Bila Tserkva

The Roman Catholic Church of John the Baptist was built in Bila Tserkva in 1812-1813 by Count Ksaveriy Branytskyi on Castle Hill, where the nursery was located during the princely times.

According to one of the versions, an ancient church stood on this place, which gave the city its name. Branytskyi built the church in memory of his son Oleksandr, who died in childhood.

In the plan of the building lies the Latin cross, traditional for Catholic architecture, stretched on the east-west axis. The interior of the church is decorated with ornamental moldings with openwork rosettes complex in terms of plot and technique. The church is painted with monumental paintings by unknown masters. A white marble stele in memory of Kateryna Branitska-Sanhushko has been preserved on one of the walls.

In 1990, the organ of the Czech firm Rieger-Kloss was established. Today, the Church of John the Baptist is the Bila Tserkva city organ and chamber music hall with a 300-seat hall.

A monument to dead bikers was opened near the checkpoint at the entrance to Bila Tserkva from the Kyiv side in 2007.

The bronze sculpture of a flying motorcyclist (sculptor Anton Maslyk) is located at a height of 7 meters on a concrete support 11 meters high. The vertical support and outstretched arms of the motorcyclist form a cross. Another small cross is on top of the monument.

Funds for the creation of the monument were collected by the charity fund "Memory of the dead bikers".

The monument to Yaroslav the Wise in Bila Tserkva was erected in 1983 on the observation deck of Castle (Zamkova) Hill. In the 11th-13th centuries, the ancient Rus city of Yuryev, founded by Yaroslav in 1032, was located at this place.

Between the monument and the building of the Local Lore Museum are preserved remains of the foundation of the later Saint George's Church, which gave the city its current name.

In 2011, on the initiative of the Kostyantyn Yefimenko Charitable Foundation, the construction of a new church of Saint George, stylized according to ancient Russian architecture, began on the territory of Castle Hill, in connection with which the monument was moved a little to one side.

The "Oleksandria" State Dendrological Park of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was established in 1793 by the crown hetman Frantsishek Ksaveriy Branytskyi and named after his wife Oleksandra.

Bila Tserkva Park was considered one of the best in Europe. The plan was developed by the French park developer Muffot. The park covers more than 200 hectares, has 25 reservoirs, and has 2,500 species of plants, including those from South America, China, and Japan: red oak, tulip tree, Kobus magnolia, Japanese rhododendron, and others.

The basis of the planning is the Great Lawn, from which a network of alleys, decorated with park architecture and sculptures, runs for 20 kilometers: "Romantic Ruins", "Chinese Bridge", "Lion" spring and others. The "Echo" colonnade has unique acoustics: a word spoken in a whisper at one end of the colonnade is heard at the opposite end. According to legend, Prince Potemkin-Tavriyskyi is buried under the Rotunda.

The summer palace of the Branytskys was destroyed during the Soviet period, but the "Ball Pavilion" has already been restored in its original form.

In the garden "Moor" (year 1816) with an area of 4 hectares, surrounded by a stone wall 3 meters high, more than 300 fruit and berry crops from all continents of the world are grown (excursions with tastings are held).

The highest point of the park is Paliy Mountain, on which a monument to Semen Paliy is erected.

The building of the "Economic Yard" now houses the directorate and Living Nature, Flora and Fauna Museum of the Park "Oleksandriya", which features marble park sculptures. You can buy seedlings here.

The Church of Saint George the Victorious on Zamkova Hill (Castle Hill) in Bila Tserkva was restored in 2013 at almost the same place where in 1032 Prince Yaroslav the Wise laid the foundation of the first church and the city of Yuryev.

According to legend, the white stone church that survived after the Mongol-Tatar invasion gave the city its current name. In Lithuanian-Polish times, a castle was built on the site of the child, and the church was dismantled. Its foundations were discovered in the 1980s by archaeologist Ruslan Orlov.

Restoration of the Church of Saint George was initiated in 2011 by the Charitable Foundation of Kostyantyn Yefimenko. The project was developed by the architect Vyacheslav Mishchenko, based on the plan of foundations discovered by archaeologists and the appearance of typical ancient Rus temples of the XI-XIII centuries. In the basements, it is planned to open a museum of Zamkova Hill with an exhibition of finds made during construction. The original, preserved foundations will be covered by a glass pavilion.

A monument to Yaroslav the Wise has been erected nearby.