Attractions of Ivano-Frankivsk district

The fortified palace-castle in Stanislav (Stanisławów, now Ivano-Frankivsk) was founded in 1672 by the founder of the city, the Halician mayor Andrzej Potocki, as his residence and the citadel of the Stanislaviv fortress. Before that, the wooden hunting castle of his father Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki served as a residence.

The first stage of construction was managed by the architect François Corassini, and after 1679 by the architect Karol Benoît. The castle consisted of a three-story palace surrounded by defensive ramparts and bastions, side service buildings and a park in the center of the castle yard. Only the front palace fence, which separated the castle from the city, with an entrance gate decorated with knightly symbols, was well preserved.

Polish King Jan III Sobieski, Transylvanian Prince Francis II Rákóczi and others visited the Potoski Palace.

Until now, the main complex of buildings has lost its original appearance, as it has been repeatedly rebuilt and adapted to the needs of various military departments. Until 2004, a military hospital was located on the territory.

In 2017, the Potocki Palace was transferred to the ownership of the Ivano-Frankivsk city hromada. First of all, the entrance gate was restored to its original appearance. The restoration of the palace buildings has begun. Artistic actions, performances and other events began to be held on the ordered territory of the architectural monument.

In 2024, the charitable foundation "Palace" Innovative Creations Space opened the "City and Weapons" Interactive Museum in the premises of the Potocki Palace. The exhibition reveals the theme of the life of the city in times of war: from its foundation through the First and Second World Wars to the present day. Replicas of the most common types of weapons are presented. of each period in physical and digital form, as well as copies of uniforms of those times. With the help of digital devices, you can view old maps, archival materials, old postcards, videos from the period of the First and Second World Wars.

On the opposite side, you can see the remains of castle ramparts and bastions, on one of which the Ascension monument with a 3-meter sculpture of Jesus Christ (2001) was installed.

The Archcathedral and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is the main Greek-Catholic shrine of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The cathedral was founded in 1720 as a Jesuit church, but due to construction errors, the original building had to be completely dismantled and rebuilt in 1752. In the middle of the 19th century, the temple was handed over to the Greek Catholics and it became a cathedral.

In 1899-1890, Bishop Andrey Sheptytsky of Stanislavsky served as the rector of the cathedral before his appointment as Metropolitan of the UGCC.

The Resurrection Cathedral is considered a model of the Austro-Bavarian architectural school with clear features of classicism. At the same time, the tops of the towers are made in the style of Hutsul wooden architecture.

In the interior there is a large five-tiered iconostasis, made by the famous Ukrainian artists Modest Sosenko, Yuliush Makarivskyi and Antin Monastyrskyi.

The building of the former Jesuit monastery with the collegium, which is now occupied by the medical institute, has been preserved nearby.

In 1993, a high-relief of Andrey Sheptytskyi was installed on the facade of the cathedral, and in 1997, sculptures of Princess Olha and Volodymyr the Great as patron saint of Rus, as well as the blessed martyr Hrihoriy Khomnshin, bishop of Stanislaviv (1904-1945), were placed in the niches.

The Arts of Prykarpattya Museum in Ivano-Frankivsk is the largest treasury of sacred, fine and decorative art of Ivano-Frankivsk region, whose collection includes more than 15 thousand works of art.

The institution opened in 1980 as the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Art Museum. It has since been housed in a Roman Catholic church.

The Collegiate (Parish) Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saints Andrew and Stanislav is an architectural monument of national importance, one of the most valuable and ancient architectural and spiritual monuments of Ivano-Frankivsk. Built in 1672-1703 by French architects Fransua Korassini and Karol Benua to order the city's founders Andriy Potocki as the ancestral tomb of this magnate dynasty (Potocki's coat of arms "Pylyava" is located on the second floor on the east wall in front of the buttresses).

The three-nave basilica with a transept is made in the Baroque style with elements of the Renaissance. The interiors of the church have preserved frescoes by Erazm Fabyanskyi, which in Soviet times determined his fate to become an art museum.

Now the exhibition presents samples of Halician iconography and Baroque sculpture, the works of classics of Western Ukrainian painting: Kornyl Ustyanovych, Ivan Trush, Yaroslav Pstrak, Yulian Pankevych, Oleksa Novakivsky, Osyp Sorokhtey, Olena Kulchytska, as well as the works of Polish, Austrian, German and Italian masters of the 18th century.

The most valuable part of the collection are considered to be six sculptures by the outstanding Ukrainian sculptor Ivan Heorhiy Pinzel.

The Maniava Hermitage is an ancient ascetic men's monastery of the Eastern rite, nicknamed the "Carpathian Athos". It is located in the picturesque Carpathian highlands, on the banks of the Maniavka River.

According to legend, it was founded by monks who fled from Kyiv in 1240. The first monastery was located near the holy spring under the Blessed Stone. Rus princes came here for blessings.

The monastery was revived in 1612 by the schymnik monk Iov Knyahynytskyi, who previously settled here in hermitage, and before that he lived on Mount Athos for 12 years. In 1621, the Maniava hermitage received the right of stauropygy, and more than 500 monasteries in Galicia, Bukovyna and Moldova were subject to it.

The architectural complex of stone and wooden buildings, surrounded by a high stone wall with towers and loopholes, is successfully inscribed in the mountain topography. According to scientists, Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi is buried here.

The monastery was closed by the Austrian authorities in the 18th century. During the Soviet rule, restoration was carried out with the aim of creating a museum. In 1998, the monastery was returned to the Orthodox Church. In recent years, the Church of the Ascension of the Cross and other buildings have been restored.

A steep trail up Mount Maniavka leads to the Blessed Stone - a small cave that was the first refuge of the monks. People go here to cleanse themselves and drink the healing water that flows between the stones.

The town hall on the former Bilshivtsi Rynok square (now Vichevyi Maydan) was built in the 19th century.

Originally it had a taller square clock tower with an open gallery and a pointed spire. During the First World War, the building was damaged and was rebuilt in its current, more compact form.

The town hall still serves its purpose - it houses the village council of Bilshivtsi.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin is better known to residents of Ivano-Frankivsk as the "Armenian Church" or "Blue Church".

A tall building with two towers in the mature Baroque style next to the market square was erected in the 18th century on the site of a wooden church in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God (crowned in 1937, now located in Poland). Construction began after the Armenian community of the then Stanislaviv received the right to self-government. Since the Armenians did not have enough funds for construction, the owner of the city, Yuzef Potoski, obliged the Jewish community, which competed with the Armenian community in trade, to help with financing.

Two restorations in the 19th and 20th centuries significantly changed the appearance of the building.

Wooden sculpture, most likely the work of master Matviy Poleyovskyi, was used in the interior design. On the walls are frescoes made by Yan Soletskyi. The interiors were completely preserved during the Soviet times due to the fact that the museum of the history of religion and atheism was located here.

In 1990, the church was returned to believers. Today it is the Holy Intercession Cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krylos was built in 1586 from the materials of the destroyed Assumption Cathedral - the main shrine of Ancient Halych (the foundation of the cathedral was discovered next to the church, restoration is planned).

Ancient Rus reliefs and graffiti were found on some of the stone blocks that make up the church. In the 17th century, the temple complex was surrounded by defensive stone walls with four corner towers (fragments have been restored).

The church, badly damaged during the Turkish invasion, was restored at the beginning of the 18th century by Bishop Yosyp Shumlyanskyi. Great artistic value is represented by the western portal with a pediment, decorated with a stone-carved composition "The Assumption of the Virgin".

The Basilian monastery, which was abolished in 1783, operated near the cathedral.

Today, the Church of the Assumption in Krylos belongs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It is part of the National Reserve "Ancient Halych".

The Catholic church was founded in Bohorodchany in 1691 at the expense of Countess Konstantsiya Potoska.

The first temple was wooden. In 1742-1762, a new stone church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the Baroque style, as well as a Dominican monastery complex with clergy chambers, a fence and a gate.

The complex was heavily damaged during the First World War. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God, which was taken to Poland in 1944, was kept in the Bohorodchany church.

In the 1990s, the local authorities handed over the UOC temple to the Moscow Pariarchate, thus causing a conflict with the city's Roman Catholic community. The Orthodox Church of Peter and Paul operated in the church building, and a music school was housed in the wards.

In 2020, the church was finally returned to the Roman Catholic Church.

According to one of the versions, the powerful castle above the Dniester near the harbor of Halych was built by the Volyn Voivode Lyubart on the site of the ancient Rus citadel, which stood on this site even during the time of Danylo Halytskyi.

Until the 15th century, the castle was one of the largest in Galicia, the garrison numbered a thousand people. In the 17th century, it withstood two Tatar sieges, and in 1649 it was taken by the troops of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

Andzhey Potocki, the Halych headman, took up the reconstruction, turning the wooden fortifications into a stone castle. The works were supervised by the Italian engineer Fransua Korrazini. In 1676, the castle was damaged during the Polish-Turkish war, soon lost its strategic importance and was partially dismantled for building materials.

It is currently part of the National Reserve "Ancient Halych". The south-western tower and part of the defensive wall have been restored, and the restoration of the chapel of Saint Catherine has begun. It is planned to open an exhibition of ancient weapons.

The Museum of the History of Ancient Halych is located in Krylos in the former Metropolitan Chambers - an architectural monument of the 18th century.

After the destruction of ancient Halych by the Tatars in the 13th century and the transfer of the capital of Halych to Kholm, then to Lviv, the former princely child remained the residence of the Galician metropolitans. In particular, it was the summer residence of Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytskyi, with whose assistance in 1937 archaeologist Yaroslav Pasternak founded the first museum of ancient Halych.

Initially, the exhibition of finds from the excavations in the village of Krylos was housed in the chapel of Saint Basil. In the 1990s, the exposition was moved to the renovated premises of the Metropolitan Chambers. Tools of the copper, bronze and iron ages, ancient weapons, in particular the ancient Rus princely sword of the 12th century, are presented here.

"Halychyna Grave" has long been called a lonely mound on the southwestern edge of the Krylos hillfort, at its highest point, between the outer and inner defensive ramparts.

According to legend, the legendary founder of Halych, Prince Hal (Halytsya), is buried here. The Halychyna Grave is mentioned in the Galician-Volyn Chronicle of the 13th century as a sacred place for the acquisition of princely power.

During excavations in 1991-1993, an ancient Slavic symbolic burial (cenotaph) of a noble warrior was found in the mound. A dagger, arrowheads, three axes, gilding from a shield and other items dating back to the 10th century were discovered in the remains of the burnt boat. There were no remains of the soldier himself in the burial.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit Church in Rohatyn is one of the oldest wooden churches in Ukraine, an excellent example of the Galician school of monumental and decorative art of the XVI-XVII centuries, an architectural monument of national importance.

The Rohatyn Holy Spirit Church is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the category "Wooden Churches of the Carpathian Region of Ukraine".

The official date of construction is 1598, although the first references to the Holy Spirit Church in Rohatyn date back to the 12th century. According to legend, it was in this church that Havrylo Lisovsky, the father of the famous Roksolana, served as a priest.

The church is three-log, with a high central log. It is adjoined from the west by a three-tier bell tower of the 17th century, reminiscent of a defensive tower. An underground passage leads to the nearby defense Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church.

The five-tier Renaissance-Baroque iconostasis of 1650, which is one of the three oldest in Ukraine, is considered the greatest value of the Holy Spirit Church in Rohatyn. In 1885, it was restored by the Lviv artist Yulian Markevych, after which the iconostasis was exhibited for some time at the archaeological and ethnographic exhibition in Lviv.

During Soviet times, the Holy Spirit Church in Rohatyn was transformed into a museum of wooden architecture, icon painting, sculpture and carving.

Now it is a museum-monument of wooden architecture and painting as part of the Rohatyn Museum Complex, which is a branch of the Ivano-Frankivsk Art Museum of Prykarpattya. The museum exposition demonstrates the development of Ukrainian icon painting and decorative carving from the 16th century, the transition from the traditional Byzantine system to the art of the Ukrainian Renaissance in the 17th century, the flowering of Ukrainian Baroque in the 18th century. An icon of the monastery type "John the Baptist with life" of the middle of the 16th century, icons of the 18th-19th centuries from the churches of Rohatyn region, as well as stone products, wooden sculptures and candlesticks, old prints are presented.

Maniava waterfall is one of the highest and most beautiful waterfalls of the Carpathians. Located in a mountain gorge between steep cliffs on the Maniavka River.

The river valley for 200 meters before the waterfall has the appearance of a canyon with high walls in the lower part. The water falls in several cascades from a height of about 20 meters. Above the main waterfall, there are a number of small ledges (1.5-2 meters) that form comfortable baths. At the foot is a small lake, the water of which, according to legend, has the property of rejuvenating.

The object is difficult to access, it can only be approached by SUV. It is better to leave the car on the outskirts of Maniava village and continue on foot (about 40 minutes).

The memorial museum "Roman Shukhevych Underground Headquarters" in the village of Kniahynychi near Rohatyn is a branch of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Museum of the Liberation Struggle named after Stepan Bandera. Opened in 2007 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the UPA Commander-in-Chief Roman Shukhevych.

In 1946-1947, the underground headquarters of the UPA operated in Kniahynychi. He was located in the former postman's house – in a conspiratorial apartment, which had the code name "Korolenko".

The museum exposition in this building was created on the initiative and based on the memories of the former bodyguard of the UPA commander, political prisoner Lyubomyr Polyuha.

Three museum rooms reproduce the interior of that time: wardrobe, table, chairs, beds, sewing machine, table lamp, dishes. Among Shukhevych's personal belongings, his cap, razor and badge are on display.

Documents, photos and personal belongings of other underground workers are presented. Lyubomyr Polyuha presented the museum with his own shirt, which his wife embroidered for him with herringbone, when the couple was serving time in Soviet correctional labour camps.

The Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ is mentioned in the 16th century as the main religious building of the craft district of ancient Halych (in 1593, the church was officially attached to a pottery workshop).

During the 16th-18th centuries, the church was repeatedly destroyed by the Tatars, after which it was reconstructed and acquired its current appearance. At the same time, a wooden carved iconostasis was made. At the beginning of the 20th century, restoration was carried out with the participation of Father Mykola Vinnytskyi, a well-known Muscovite who was repressed by the Austrian authorities. A monument to him was erected in front of the church.

In recent years, a bell tower has been erected nearby. A model of ancient Halych was built in the open air near the church.