Attractions of Kyiv region

The Transfiguration Monastery in Rzhyshchiv is one of the oldest in Ukraine. According to legend, it was founded by Saints Anthony and Theodosius, who from time to time traveled here from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The year 1626 is considered the official foundation date of the Rzhyshchiv Transfiguration Monastery. The Polish landowners of Voronichi, giving their lands to the monastery in 1649, claimed that the monastery was founded by their ancestors. It was one of three monasteries in the Kyiv region, where old and sick Cossacks lived to the end.

In 1653, the ambassador of the Moscow tsar, the boyar Vasyl Buturlin, met here with the hetman of Ukraine Bohdan Khmelnitsky, where the terms of the alliance treaty were discussed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 3 churches in the monastery: Saint Barbara, Transfiguration of the Lord and Life-giving Source. In 1927, the monastery was dissolved, a zootechnical school was placed on the territory, then a construction technical school.

In 1995, the Transfiguration Monastery was revived. Cells from the end of the 19th century have been preserved. Located on a hill above the Dnipro.

The precious chronicle of Ukraine in jewelry made of precious metals and precious stones from the Bronze Age and Antiquity to modern times is offered for viewing by the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.

This is a museum of Ukrainian historical jewels, which is a branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. It is located in the Kovnir building of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - an architectural monument of the Ukrainian Baroque era, built in the middle of the 17th century according to the project of the Kyiv architect Stepan Kovnir.

The treasury was founded in 1963 as the Golden Chamber of the State Historical Museum. The basis of the exhibition was a collection of gold jewelry found by archaeologist Oleksiy Terenozhkin in 1954 during the excavation of a Scythian mound of the IV century BC in Melitopol. About 1,500 exhibits from different eras came from the collection of Kyiv patron Bohdan Khanenko.

The work of Ukrainian, Russian, and Western European goldsmiths is introduced through jewelry, tableware, and church items made by talented craftsmen in the styles of Baroque, Rococo, and Classicism. A unique collection of Jewish ceremonial silver is also presented.

Now the museum's funds include more than 56,000 objects of archeology and applied art made of gold, silver and precious stones. The exposition in nine halls is built according to the historical-chronological principle.

The pride of the museum is the largest collection of Scythian gold, in particular the famous gold pectoral of the 4th century BC from the excavations of the mound of Tovsta Mohyla. sights of jewelry art of the early Middle Ages, Ancient Rus, Ukrainian jewelry art of the 16th - the first quarter of the 20th century are also presented.

In addition to a sightseeing tour of the exposition, visitors to the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine are also offered a theatrical tour of the "Secrets of the Steppe Mounds."

Park in Kaharlyk was founded at the end of the 18th century by the Ukrainian nobleman Dmytro Troshchynskyi, a statesman and patron of Ukrainian culture, a descendant of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

He received the estate in Kaharlyk after 1796 as a gift from Emperor Paul I. The park had a palace, outbuildings, and farm buildings. Copies of Greek and Roman statues were placed in the alleys and lawns.

The gazebo-rotunda on the "Mashuk" hill and the "Sazhalka" pond, which is fed by underground springs, have been preserved.

On an area of 35.5 hectares, there are 113 types of trees imported from the Crimea, the Caucasus and European countries.

Trukhaniv Island is one of the most favorite vacation spots of Kyiv residents.

According to legend, the island was named after the Polovtsian khan Tuhorkhan, because at the end of the 11th century it was the residence of his daughter - the wife of the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk.

For a long time this land was uninhabited, from the 19th century it began to gain popularity as a recreation area with the Central Beach. In the 1950s, it was connected to the Right Bank of the Dnipro by a suspended pedestrian bridge, which vibrates noticeably underfoot when there is a large crowd of people.

The Trypillia Ethno-Historical Complex is located in a picturesque place above the Dnieper Bay in the village of Trypillia in the Kyiv region, opposite Divych Hill. This is a private museum and entertainment institution of a modern format, which in an interactive form introduces the history and culture of Ukraine from the earliest times.

Back in 2006, the famous collector Oleksandr Polishchuk together with the architect Volodymyr Lazorenko, the artist Anatoliy Haydamaka and the historian-fiction writer Yuriy Shylov opened the private historical and archaeological museum "Ancient Aratta-Ukraine" at this place. The basis of his exposition was Polishchuk's personal collection of household items of Trypillya culture.

After a long break, the museum reopened in 2023 in a new format. The exposition on three floors introduces the archaeological findings on the territory of Kyiv region and the intangible cultural heritage of the region.

On the first floor of the museum, you can visit the Ukrainian room and the handmade hall, where ancient looms, spindles, as well as a large collection of ancient embroidered shirts, towels, and carpets are presented. Fossils of the first living organisms and animals that were found on the territory of Ukraine are exhibited in the hall of the Ediacaran period. The exhibition of Cucuteni-Trypillya culture presents ceramics of the Trypillya type (mostly passportless and unattributed). The exhibition hall is currently exhibiting the Motanka dolls of the craftswoman Yuliya Petrenko.

The Residence-Museum of Saint Nicholas opens in a separate building in winter. There is a cafe with a fireplace in the Ukrainian style, where children's master classes, tea ceremonies, themed events are held, lunches are offered to the order of tourist groups. In addition to regular excursions, the museum conducts quests. The souvenir shop sells handmade products.

The Park of Trypillya sculpture is considered a business card of the city of Rzhyshchiv, which disputes with the village of Trypillia for the informal title of the capital of Trypillya culture.

Trypillya Park was created in the square in front of the building of the Rzhyshchiv City Council and the new cultural center in 2003-2004 at the initiative of the local authorities. The central element of the park is a large sculpture in the form of a Trypillya binocular vessel by the sculptor Anatoliy Haydamaka. This ritual vessel also became the central element of the new coat of arms and the main symbol of Rzhyshchiv.

The park also features female statuettes and other enlarged Trypil figures by sculptors Mykola Bilyk, Mykola Sivak, Volodymyr Sholudko and others.

The tulip tree or tulip liriodendron is not directly related to tulips - it is a relative of the magnolia.

It comes from the north-east of America, where it reaches a height of 50-60 meters. It has a leaf of an unusual shape - without a tip. The tree got its name thanks to the delicate yellow-green flowers, similar to tulips.

In Vorzel, a tulip tree was planted in 1914 at the manor of Zherebtsov, secretary of the Kyiv Zemstvo Administration. This tulip tree is one of the largest in Ukraine (they say that there are only two of them in the country, but in fact there are about 30). Its height is about 30 meters, and the diameter of the trunk is more than one meter. Blooms in late May - early June.

The building of the two-class school in Hermanivka was built in 1883 according to the project of the prominent Kyiv architect Volodymyr Nikolayev, the author of the building of the National Philharmonic.

Now it is Hermanivka gymnasium.

The first monument in Ukraine to hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi, who was deposed from the hetmanship during the Black Council (Chorna Rada) held in Hermanivka in 1659, was installed on the territory.

One of the largest art museums of Ukraine and a treasury of Ukrainian cultural heritage is the Ukraine National Decorative Art Museum  in Kyiv (used to be called the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art).

It is located on the territory of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" in the premises of the former metropolitan chambers and the Annunciation Church adjacent to them, which are architectural monuments of the 18th - early 20th centuries.

The museum collection was founded in 1899 as one of the components of the collection of the newly created City Museum of Antiquities and Arts, renamed in 1904 to the Kyiv Art, Industrial and Scientific Museum.

Now the museum collection consists of more than 78,000 works of traditional folk and professional decorative art of Ukraine from the 15th century to the present day. The main rarities of the museum: a wooden carved cross in a silver frame of 1576, clay tiles of the XV-XVII centuries, items of church sewing of the XVIII century, products of the leading porcelain and earthenware enterprises of Ukraine of the XVII-XIX centuries.

The pride and decoration of the collection are complexes of Ukrainian folk costumes of the 19th and early 20th centuries from all regions of Ukraine, where the art of cutting, weaving, embroidery, appliqué, punching, weaving, leather and metal processing are combined in a single artistic ensemble. Traditional women's jewelry attracts attention: dukachi, coral, Venetian necklace, beadwork.

Also, the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art has the largest collection of paintings by prominent Ukrainian folk artists Kateryna Bilokur and Mariya Prymachenko.

The Ukrainian Costume and Easter Egg Museum was opened in 2007 in one of the buildings of the Nemishaieve Agricultural Technical College on the initiative of teacher Tamara Uhnivenko. The institution operates on the basis of the Scientific and Methodological Center of Higher and Vocational Pre-Higher Education.

The exposition presents 50 men's and women's national costumes of the mid-19th - early 20th centuries from all regions of Ukraine, as well as household and wedding towels with traditional ornaments.

A significant place in the exposition is occupied by a collection of 3,000 Easter eggs of 27 types. Pottery and carving, weaving, and embroidery products are also presented. The exhibition of charms is of particular interest.

Thematic excursions and master classes on pysankari are held.

Ukrainian Culture and Art Center in Kyiv was established in 2005 with the aim of reviving national customs and traditions.

Here children are taught the technique and culture of embroidery, weaving, painting and other types of decorative and applied art, as well as being introduced to ancient customs and rituals.

Since 2011, the Center of Ukrainian Culture and Art has had its own building in Podil, where a gallery of traditional Ukrainian art is housed, exhibitions and various events are held.

The Ukrainian Gram Records Museum opened in 2023 on the territory of the "Singing Field" cultural and artistic complex. The original exhibition was created by the Kyiv City Center of Folk Art at the initiative of Ukrainian musician Ivan Moskalenko (DJ Derbastler), one of the pioneers of the Ukrainian electronic scene.

The museum's collection contains treasures of Ukrainian music on various soundcarriers. More than 400 exhibits tell about the history of gramophone records and various aspects of the musical culture of Ukraine.

The National Public Radio Company of Ukraine is located in a legendary building in the very center of Kyiv, whose address "Khreshchatyk 26" was once the name of all Ukrainian television and radio.

The four-story building in the heart of the block was built in 1913-1914 as a telephone exchange on the site of the post office. After the transfer of the capital of Ukraine from Kharkiv to Kyiv in 1934, the radio committee was located here.

In 1941, the building was blown up by the retreating Red Army. In 1949-1951, reconstruction was carried out according to the project of architect Victor Yelizarov (the author of the Motherland Motherland monument, Khreshchatyk metro building, Zhulyany airport, Kyiv and Dnipro hotels), and a radio and television complex was built. The first TV tower was located on a nearby mountain.

After the new TV center was commissioned in the early 1990s, state television moved to Syrets in several stages, while state radio remained on Khreshchatyk. Currently, NPRC broadcasts on four channels: UR-1, "Promin", "Kultura", VSRU.

Enthusiasts have opened a museum room where archival documents and photographs, old sound recording equipment, and work equipment of radio journalists are presented. Visiting the Museum of Ukrainian Radio is possible only with the agreement of the NPRC management.

Ukrainian Sixtiers Dissident Movement Museum in Kyiv opened in 2012 in the building that houses the party "People's Movement of Ukraine".

The Art Nouveau mansion with a lion sculpture on the facade was built in 1907-1908 by architect Ihnatiy Ledokhovsky. Before the Bolshevik coup of 1917, housed the surgical hospital of Dr. Ihnatiy Makovsky. In 1911, the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, Petro Stolypin, died in the Makovsky clinic, mortally wounded by a terrorist during a performance at the Opera House.

Since 1999, the central office of the People's Movement of Ukraine, one of the oldest political parties in Ukraine, whose founders were the famous Ukrainian sixties Vyacheslav Chornovil, Ivan Drach, Mykhaylo Horyn and others, moved to the building. Their political and human rights activities began during the "Khrushchev thaw" in the USSR in the 1960s, but later some of the sixties were repressed.

The Sixtiers Museum was opened on the basis of the collection collected by the activists of the sixties public organization. The exposition includes about 20,000 exhibits.

The Ukrainian Sixtiers Dissident Movement Museum is a branch of the Kyiv History Museum.

The Hrebeni Historical and Local Lore Museum bears the name of its founder, local historian Vasyl Kalynovskyi. It was on his initiative that the museum in Hrebeni was opened in 1967.

The exhibition presents fragments of ceramics of Trypillya culture, jewelry and tableware from the times of Kyivan Rus, weapons of the 16th and 17th centuries, materials about the events of the Second World War, ancient household items of local residents, photographs and documents of famous residents of Hrebeni: writer Oles Berdnyk, bandurist Vasyl Lytvyn and others.

The art gallery exhibits the works of local artists, sculptors and folk craftsmen. A collection of sculptures from the Soviet period is presented.