Attractions of Bucha district

The private landscape park for family recreation "Dobropark" opened in 2020 on the outskirts of the village of Motyzhyn near Kyiv.

This is one of the most modern dendrological parks of Ukraine, created by a well-known Ukrainian entrepreneur and public figure, head of the Folk Ukraine project, Ihor Dobrutskyi.

Seasonal flower plantations, creative flower photo zones, small architectural forms and a tourist service complex with a restaurant and food court are located on 300 hectares of man-made landscapes with hills and Lake Monet.

The "Dobropark" season traditionally opens at the end of April with an exposition of millions of colorful tulips. In the summer, a garden of petunias and begonias will open here, and later the "Lavender Paradise" with an area of ​​8 hectares will bloom.

Various festivals and fairs are held, planting material is sold. On the territory of "Dobropark" you can rent a cottage or a tent in a glamping - a comfortable camping site with terraces and a view of the lake.

The infrastructure of "Dobropark" was significantly damaged during hostilities in the spring of 2022 during the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the park continues to receive visitors.

The water tower and the carriage house building adjacent to it in Shpytky were built at the beginning of the 20th century.

The complex was part of the Tereshchenko estate, which has not been preserved. A manor cellar also remained on the territory of the manor park.

 Earthen ramparts and a defensive moat have been preserved at the home of the historical Hillfort  Bilhorod on the bank of the river. Irpin in present-day Bilohorodka.

The city of Bilhorod was founded in 990 by the Kyiv prince Volodymyr the Great as a princely residence and became one of the key strongholds of ancient Kyiv's defense against Pecheneg and Polovtsy raids.

According to the legend, during one of the long Pecheneg sieges, the people of Bilhorod dug two wells, lowered a barrel of jelly into one of them, and a barrel of honey into the other, and invited the Pechenegs to negotiations. Seeing that the land itself feeds the besieged, and they can hold out for a long time, the Pechenegs decided to lift the siege.

In 991, the first church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord was built in Bilhorod, and soon an episcopal chair was founded in Bilhorod. Later, the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles was built, the remains of which were discovered by archaeologists.

In 1240, Batya's hordes destroyed Bilhorod.

Currently, the ramparts of the fortress can be seen both at the entrance to Bilohorodka from the Kyiv side and at the exit in front of the bridge over Irpin.

100 meters from the monument at the foot of the shaft next to the bridge, you can see a spring, which is associated with the legend of the wells.

The Borodianka Local Lore Museum was opened in 2016 in two rooms on the second floor of the Borodianka Palace of Culture named after Taras Shevchenko. Social activist Tamara Uhnivenko and her daughter, artist Olha Uhnivenko, initiated the creation of the museum.

The exposition includes about 3,000 exhibits, including 12 sets and 8 items of ancient clothing, more than 20 ancient embroidered towels, more than 15 items made of homespun cloth, and about 40 household items. Visitors have the opportunity to trace the history of the development of crafts of the region, seeing ancient things, products, clothes. Some exhibits date back to the 12th-18th centuries.

The highlight of the exhibition is the "Wedding" diorama with 39 dolls by Olha Uhnivenko, which in 2020 will be included in the "Ukrainian book of records" as the largest collection of handmade dolls in a thematic diorama.

The museum was damaged by a Russian airstrike in March 2022, but most of the exhibits were saved.

The Christmas Decorations Factory in Klavdiievo-Tarasove works from the beginning of September to the end of December.

During the excursion, you can get acquainted with the process of making glass Christmas tree decorations, buy signed balls - a very nice gift for the New Year, and just buy some nice toys. It is better to take a cardboard box with you - it is difficult to leave empty-handed, and the toys are so fragile.

It is better to arrange the tour in advance by phone, but if you are not going before the New Year, you can make arrangements on the spot. The closer to the New Year - the more excursions of schoolchildren by large buses.

The excursion includes: a visit to a glass-blowing workshop and an art workshop, a museum of the history of toys and exhibitions, the fairy-tale town of Lemax, an introduction to the main wizard of the factory, the post office of Santa Claus, a master class on painting a Christmas tree toy, a visit to a branded toy store.

The ethnographic complex "Ukrainian village" is located on the edge of the forest near the village of Buzova in the Kyiv region.

It is a "living museum", where authentic buildings are combined with interactive attractions. The open-air exposition presents traditional residential and commercial buildings from various historical and ethnographic zones of Ukraine.

Visitors are greeted by the active church of Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica, from which the creation of the complex began. During the tour, you can view the authentic interiors of six ancient houses, transported from different regions of Ukraine: Hutsul region, South, Podillya, Polissya, Middle Dnipro region and Slobozhansky region. And also visit a pottery workshop, a forge and a distillery, a bakery, etc.

A mini-zoo with domestic animals: sheep, piglets, rabbits attracts special attention of children. All animals can be fed by buying feed from the gift shop. There you can buy various products made of natural materials.

For recreation, as well as holding holidays and corporate events, there are gazebos with barbecues on the pond, a dining room for 130 people, a conference hall, and a hotel. Ethno-trainings are held upon prior request.

The private factory of Christmas tree toys of the Bakun family is located near Kyiv, in the village of Lubyanka near Hostomel.

In 2007, Vasyl Bakun and his children Ihor and Kateryna established a traditional but more modern production of hand-painted glass Christmas tree balls here.

During the tour, visitors are shown various stages of toy production: blowing balls from glass tubes, silvering the balls with a solution of silver oxide, drying in special ovens, and finally, hand painting, which is done by students of art higher education institutions. Visitors can order a personal drawing or make an inscription on the ball.

The Lubyanka Christmas Tree Decorations Factory produces more than 2,000 types of Christmas tree toys, many of which can be bought in the company store at the manufacturer's price.

On the very first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, February 24, 2022, the factory and the village of Lubyanka were occupied by the Russians. Ihor Bakun, the son of the factory's founder, who worked as a glassblower for Christmas tree decorations and gave tours, was shot by the Russian military.

Currently, the Christmas tree decorations factory in Lubyanka does not accept tour groups. Instead, the factory organizes field workshops at schools or kindergartens.

The former manor of the "railroad kings" - the fon Mekk family, friends and relatives of Petro Chaykovsky, built in Kopylov by Mykola Karlovych von Meck in 1888.

The building is wooden, on a brick plinth. A 9-hectare park with spruce and linden avenues has been preserved.

Petro Chaykovsky visited fon Mekk several times.

During the Second World War in 1943-1944, the estate housed a military hospital, then a music school.

Currently, the building is in a dilapidated state, in need of conservation and restoration.

The country house of Countess Nataliya Uvarova in Vorzel was built at the beginning of the 20th century by the manufacturer Karl Septer.

Countess Uvarova (in maidenhood Tereshchenko) liked the then fashionable architecture of the building with a romantic tower and weather vane. After buying it, the countess decorated her possessions with various rare plants and trees of valuable breeds. A fountain was installed near the house, gravel paths were laid.

After the February Revolution in 1917, the Uvarovys and the entire Tereshchenko family emigrated to England. In Soviet times, a school was opened in the house of the countess, where the Ukrainian writer Valeryan Pidmohylny studied.

Today it is the Museum of History and Culture "Uvarov House", the exhibition hall is open. Concerts are held on weekends.

The wooden temple of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica is the central building of the ethnographic complex "Ukrainian Village".

The temple was founded at the expense of People's Deputy Volodymyr Bondarenko at the place where in 2004 an unsuccessful attempt was made on him - his car was pelted with bottles with a flammable mixture. Construction was completed in 2007.

The temple is built from a cylindrical log in the form of an octagonal rotunda. The interior is decorated with a carved iconostasis in the Ukrainian Baroque style. There is a parish school at the church.

The private literary museum of the poet and translator Hryhoriy Kochur in Irpen was opened in 1997 by his son and daughter-in-law Andriy and Mariya Kochur after his death. Mariya Kochur still lives in their Irpin house and personally takes care of the museum.

This building was called the "Irpin University" - during Soviet times, the "sixties" and dissidents often gathered here. Hryhoriy Kochur, who himself went through the GULAG, was their spiritual leader. Among Kochur's guests were Vyacheslav Chornovil, Vasyl Stus, Ivan Dzyuba, Lina Kostenko and other representatives of the opposition-minded creative intelligentsia.

The exposition tells about the life of Ukrainian patriots of the second half of the 20th century. Photographs, personal belongings, notebooks, manuscripts, publications from Kochur's lifetime are presented. His personal library, which helped the poet in his creative pursuits, is of great value.

A separate memorial exhibition is dedicated to Kochur's teacher, outstanding translator Mykola Zerov.

The Irpin Historical and Local Lore Museum sheds light on the history of the city of Irpin and the Irpin community, introduces the work of outstanding countrymen - artists, writers, sculptors, and masters of folk art.

The museum was founded in 1977 by the history teacher Oleksiy Perederiy as a local history club of the local school. The city museum in Irpen was officially opened in 1987, and in three years it received its current separate premises.

The exhibition is housed in four halls with modern multimedia equipment. The historical section tells about the formation of Irpin, in particular, about the Irpen dachas and the railway that gave life to the city. In the second hall, you can learn about the most famous artists of the city, including the outstanding kobzar Mykola Budnyk, artists Matviy Dontsov and Volodymyr Sydoruk. There are rare old prints, a collection of inkwells of various writers whose lives and works were connected with Irpin.

A separate exhibition tells about the events of the occupation of Irpen by Russian troops in February-March 2022, when the museum building was damaged. Evidence of the crimes of the Russian army, personal belongings of the occupiers, shot household objects of local residents, mutilated icons, shell casings, projectiles and fragments of military equipment are presented.

Personal exhibitions, presentations, art events are held in the exhibition hall.

The Makariv Historical and Local Lore Museum is located in the Pansky Park on the ramparts of the Makariv Castle in the center of the town of Makariv. It was opened in 1967 on the initiative of local historian and public figure Herman Chereshnyov.

The exposition tells about the history of Makariv since the Middle Ages, about the Haydamak movement in the Kyiv region, about the events of the Ukrainian Revolution and the Second World War, as well as about the post-war life of the town.

A separate exhibition is dedicated to the soldiers of the 14th separate mechanized brigade named after Prince Roman the Great, who in February-March 2022 liberated the Makariv hromada from the Russian invaders in fierce battles.

The ruins of the palace of the Nemishaieve Osten-Saken's estate are located in the park next to the Nemishaieve plant of biochemical preparations in Nemishaieve, on the outskirts of the village of Myrotske.

It is not known for sure who built the palace and when. Perhaps it existed already in the middle of the 19th century, when the estate was owned by the Counts of Osten-Saken from Courland. The one-story building with towers is made in the Renaissance-Neo-Gothic style, has rich decor and resembles a fairy-tale castle. From the end of the 19th century, the estate belonged to Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, then to the rich landowner Andriy Kulyk.

In Soviet times, the building housed a factory club, which burned down during a fire. Since then, the palace has not been restored, it was partially dismantled for building materials. In 2007, the ruins were leased to the local community of the UOC MP for the creation of a temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Divine services are occasionally held in the surrounding area, but restoration has not yet begun.

Since May 2018, the ruins of the Osten-Saken`s palace have been returned to the communal property of the Nemishaieve hromada.

One of the most interesting structures of the Kyiv Fortified District (KyUR) is the multi-story Pillbox (DOT) 402, located on the steep bank of the river Irpin.

Pillbox No. 402 was built according to an individual project and has three levels: ground level (classical with two machine-gun casemates and an entrance), the first underground and the main, lower underground level with an extensive system of underground communications 500 meters long.

On July 12, 1941, during the German offensive on Kyiv, after an unsuccessful attempt to immediately advance in the direction of Zhytomyr, General von Kleist, who commanded Army Group "South", tried to break through to the south of Bilohorodka. Its units were met by the 402nd Pillbox KyUR. Having suffered significant losses, the Germans retreated. The offensive of the aggressors was delayed until the departure of the main forces of the Red Army from Kyiv.

Episodes of the movie "The Tunnel" were filmed in Pillbox No. 402.