Attractions of Staryi Merchyk

The palace in Staryi Merchyk was built in 1786-1788 by the active state councilor Hryhoriy Shydlovsky, a representative of one of the noblest noble families of the Kharkiv region.

On the site of a somewhat modest parental home, he built a magnificent palace in the style of Louis XVI. Presumably, the project was developed by Kharkiv provincial architect Petro Yaroslavskyi (according to other versions - Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli or Vasyl Bazhenov).

The complex belongs to the earliest architectural monuments of the transition from baroque to classicism. A large two-story building on a high plinth, oval in plan, with one facade facing the courtyard with stone wings, and the other facing the parterre with stairs leading to the shore of the pond. The palace had several drawing rooms and a magnificent ballroom decorated with moldings.

The manor park was laid out in 1724, then expanded. Its landscape was formed by age-old trees, ponds, green lawns, gazebos and bridges. Oak, maple, ash, linden grow. There are also silver and Canadian spruce, and a straight-coniferous pine. A total of about 30 species and forms of trees.

The decline of the estate began after Shyldovsky sold it to Count Orlov-Denisov. In the second half of the 19th century, the new owner, entrepreneur Yevhen Dukhivskyi, cared more about the development of the economy.

In the 1920s, an agricultural school was located in the manor, and the palace was seriously re-planned. Since 1997, the palace has remained ownerless.

The first wooden church of All Saints was founded in Staryi Merchyk in 1680.

It was replaced by a new stone church in 1778 at the expense of Count Shydlovsky.

During the Soviet era, the temple was closed, revived only in 1994.

Nearby in the park, traces of a pagan cult were found: a stone woman and a stone altar.