Attractions of Ivano-Frankivsk district

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 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 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 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.

The monastery of the Catholic order of Capuchins was founded in Marynopil (Mariiampil) in 1742-1746 at the expense of the Bratslav voivode, Yan Kayetan Yablonovskyi.

In 1757, the construction of Saint Anthoniy's Church was completed. A collegium with philosophy and rhetoric classes, a school for orphans, and a hospital operated at the monastery.

Under the Austrian authorities, the monastery was handed over to the Sisters of Charity of the Order of Charits, and the church came under the control of the Greek Catholic community of Mariiampil.

In 1948, a boarding school was placed next to the monastery, then an LTP. Today it is the Halytskyi correctional colony.

The Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King in Ivano-Frankivsk is located in the suburb of Hirka. It was built in 1925-1939 according to the project of the architect Stanislav Trelya.

In 1961-1989, the shrine was closed by the Soviet authorities and was used as a warehouse.

In 1989, the future bishop Father Yan Olshansky consecrated the church. During 1990-1999, the temple was restored. An organ brought from the Netherlands is installed in the Church of Christ the King. There is also a copy of the "image" of the Mother of God of Chenstokhova (Belz) brought from Poland.

The constructivist building of the city hall on Rynok Square is the most famous symbol of Ivano-Frankivsk. At the time of construction in 1932, it was the tallest building in the city (49.5 m).

The first wooden city hall on this site was built shortly after the founding of the city in the XVII century, but then it was repeatedly rebuilt. The most interesting from an architectural point of view was the town hall of Austrian times, which existed in 1871-1915.

In its current form, the city hall was built in the interwar period. Monolithic reinforced concrete walls could not be blown up by the German occupiers before the retreat in 1944.

In April 1990, the national Ukrainian flag was raised for the first time over the building of Ivano-Frankivsk City Hall.

The building houses several exhibits of the Museum of Local Lore: nature, history, folk art, archeology. There are rich collections of weapons and books, as well as antique furniture. In total – 120 thousand subjects. An interesting exhibit is a model of the old Stanislaviv of the Potocki era.

Branches of the Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore are the Prykarpattya Literary Museum in Ivano-Frankivsk, the Hutsulshchyna Historical and Local Lore Museum in Verkhovyna, the Ivan Franko Literary Memorial Museum in Kryvorivnia, the Mykhaylo Hrushevsky Historical and Local Lore Museum Museum in Kryvorivnia, and the Khata-Grazhda Museum in Kryvorivnia, the Les Martovych Literary Memorial Museum in Torhovytsia, the  Oleksa Dovbush Historical and Local Lore Museum in Pechenizhyn.

Numismatist meetings are held in the lobby every Sunday.

"Stanislaviv Sea" - this is what the current city lake of Ivano-Frankivsk was called when it appeared in 1955.

The history of the construction of the city lake is as follows: on the territory of the former Potocki menagerie, where the Polish nobility and local residents used to love to hunt, a number of ponds were dug back in Stalin's times, which were connected by locks to the Bystrytsia-Solotvynska river. One day, the floodgates were opened, water filled the reservoirs, and as a result, a "sea" was formed.

Currently, the city lake is one of the main recreation areas of Ivano-Frankivsk. The most romantic place is the bridge leading to the "Island of Love". There is a boat station.

The pilgrimage center "Dukhova Krynytsia" is located on the western outskirts of the village of Yezupil, a little north of the village of Silets, by the Yezupilsky stream, near the miraculous spring of the same name, known since the 12th-13th centuries.

According to legend, the warriors of Yaroslav Osmomysl, Danylo Halytskyi and Semen Vysochan sanctified their banners with water from the Dukhova Krynytsia before their campaigns. There is an assumption that the chronicled Ivanovsky monastery of Ancient Halych, known since 1189, existed on this site. Perhaps it was the monks of this monastery, destroyed during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, who founded the Maniava Hermitage at the foot of the hill.

Since ancient times, Dukhova Krynytsia has been a place of pilgrimage for pilgrims from all over the region on the holiday of Ivan Kupala. In 1878, a chapel was built here, but it was destroyed during Soviet times.

The tradition was revived in the early 1990s. Now every year on the holiday of John the Baptist, a Festival of Spiritual Song is held near Dukhova Krynytsia.

The Congregation of the Incarnate Word of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church began construction of the Dukhova Krynytsia Monastery in 2023.

The museum of ethnography and life of the Carpathian village of Bohrivka was founded in 2021 by the teacher of the Bohrivka gymnasium, Halyna Hotsanyuk.

The ethnographic exposition presents ancient household items, samples of folk embroidery, relics, antiquities of the village, products of folk craftsmen.

In particular, a working loom is exhibited, on which visitors can try to work.

The Open Air Museum of Ethnography is located in Krylos on the territory of the ancient settlement, on the first line of defensive ramparts.

The island of folk architecture introduces visitors to the daily life of the inhabitants of Prykarpattya in the 17th and 20th centuries.

On the territory of 4.5 hectares, traditional dwellings of four ethnographic regions are presented: Pokuttya, Hutsul region, Boyky region and Opillya. Currently, 11 original monuments of folk architecture are collected here, in the interiors of which ancient household items are exhibited.

"Tysmenytsia" factory is the largest fur enterprise in Ukraine. "Tysmenytsia" fur coats are known far beyond the borders of the country.

The secret of fur production was brought here by Armenian settlers in the 16th century. Gradually, fur craft, production of fur, saffian and suede passed to local craftsmen and became famous throughout Europe.

In 1970, the Tysmenytsia factory was built - one of the largest fur factories in the former Soviet Union. The skins of rabbits, muskrats, martens, minks, pizh and others are processed here. It has its own school of modern design, up to 300 new models of ready-made clothes and fur hats are put into serial production every year. "Tysmenytsia" mink fur coats are especially popular.

Products can be purchased at the company store on the territory of the "Tysmenytsia" factory.

The Galician Transversal Railway Museum was opened in 2022 in the building of the sports and educational center "Kamenyar" in the village of Nyzhniv on the initiative of a local enthusiast for reviving the memory of the railway, Dmytro Romanyshyn.

The construction of the 768-kilometer-long Galician Transversal Railway began in 1871. On November 15, 1884, the first train set off on the newly constructed Stanislaviv – Husyatyn branch, in particular the bridge over the Dniester in Nyzhniv. During the Second World War, the railway was destroyed by the Nazis and has not been rebuilt since then, but its remains have been preserved in some places.

The exhibition of the Galician Transversal Railway Museum presents several dozens of authentic exhibits, including a fragment of an Austrian rail, a railway lantern, other instruments and household items of railway workers.

Also on display are weapons from the First World War, old newspapers, currency notes, railway-themed paintings and photographs.

A memorial sign has been installed at the place where the railway runs in Nyzhniv.

The Museum of Liberation Struggles of Halych District in Burshtyn is located in the premises of the "Prometheus" Palace of Culture. It was started in 1996 by the Brotherhood of the OUN-UPA of Halych district station and the Society of political prisoners and repressed people of Halych district.

The exposition presents materials about the events of the Second World War in the territory of the region, outstanding figures of fighters for the freedom of Ukraine, the work of the local intelligentsia of those times. You can see models of hideouts in which UPA soldiers hid, some types of weapons used in those times, maps of combat operations.