Attractions of Vikno

Near Podillya Tovtry, on the outskirts of the village of Vikno, there are karst lakes on a wide meadow, which are called "vikno" (windows) in these parts.

20 million years ago, waves of the warm Sarmatian Sea splashed here. From its underwater reef, giant side formations (tovtry) formed, and when the sea receded, hills several hundred meters high were formed. Now in the lowlands is a field where karst lakes were formed.

There used to be several dozen of them, then there were five, but after land reclamation in the 1980s, only two lakes remained: Sinye and Bezodnya. The lakes were formed in limestone cavities, the depth of which cannot be determined. Although the bottom of the lakes reaches four meters, the underground passages from where the powerful springs come are much deeper.

The water temperature in the lakes always remains at +12 degrees. The surface of the water in them is covered with algae, so during the day, depending on the lighting, the lakes change their color - from dark blue to blue and purple.

Karst lakes do not freeze in the strongest frosts and glow at night.

The Museum of Volodyslav Fedorovych was founded in 2007 as the Vikno Village History Museum. Located in the administrative building in the center of the village.

The updated exhibition opened in 2021. It is dedicated to the Ukrainian public and political figure and philanthropist Volodyslav Fedorovych, whose father Ivan Fedorovych was an heir from the village of Vikno in the 19th century. Having inherited the estate in Vikno, Volodyslav Fedorovych collected works of folk art in it, founded a school and carpet production.

In 1873-1874, the Ukrainian painter Kornylo Ustiyanovych lived and worked in the Vikon manor. Ivan Franko came to the estate at Fedorovych's invitation. You can learn more about this in the museum exposition, which is spread over five halls.

The central exhibits of the museum are a part of a carpet and a statuette of a parrot, which the villagers managed to save from a fire in the Fedorovych estate in 1917. Also presented are samples of the pottery school of the village of Tovste and copies of carpets woven in the village of Vikno. Ancient objects of peasant life are exhibited in the ethnographic hall.

The museum offers visitors both traditional tours and audio guides.