of the then owner of Berezhany, Adam Yeronim Synyavsky, according to the project of the architect Pavlo Rymlyanin, as the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. The bell tower was rebuilt from a defensive tower in 1741.

In Soviet times, a gym was placed here.

Now the church again belongs to the Catholic community of the city, consecrated in honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

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 Markiian 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.