Attractions of Ivano-Frankivsk district

The wooden church of Saint Basil the Great in the village of Cherche is one of the oldest churches of the Boykiv type.

Local residents call it the church of Saint Paraskeva Pyatnytsia.

The temple was built in the 16th century and moved to its current location (an old cemetery on the outskirts of the village) in 1733. The early type three-log church. The roof of the log cabins is tented, with three folds above the central and one above the side domes.

Basil's Church in Cherche is characterized by exquisite proportions. In 1970, restoration was carried out - the authentic central dome was returned to the temple.

The Church of Saint Panteleimon is the only surviving building of Ancient Halych from the princely era.

The construction of the temple on the northeastern outskirts of the city was completed in 1194. It was founded by Galicia-Volyn bishop Roman Mstyslavych, naming it in honor of his grandfather, Prince Izyaslav of Kyiv, whose Christian name was Panteleimon.

In the 14th century, the church was transformed into the church of Saint Stanislaus, and in the 16th century, reconstruction was carried out and a Franciscan monastery with a bell tower, defensive ramparts and monastic premises was opened.

After the First World War, the Panteleimon Church was abandoned for a long time, restored in 1998, consecrated by Greek Catholics.

Ancient graffiti have been preserved on the walls, in particular the famous blossoming cross, which became the emblem of the National Reserve "Ancient Halych" and the coat of arms of the modern city.

In a small house in the center of Halych, a museum of the history and culture of the Karaite people - a small ethnic group whose origins are the subject of long-standing scientific disputes - has been opened.

Probably, a small group of Karaites moved to Halych from the Crimea in the 13th century. Reliable information about the Karaite colony in Halych dates back to the 16th century.

The exposition of the museum acquaints visitors with the religious and cultural traditions of the Karaites, the social and everyday life of the Karaite community of Halych.

The only active mud (clay-bituminous) volcano in the Carpathians is located on the outskirts of the village of Starunia.

It was formed in 1977 on the site of the old ozocreite industry after the earthquake in Romania. Initially, it had 4 nozzles with a diameter of 10-50 centimeters and a cone height of about 3 meters. Now there is a large flat patch of dirt, with 8 craters and 12 irregular microcraters. Gases, oil and water of different mineralization are emitted from them with different frequency and intensity.

The access road to the volcano is covered with large gravel.

The manor of the Count family of Reys in Pryozerne (in the past - the village of Psari) was created in the 18th-19th centuries.

The Reys were descendants of the ancient Potocki family. The initial palace complex (classical, with a colonnade and a portico) arose in Psari in the second half of the 18th century. In 1880, the old palace was dismantled, and Countess Vilhelmina Rey began to build a new palace. The manor was designed by the well-known Lviv architect Yulian Zakharevych. The estate was surrounded by a landscape park with plane trees with an area of about 8 hectares.

The last owner of the estate was Lyudvik Rey. With the beginning of the Second World War, the count left for France, and his estate fell into the hands of the collective farm. During the Soviet period, it was used for economic purposes. Later - as a psychiatric hospital. In 1955, students of the Rohatyn zoo-veterinary complex settled in the palace. During the time of independent Ukraine, a nunnery operated here, and later the manor was transferred to the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

Currently, the Reys manor is in a deplorable state, although the Ukrainian-Polish "Psari" fund, headed by Martin Ryy, the grandson of the last owner, has already taken an interest in it.

The "Art na Mur" Gallery of Contemporary Art opened in 2012 in the Bastion Fortress Gallery complex on the territory of the Stanislaviv Fortress in the historical center of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The gallery hosts exhibitions of works of art by artists from Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities of Ukraine, including classical painting and avant-garde.

The institution offers organization and holding of exhibitions, sale of paintings.

The monument to Adam Mitskevych in Ivano-Frankivsk is one of two monuments to the outstanding Polish poet erected in Ukraine for the centenary of his birth (the other is in Lviv).

Initially, the figure was carved from pink marble and was 2.3 meters high. The words in Polish were engraved on the pedestal: "To Adam Mitskevych in the century since his birthday - citizens of the city of Stanislaviv. 1898."

During the First World War, the monument was damaged. In 1930, a new figure was installed, this time cast in bronze. The Polish board was replaced with a new one: "Adam Mitskevych, 1798-1855". In this form, the monument has been preserved to this day.

The Church of Archangel Michael in Chesnyky recently celebrated its centenary. It was founded in 1906 on the initiative of the villagers, as the small old church could no longer accommodate parishioners.

The project of the new church was ordered from the famous Lviv architect Vasyl Nahirniy. In 1911, the temple was consecrated, but work continued until 1914.

Michael's Church is located on a high hill in the center of Chesnyky. Stone, cruciform, single-domed, with decorative elements of the classicist style. The ornamental and plot painting was done in 1994 by the artist Ivan Krasevych.

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 Art Gallery of the National Reserve "Ancient Halych" opened in 2010. Located on the second floor of the administrative building of the reserve.

The gallery exhibits works of art by Ukrainian artist from Australia, a native of the town of Berezhany in Ternopil region Volodymyr Savchak. You can also see paintings by Galician artist Bohdan Kuziv, other local artists.

The art gallery hosts thematic exhibitions and conferences.

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 Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lysets was built in 1852 at the expense of Count Rudolf Stadion (Shtadion) on the site of a wooden church that had existed since the 17th century.

The church in the Romanesque style has five altars.

The peculiarity of the Lysets church was that parishioners of the Latin and Armenian religious denominations held services in it at the same time.

The oldest and most valuable treasure of the Assumption Church was the miraculous image of the Mother of God of Lysets. In 1945, deported Poles took the icon to Poland.

In Soviet times, the church had a cinema.

Currently, the temple has been returned to the Roman Catholics, restoration and repair work is ongoing. The image of the Mother of God of Lysets returned to the church in the form of a copy.

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 brown bear museum in Maniava was opened in 2006 on the initiative of the public organization "Our Home - Maniava". In this way, local residents honored the four-legged beast, which is considered the master of the forest, a symbol of power and part of local culture.

More than 80 "bear" exhibits are collected in several rooms of the premises of the Maniava village council, including a stuffed bear.

Also on display are souvenirs made by local residents, toys, Hutsul tiles, watches and much more. A gallery of paintings dedicated to the bear theme is on display.

Excursions are free, but voluntary donations are welcome.