Attractions of Ivano-Frankivsk region

The tract of Demyaniv Laz on the outskirts of Ivano-Frankivsk is the site of a mass shooting of prisoners of the NKVD prison.

The executions were carried out before the retreat of the Soviet troops in 1941. During excavations, human bones were found here and they were able to identify 524 individuals. It was possible to establish the identity of 22 people, work in the archives of the SBU made it possible to determine the names of another 400 executed.

In 1998, the "Demyaniv Laz" memorial complex was opened near the graves. The museum was opened in 2009.

The name of the tract is related to the name of one of the local peasants, Demyan from the village of Zahvizdya, who owned a plot of the Posichnyansky forest here.

The memorial complex "Demyaniv Laz" is a branch of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Museum of the Liberation Struggle named after Stepan Bandera.

The memorial complex "Kryivka Cheremosh" is located on the territory of the Kalush Central District Hospital, which is located on the residential area "Pidhirka".

It was here during the Second World War that there was an secret bunker of the OUN underground group headed by Ivan Mahas (pseudonym "Cheremosh"), which was engaged in printing propaganda materials. All six rebels died on September 6, 1945 in a battle with a special unit of the NKVD. The remains of the shelter were found and investigated by Kalush activists.

In 2017, the ceremonial opening of the reconstructed kryivka (hiding place) and a memorial sign in honor of the dead underground members of the OUN took place.

The memorial complex "Kryivka Cheremosh" is one of the subdivisions of the Communal Institution "Museum and Exhibition Center of Kalush City Council".

The spring of healing mineral water in the "Shandra" tract is located right next to the R-21 highway on the road from Dolyna to Mizhhirya.

Hydrogen sulphide waters are a minor group of mineral waters found mainly in the foothills of the Carpathians. They are divided into three subgroups: sulfate-hydrogen sulfide, chloride-hydrogen sulfide, and bicarbonate-hydrogen sulfide. Sulfate-hydrogen sulfide is water with a sulfate-calcium composition, with a content of 78 mg/l of total and 55-65 mg/l of free hydrogen sulfide.

Near the spring there is an area for recreation and picnics.

The wooden church of the Miracle of Saint Archangel Michael was built in the village of Yaremche Dora in 1844 by the local craftsman Hnishik on the basis of an early church (XVIII century).

Made in Hutsul style. It is cruciform in plan with a large central square log that supports a tent-shaped roof with a pear-shaped crown.

The carved iconostasis and icons of the XVIII-XIX centuries, which have a high artistic value, have been preserved. Ornamental paintings on the walls were made at the beginning of the 20th century.

The appearance of Saint Michael's Church has been largely "modernized" with a metal coating.

From 1946 to 1990, the community of the Russian Orthodox Church worked on the basis of Saint Michael's Church. After Ukraine gained independence, the church building was returned to the Greek Catholic community.

The Greek-Catholic Church of the Miracle of Saint Archangel Michael was built in the center of Sniatyn in 1880-1886 on the initiative of the local priest Teofil Kobrynskyi, the husband of the famous writer and activist of the gender movement Nataliya Kobrynska.

The monument to national hero Oleksa Dovbush was erected in 1971 at the entrance to the village of Pechenizhyn, where he was born in 1700.

According to legend, the house of his father, shepherd Vasyl Dovbush, was located in the Kalynnyk tract, where another memorial was erected in 1988.

In 1738, Dovbush led a rebel detachment of opryshks, which operated first in the area of Pechenizhyn and the adjacent Yablunivsky Pass, and then in almost the entire territory of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Opryshki terrorized the local nobles and robbed rich landowners, distributing the loot to the peasants, for which they earned the fame of the people's avengers, and the tragic death of Dovbush at the hands of a traitor created for him the halo of a national hero and martyr.

The monument to Oleksa Dovbush was made by the sculptor Valentyn Borysenko in the form of a large bust of the rebel leader with an ax that seems to grow out of his native land.

The Church of the Mother of God of the Holy Scapular was built in 1721.

The Roman Catholic parish in Sniatyn was founded in the 15th-16th centuries. Initially, the temple was wooden, rebuilt several times. In its current form, it was rebuilt and consecrated in 1857.

Restoration was carried out in 1928-1935.

In 1946, the church was closed by the Soviet authorities, and the monks left for Poland, taking with them the icon of the Mother of God of the saint. Scapulary.

Since 1993, the church has been operating again.

The sanctuary of the Mother of God in Bilshivtsi is one of the most beautiful sights of the late Baroque period in Galicia.

It was built in 1624 by the monks of the Carmelite order, who were invited by the owner of the town, Hetman Martyn Kazanovsky.

According to legend, one day the hetman fished the image of the Virgin from the Dniester, and soon won a battle with the Tatars. Taking this as a sign from God, Kazanovsky ordered the construction of a wonderful temple, to which was placed a miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the Holy Scapular, which is popularly called the Bilshivtsi Mother of God.

In 1669, the church had to be repaired due to damage it received during the Liberation War, and in 1718 - after the Turkish invasion. The temple was consecrated in honor of the Visitation of Elizabeth by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Bilshivtsi icon was crowned by Pope Pius VI.

Before World War I, the Carmelite monastery in Bilshivtsi was one of the largest in Galicia. The Bolsheviks closed the temple in 1947, the monks took the icon to Poland. Only in 2002, its copy returned to the Bilshivtsi and was placed in the revived sanctuary of the Mother of God in Bilshivtsi.

The former Carmelite shrine is now under the care of the Franciscan fathers. Restoration is underway at the expense of the Ministry of Culture of Poland as part of the operational program "Cultural Heritage", with the support of the Metropolitan Curia of the Lviv Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, as well as patrons and benefactors from Ukraine and Europe.

Mount Pip Ivan is one of the highest peaks of the Chornohora Carpathian massif, the third highest in Ukraine (2022 meters).

It used to be called Black Mountain (Chorna Hora), which is where the name of the entire Chornohora range comes from. According to legend, Oleksa Dovbush was killed here by the "black calamity", i.e. hell, and the mountain turned black. In ancient times, there was a pagan temple on the mountain, and the folk tradition of a mass ascent on the night of Ivan Kupala has been preserved. The current name comes from the rock on the top, which resembled a priest in a cassock (now it has lost its characteristic shape).

Mount Pip Ivan is formed by sandstones, has a pyramidal shape, in the upper part - stone placers. It is covered with subalpine vegetation - widespread shrubs (Siberian juniper, rhododendron) and spruce forests. It is located within the Carpathian State National Park.

At the top are the picturesque ruins of the Polish astronomical and meteorological observatory "White Elephant" in the style of constructivism, which operated in 1938-1941. The three-story building had 43 rooms and a conference hall. The tower with a copper dome with a diameter of 10 meters housed a Scottish astrograph. Currently, the building is in a dilapidated state.

The most convenient route to the top begins in the village of Dzembronia.

The "Diedyk" Museum was created in their own yard in Kosovo by the family of the Ukrainian poet and writer Bohdan Radysh, dedicating the exhibition to his memory.

Bohdan Radysh's memorial office is located on the first floor of the museum. In two rooms on the second floor, the works of the writer's son, craftsman Myroslav Radysh (boclages, plates, handmade crosses, candlesticks, bowls, etc.) are presented, as well as a selection of old clothes collected by his grandson, collector Eduard Radysh.

For now, the museum works unofficially, but already accepts visitors by prior arrangement.

The "Grandfather's Pharmacy" museum in Kryvorivnia near Verhovyna is dedicated to the history of folk medicine in the Hutsul region. The exposition presents healing herbs, fruits, roots and tinctures from them, which were used to treat Ukrainian highlanders in ancient times.

The excursion begins with the herbal room (museum-pharmacy pantry), where visitors are told about the history of medicine in the Carpathians and about the healing properties of Carpathian herbs and the preventive properties of herbal teas.

In the second room, visitors can learn about the use of special tinctures with fly agaric mushrooms, snakes and bees in traditional medicine for the prevention and treatment of serious diseases.

"Grandfather's Pharmacy" also offers tastings of tinctures based on herbs, fruits, berries and Montenegrin roots, aromatic Carpathian teas, and berry syrups for children. The same products can be purchased in the museum shop.

The "Heroes of the Dnipro" Museum in Ivano-Frankivsk is a branch of the National Military Historical Museum of Ukraine. It was founded in 1966 as the Museum of Combat Glory of the 38th Combined Arms Army, which in 1943 took part in the forcing of the Dnipro north of Kyiv and the creation of the Liutizh bridgehead.

The central element of the exposition is the diorama "Experience on the Dnipro", which shows combat actions during the crossing of the river in September 1943. Before entering the demonstration hall, visitors pass through a stylized headquarters dugout used by the commander of the 38th Army, Colonel General Kyrylo Moskalenko.

The main exhibition in 12 halls highlights the military history and traditions of Prykarpattia much more widely - from the times of the Galicia-Volyn state to the present day. Separate chapters are devoted to the combat path of the Legion of the Ukrainian SSR in Stanislaviv region during the First World War, the formation of the UGA during the Ukrainian-Polish war of 1918-1919, and the participation of natives of Ivano-Frankivsk region in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The exhibition is complemented by a rich collection of samples of small arms, engineering and artillery ammunition, and means of communication.

In 2018, a stationary exhibition dedicated to the centenary of the proclamation of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic was opened.

The museum "Ukrainian Antiquities" was opened in 2007 by Mariya Medyk, a collector from Yaremche.

The exposition of the museum reproduces the life of the 19th and 20th centuries in several regions of Ukraine: Bukovyna, Hutsul region, Pokuttia and Boyko region. Objects of culture and everyday life of the Carpathian regions are exhibited in several halls. In particular, spinning and weaving products, ceramics, chests are presented.

Rare books (in Church Slavonic, Latin and ancient Hebrew languages), old photographs of local residents, paintings and icons on glass are exhibited.

One of the unique exhibits are shackles from the Austro-Hungarian prison.

The Museum of Ethnography and Life of the Tlumach region is located in the People's House of the Tlumach city (now it is the Center for Culture and Leisure of the Tlumach City Council).

The museum was opened in 1981.

The exposition in two halls tells about the nature of the region, introduces you to its rich history – from the Iron Age to modern times. The museum presents folk clothes, embroidery, Easter eggs, paintings by local artists, old machines and much more.

The house-museum of the famous historian and politician of the Ukrainian People's Republic Mykhaylo Hrushevsky was opened in Kryvorivnia at the place where he bought the estate from the local landowner Pshebylivskyi at the beginning of the 20th century.

The future president of Ukraine visited here on vacation several times.

The villa burned down in 1917, but in 2003 it was recreated based on the surviving drawings and memories of eyewitnesses.

The museum presents biographical documents and photographs, an ethnographic collection, and household items from the beginning of the 20th century.

Kryvorivnia Museum of Mykhaylo Hrushevsky is a branch of the Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore.