Attractions of Vyshhorod district

The "Mezhyhirya" national significance park-monument of landscape gardening art was officially created in 2023 on the basis of the Mezhyhirya government residence - a former suburban residential complex in Novi Petrivtsi near Kyiv, which gained scandalous fame during the tenure of the ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and became the most famous symbol of corruption in Ukraine.

The residence was founded in 1935 on the site of the ancient Mezhyhirya Transfiguration Monastery, founded in the 12th century. During Soviet times, all monastic buildings were demolished, and in their place a recreation complex with the country house of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, popularly known as "Dacha Shcherbytskoho", was placed.

In 2002, "Mezhyhirya" became the residence of Viktor Yanukovych, who was then the Prime Minister of Ukraine. After becoming president, Yanukovych privatized the residence with an area of 137 hectares and launched large-scale construction here through the use of false structures. The complex includes: the club house "Khonka" (the main palace), the old house of Yanukovych, a guest house ("Putin's House"), the "Galeon" landing stage, a sports complex, a spa center, a golf club, a yacht club, a garage with a collection cars, a zoo, a dog center, a huge park with artificial lakes, and more.

After the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime and the ex-president's flight to Russia in 2014, access to the "Mezhyhirya" residence was open to all. For almost ten years, the object was in an uncertain status. It was cared for by volunteers of the public organization "NPU Mezhyhirya", and they set a fee for visits and excursions. In 2023, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the creation of "Mezhyhirya" national significance park-monument of landscape gardening art.

On the territory of the park there are walking tours with a visit to "Khonka" and the health center, sightseeing tours on electric cars. Bicycles can be rented. For an additional fee, you can visit the canine center, where more than 70 dogs are kept, and the retro car museum, where about 40 pieces of machinery (cars, trucks, military equipment, motorcycles) are presented. La petite Ecurie Equestrian Club offers horse riding lessons and carriage rides. There are barbecue and coffee shops on the territory.

The Church of Saints Borys and Hlib in Vyshhorod was rebuilt in the 19th century on the site of an ancient Rus hillfort on Hill Olha.

The first church was founded here by Prince Volodymyr. In 1030, on the site of the burnt church, Yaroslav the Wise built a temple-tomb in honor of Saints Borys and Hlib, where the relics of the holy martyrs were transferred, and in 1115 Yaroslav's grandsons built a stone cathedral.

The temple, destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols, was revived by archpriest Mykhaylo Sikachynskyi according to the project of the architect Kostyantyn Ton.

During Soviet times, the Church of Saints Borys and Hlib in Vyshhorod was turned into a museum. Now the temple is active. Nearby are the ramparts of the hillfort.

On June 17, 2023, the community voted for the transfer of the Church of Saints Borys and Hlib to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. On September 5, a service in the Ukrainian language was held for the first time in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of Borys and Hlib.

The private ethnographic complex "Savka House" in Novi Petrivtsi includes two authentic old Ukrainian manors: a wealthy peasant's house from 1786 and a gentleman's house from 1854.

The first one has been in its place for over two hundred years, the second one was transported from the village of Meleni in Zhytomyr region. There is a well, a cellar, a farm yard with a forge and a forge. During the excursion, visitors are offered to grind flour with their own hands with the help of stone millstones, work in a forge, and watch the work of masters of folk crafts.

After the excursion, you can taste the best dishes of Ukrainian national cuisine, prepared in a wood-fired oven according to ancient recipes. A professional folk group performs folk music.

A memorial sign in the form of a stele with an eagle at the entrance to the "Yerevansky quarter" was installed in honor of builders from Armenia.

Brigades from many republics of the former USSR took part in the construction of Slavutych in 1989, which is reflected in the architecture and city monuments.

The stele with the eagle was created by the Armenian architect Levon Khachatryan.

The "Egg of Life" monument was installed in 2000 at the exit from Ivankiv in the direction of Ovruch, near the bus station.

An unusual concrete sculpture in the form of a huge egg was presented to the village by the German architect Armin Koelbli as a symbol of the life and fertility of the earth, which should be revived after the severe "Chornobyl disease".

A memorial to the heroes of Chornobyl was erected in 1988 on Slavutych central Square.

Architects - Hotalskyi, Belyk, Aptukova. The composition consists of a pylon, in which a bell is installed, and two slabs on which 30 photos of Chornobyl NPP workers and firefighters, who received a critical dose of radiation in the first hours of liquidation of the accident, were placed.

A traditional place for laying flowers during celebrations.

30 rose bushes named "Slavutych" were planted near the monument. This completely new variety was created for the 30th anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy by the French company "Meilland".

The Bell Well in Novi Petrivtsi is an ancient spring in the Mezhyhirya tract, the only surviving object of the Kyiv-Mezhyhirya Savior-Transfiguration Monastery.

According to legend, the monks set up a whole system of bells above the spring, which rang melodiously, hence the name (according to another version, church bells were cast here).

The founding of the monastery is attributed to Prince Volodymyr the Great or Prince Andriy Boholyubsky, although Mezhyhirya is first mentioned in the documents of the XV century as a Cossack monastery. Hetmans Petro Sahaidachnyi and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi looked after him. A military hospital and a shelter for veterans were maintained at the expense of the Cossacks. In 1843. Taras Shevchenko visited here, describing Mezhyhirya in the poem "Chernets" (the Shevchenko oak has been preserved - 4.4 meters in girth).

In 1935, the monastery was blown up, in its place was created a closed country village of the party elite (the so-called "Scherbytsky's dacha", later - the residence of Viktor Yanukovych "Mezhyhirya"). It was possible to preserve only the spring, which is famous for the taste and healing properties of iron-rich water. In 2005, a small chapel was built, then a bathhouse, and in 2011, the wooden church of the Transfiguration of the Lord Mezhyhirya was consecrated (services are held on weekends and holidays at 12:00).

Deer Park "Na Rogah" was created in the village of Musiiky in the Kyiv region by lawyer and nature lover Serhiy Boyarchukov in 2022. The farm specializes in breeding red deer and tourist services.

Currently, more than 70 deer and about 30 doe live freely here in spacious enclosures on 79 hectares of deoccupied territories in conditions as close to natural as possible.

For visitors, excursions are organized, during which you can observe the life of deer in their natural environment. You can also feed the animals and take pictures with them. In the summer, brunches are organized in nature in the company of deer.

The Deer Park "Na Rogah" also offers guests fishing, horseback riding, gazebos for relaxation and barbecue. It is planned to build a hotel and a restaurant.

Dymer city library for adults is housed in an old wooden building built at the beginning of the 20th century.

Officially, the library building is not considered an architectural monument, but it is one of the brightest sights of the city of Dymer.

The gymnasium in the center of Dymer was built in 1912-1913, becoming the most modern building in the city, as it already had water heating, which was a rarity in those days.

In the gymnasium, four-grade education was introduced according to the program of seven grades. Pupils were taught reading, writing, church singing, natural science and the basics of drawing. During the Second World War, the school was closed and served as a shelter for fighter pilots, and later the building was used by the Germans as a prison.

In 1945, education at the school was resumed, and in 1963 it was given the status of an eight-year, incomplete secondary school. Currently, it is the Educational Complex "Dymer Gymnasium - Secondary School of the 1st Degree".

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord was built in the village of Liubymivka in 1858 at the expense of the landowner Lukomsky according to the typical project of the architect Kostyantyn Ton.

Until today, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross has been preserved practically in its original form. On the territory of the temple is the grave of the famous historian and local historian Lavrentiy Pokhylevych, the author of the book "Tales about inhabited areas of the Kyiv province".

The church preserves the icon of Saint Archangel Michael, painted at the beginning of the 20th century in memory of the saint's appearance to the residents of the nearby village of Rovy.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is an architectural monument of local importance.

The historical exposition of the Vyshhorod Historical and Cultural Reserve is presented in the ancient "Klyukva House".

This is a two-storey residential building, which was built in 1905 by Corporal Ivan Shkolnyi, nicknamed Klyukva. According to legend, at the end of the XIX century Klyukva began to collect various antiquities, which were then often found in the Vyshhorod region. Later, this house was used as a village council, school, dormitory. Since 1995, it belongs to the Vyshhorod Historical and Cultural Reserve.

The basis of the exposition of the historical museum are the materials of archeological excavations on the settlement of Ancient Vyshhorod. In the archeological exposition you can see the oldest Easter egg in Ukraine (XI century), the seal of Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavych of the XI-XII centuries, a folding encolpion cross of the X century, fragments of a Scandinavian fibula of the first half of the X century.

The wall panel "Ancient Vyshhorod of the XII-XIII centuries", made by the honored artist of Ukraine Henry Yahodkin, gives a clear idea of the medieval city. Classic methods of museum (showcase) display are complemented by innovative museum technologies: 3D-modeling, interactive maps, QR-codes.

The brick temple of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Novy Petrivtsi was built at the beginning of the 20th century in the Rus-Byzantine style.

During Soviet times, the church was closed. From 1990 to 1993, the diorama "Liutizh Bridgehead" was exhibited in the premises.

Now the temple is active. There is a monument to the Liutizh Bridgehead nearby.

Ivankiv Local History Museum is located in the city park, on the site of an ancient Rus settlement of the X-XIII centuries.

The exposition presents samples of fauna and flora of the region, collection of antique household items, reconstruction of the interior of the Ukrainian house of Polissya region.

The exhibition "Ivankiv and Munster in the Second World War - Ukrainian-German research project" tells about the life of the town during the Nazi occupation and deportation of residents to forced labor in Germany.

The exposition "Chornobyl is our pain" tells about the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the elimination of its consequences.

The pride of the museum is an exhibition of paintings by the People's Artist of Ukraine Mariya Prymachenko, who lived in the neighboring village of Bolotnia.

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, when Ivankiv came under fire, the Ivankiv History and Local History Museum burned down. But the employees managed to save all the paintings of Mariya Prymachenko. The restoration of the museum is planned.

Kyiv HPP - the upper stage of the cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Dnipro, the first HPP in the USSR, built from prefabricated reinforced concrete structures with the use of horizontal capsule hydro units, which allowed to design the HPP building combined with the spillway part

Construction continued from 1960 to 1968. Structures: HPP building (440 MW), a concrete spillway dam with 20 spillways, a shipping lock, earth dams, structures of a hydraulic storage station with an upper reservoir. The construction of the dam and the city of energy workers created a modern industrial architectural appearance of the ancient Vyshhorod.

According to legend, during the design of the Dnipro Cascade in the 1930s, Joseph Stalin demanded that if the Kyiv Hydroelectric Dam was destroyed in the event of a war, the water shaft would also destroy all other dams and bridges downstream, thus creating a natural water barrier. This legend, as well as concerns about the technical condition of the dam, constantly cause discussions about the threat to Kyiv from the station.