Attractions of Zhytomyr region

The Ovruch historical and local history museum "Drevlyans Sources" has been operating since 2006 at the Center for Children's and Youth Creativity of the Ovruch City Council.

In the ethnographic hall, items from the traditional life of Polishchuks are presented, including unique towels-curtains with Drevlyans patterns. A prominent place is occupied by icons, one of which was made in 1904 in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The next exposition introduces the ancient Polissya crafts - needlework and linen weaving. In particular, a real shipboard and shipboard equipment, as well as an ancient loom, are presented.

The last museum room contains materials about schooling in Ovruch region from the time of Kyivan Rus to the present day, as well as about prominent people of the region. The interiors of the classroom and pioneer room are reproduced here, old textbooks are presented, including the 1861 primer by Taras Shevchenko.

The only monument in Ukraine to the scientist and traveler Mykola Myklukho-Maklay was erected in Malyn, where his mother's estate was and where he himself lived for some time.

A descendant of an ancient Cossack family, Myklukho-Maklay is known in the world as an outstanding ethnographer, researcher of the peoples of Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania. He spent many years traveling the world, but at the end of his life he returned to Malyn - he studied the life and traditions of the Polischuks here, and was interested in the origin of the Drevlyans.

Monuments to the scientist were also erected in Australia, New Guinea and Russia.

The monument in the center of Malyn was opened in 1986 in honor of the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the birth of Myklukho-Maklay. The author of the monument is the sculptor Petro Stepakov.

The People's Museum of Local Lore in the village of Narodychi was founded in 1990. The exposition in three rooms tells about the history of Narodychi region from the most ancient times to the present day.

The archaeological section presents the tools of primitive people. The ethnographic collection includes many household items of the Polishchuks, as well as icons, embroidered towels, etc.

Products of folk craftsmen are demonstrated.

A separate exposition is devoted to liquidation of the accident at the Chornobyl NPP.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the high bank of the Teterev River in Chudniv looks spectacular from the Zhytomyr-Khmelnytskyi highway.

It was built in 1772 at the expense of the city's Orthodox community.

The Stavropygian Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary was founded in Lugyny at the beginning of the 19th century.

It is one of the most interesting examples of the classical style in the monumental wooden architecture of Polissya.

It belongs to the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin was built in Kodna in 1841 at the expense of the then owner of the village, Mykhaylo Korzhenevskyi, on the site of a burnt wooden church.

The temple is made in the style of classicism. On the walls of the facade of the church there is a massive portal with four columns, and the upper part is decorated with a round dome of slightly flattened shape. Due to its four large columns and rectangular shapes, the church resembles the traditional temples of Ancient Greece and Rome, but it is still closer to the temples of the latter, because it has a Tuscan architectural order.

The three-tier bell tower was built at the expense of the parishioners in 1865. Decorative paintings from the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved in the interior of the church.

Together with the bell tower, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin has the status of an architectural monument of national importance.

The stone church of the Nativity of the Virgin was founded in Starosiltsi in 1773 by the village owner Yosyp Yakubovsky near the old wooden Greek Catholic church. After his death, his butler Amalytsky and priest Dimitriy Matskevych completed the construction.

The temple is made in the Polish Baroque style. It housed the miraculous icon of the Mother of God for centuries, which was brought here by the monks of the Pochaiv Larva. Under the altar was the tomb of the builders of the temple. Presumably in the 1830s, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was converted to Orthodoxy.

It is an architectural landmark of local importance.

The Olevsk Museum of Local Lore opened in 1995.

Initially, it had only two halls: military glory and nature. Later, a hall of antiquities was opened, which tells about the ancient crafts and trades of Polishchuks, as well as a hall of history of Olevsk region. In particular, there are archeological finds from the Middle Ages, made during excavations on the territory of Olevsk settlement in the tract Babyna Hill: sword guard, lead seal of the King of Prussia, a necklace of glass of different colors and amber, bronze jewelry.

The exposition "Republic of Olevsk" on five stands highlights basic information about the activities of the Polissya Sich and Taras Bulba-Borovets.

Stands "Jewish Community in Olevsk" and "Local Interest" were developed, a new exhibition "Amber-succinite" was created.

The museum offers sightseeing tours of the city of Olevsk and field trips to the "Stone Village".

The Ovruchchyna History Museum was founded in 1975 at the Ovruch House of Culture. Currently, the museum is located in a historic two-story building next to the City Park.

The exhibition in three halls reveals the culture and history of the region, starting from the Paleolithic period. Among the unique exhibits are tools of primitive people, an medieval Drevlyan sword  of the XII-XIII centuries, a Cossack pistol and a powder magazine of the end of the XVIII century.

Documents of repressed compatriots, letters of Ostarbeiters deported to Germany during the Second World War, personal belongings of people who left their homes after the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, photos of Ovruchans who participated in the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war are preserved.

In the ethnographic department, the everyday objects of Polishchuks are exhibited, in particular, traditional clothes and shoes, woven and embroidered towels, wooden products of folk craftsmen. The interior of the 19th century village house "Polissya room" has been recreated.

The Museum of Partisan Glory of Polissya was founded in 1961 in the village of Slovechne, which during the Second World War was the center of the partisan movement and the location of large partisan units.

The Slovechne Museum was created by enthusiasts by the "folk" method, and in 1962 the exhibition was opened to visitors. One of the halls is decorated in the form of a guerrilla dugout.

Guerrilla weapons, radio equipment, guerrilla press, instruments of the medical service of the "forest front", materials about punitive expeditions in the Ovruch region are presented.

In 1995, the Burned Villages Memorial Complex was opened, where the tragic events of 1942-1943 were recorded.

The synagogue in Pavoloch was built in 1772, when there was a large Jewish community in the village.

In 1993, the historical and local lore museum of the village of Pavoloch was opened in the premises of the former synagogue.

The exposition of the museum is placed on two floors in 14 halls. There are equipped halls for meetings or conferences.

The Joseph Konrad Regional People's Museum was opened in the village of Terekhove near Berdychiv in 1987.

The museum bears the name of the outstanding English writer of Polish-Ukrainian origin Joseph Theodore Konrad Kozhenovskyi, better known as Joseph Konrad, who was born in Terekhove in 1857. Several museum rooms are dedicated to the life and work of this classic of world literature. They tell about the writer's childhood and youth, family and personal life, about his almost 20-year sea voyages. The literary work of the writer is presented.

The museum also has a local history exposition, which presents items from the Neolithic era, Trypillyan and Chernyakhiv cultures, Ukrainian antiquities, materials from the Second World War and post-war reconstruction.

The Museum of Military Fortification "Pillbox (DOT) - Artillery Semi-Capon" was created on the basis of one of the fortifications of the Emilchyne Battalion Defense District (BDD) of the Korosten fortified area (KoFA), which was preserved on the outskirts of the urban-type village of Yemilchyne.

Yemilchyne BDD is a system of long-term fortifications built in 1931-1939 as part of the KoFA to cover the rear of the Novograd-Volyn fortified district located to the southwest. It consisted of 25 DOTs (pillboxes), including 6 artillery semi-caponiers built in 1938-1939, each of which was designed for two 76-millimeter cannons.

In 2010, one of the semi-caponirs, ASC No. 25, was cleared and turned into a museum dedicated to the defense of Emilchyne region in the summer of 1941 by the forces of enthusiasts. The exposition presents the remains of the equipment, weapons and military equipment of the garrison of the fortified area, a map-scheme of the KoUR and a separate Yemilchyne BDD.

Museum "Pillbox - artillery semi-capon" is a department of Yemilchyne People's Museum of Local Lore.

The Polanowski family manor house in Lishchyn was built in 1805 by the Dąbrowa starosta Mikołaj Polanowski, son of the Podillia swordsmith Franciszek Polanowski. He purchased Lishchyn in 1772 from Count Vincent Potocki.

Mikołaj Polanowski located his manor house on the ancient settlement Tulyn, next to the ruins of the Tulyn Castle, which were still preserved at the beginning of the 19th century. The one-story manor house was built in the traditional classicist style, with two four-column porticoes on the main facade. Unfortunately, two of the eight Romanesque columns have already been lost.

In 1825, when military maneuvers of the Russian army were taking place near Lishchyn, a meeting of representatives of the Southern Society of Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin and the Society of United Slavs of Aleksey Tyutchev - future Decembrists - took place in the estate.

Now the Polanowski manor house is located on the territory of the Lishchyn gymnasium and is in a neglected state.

The Museum of Ukrainian Life "Poliska Khata" in the village of Polianka near Baranivka in Zhytomyr Region is a department of the Baranivka People's Museum of History and Local Lore.

The private ethnographic museum was founded in 2004 by a local resident, Mykola Kobylansky, after purchasing an authentic Polissya house from 1905 next to the family home. In the house, the interior of a century ago has been reproduced. The exposition consists of objects of peasant life collected in Polianka and surrounding villages, the oldest of which is about 250 years old. In particular, you can see a wooden machine for making postronks (an element of horse harness), a loom, tools for working with flax, a potter's wheel, etc. Most of the tools are in working condition, you can try to use them during the tour. An ancient collection of bricks from a local factory with stamps of various European cities is also presented. A model of a windmill is installed in the yard.

Upon prior reservation, the hosts treat visitors to traditional Polissya dishes and organize folk holidays.