Attractions of Kolochava

The Kolochava Open-Air Museum of Folk Architecture and Life (skansen) "Old Village" (Stare Selo) is located in a picturesque area on the outskirts of the Transcarpathian village of Kolochava.

The museum has about ten authentic residential and commercial buildings with household items and works of art of local residents of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In particular, the Czech gendarmerie, a village school, a forge, a Hutsul kolyba, artisans' huts, a Jewish tavern and other buildings are presented. The museum combines the cultures of Hutsuls, Boykys, Lemkys, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, and Jews.

On the territory of the "Old Village" museum there is also the Museum of the Carpathian narrow-gauge railway, where you can see a German steam locomotive, several old cars, a motorized draisine and other rare railway equipment.

In addition, on the territory of the open-air museum, the underground bunker of the UPA rebels of Mykhaylo Shteyer has been recreated, in which the museum exhibition "Shteyer's Bunker" has been opened.

Nearby, a separate exhibition "Kolochava Bokorash" has been created, where you can visit a lumberjack's hut, familiarize yourself with the authentic tools of loggers and bokorashs, see reproduced robes for bringing down wood from the mountains, and take a photo on a huge bokor raft.

By prior order, theatrical performances with tasting of Kolochava drinks are held in the Jewish "Wolf's Tavern". There is a souvenir shop.

The wooden church of the Holy Spirit was built in Kolochava by master Ferents Tekka in 1795 on the site of an old church founded in the 17th century.

The church is high, two-log, covered with shingles. The slender tower is finished with a Baroque pinnacle.

In Soviet times, the temple was turned into a museum of atheism, thanks to which it was well preserved (restored in 1969).

Currently, the Church of the Holy Spirit does not function, but it is available for tourists to visit. A unique icon of the 18th century "Jesus Christ the vinedresser" is kept here.

There are several Czech graves and the burial of a Hungarian postman on the territory of the Holy Spirit Church-Museum. At the entrance, a sculptural composition has been installed in honor of a local monument of sacred literature - the manuscript of the Kolochava deacon Ivan Luhosh "The Pearl of Great Price".

The excursion must be arranged in advance by phone.

The Ivan Olbracht Historical and Ethnographic Museum was opened in the village of Kolochava, where this famous Czech writer lived and worked for a long time.

In Kolochava, he collected material for his novel "Mykola Shuhay - a Robber", thanks to which this Transcarpathian village became a place of pilgrimage for lovers of literature from the Czech Republic.

In addition to the exposition dedicated to the writer's work, the museum presents exhibits that characterize the life, rituals and customs of the local population.

The museum is located on the premises of the school. In front of the building there is a monument to Ivan Olbracht.

The Museum of the Carpathian narrow-gauge railway is located on the territory of the Kolochava Skansen "Old Village".

A network of narrow-gauge roads was built in Transcarpathia at the end of the 19th century, but now it has almost completely ceased to exist. The "Chertiozhnyk" station has been restored in Kolochava. On the tracks is a train consisting of a locomotive and ten passenger and freight cars. Various tools and devices used by railway workers are presented.

A special exhibit is the car "Volga" GAZ-21 on a railway chassis.

The Kolochava Source of mineral water "Mermaid"  (Rusalka) is located on the southwestern outskirts of the village, on the territory of the Synevyr National Park.

Healing springs in Kolochava were first mentioned in 1876. A bathhouse functioned on the basis of one of them. Now there are 9 springs and 4 wells in Kolochava, one of which (#4) is used for industrial extraction and bottling.

"Kolochava" mineral water belongs to the rare Malkin (Kamchatka) type of mineral water found only in Kamchatka. It is used as a treatment for chronic endogenous intoxications, disorders of mineral metabolism and others.

The spring, which is located at the exit from Kolochava in the direction of Tiachiv, is decorated with a sculpture of a mermaid.

The first monument to wage earners (migrant workers, guest workers) in Ukraine was erected in 2011 in the Transcarpathian village of Kolochava.

Against the background of a tiny hut of a poor peasant, a scene of farewell to the family of the head of the family, who is forced to leave his homeland in an attempt to ensure a normal future for his children, is filmed. The figures of the wage earner and his family members are depicted in clothes of the beginning of the 20th century, because it was in those years that almost half of the male population of the village went to earn money. Many of them never returned - their names are engraved on the memorial plaque.

The composition stands in the center of the village, at the bus stop - where even now the people of Kolochava see off their loved ones to a foreign land.

The "Arpad Line" museum complex was created in Kolochava on the basis of four bunkers preserved from the Second World War.

The 600-kilometer defense line, which consisted of a chain of individual defense nodes, was built in 1943-1944 by Hungarian troops against the advance of the Soviet army.

There were about thirty "Arpad Line" bunkers in the Kolochava area, one of which was near the bridge on the bank of the Tereblya River. To counter the movement of military equipment, rows of concrete pyramids were placed on the roads and in the riverbeds, many of which have survived to this day. Due to the fact that the Soviet troops struck the main blow in a different direction, the "Arpad Line" were left by the retreating Hungarian troops without a fight.

The Kolochava military museum "Arpad Line" includes four bunkers, the interiors of which have been restored: "Command", "Defense", "Hospital", "Boiler station". The exposition presents weapons, equipment, tools, household items of the garrisons.

The duration of the tour of all objects of the complex is about two hours. In addition, you can order a field lunch and a trip to the BRDM.

The sculpture of a shepherd with a sheep is the oldest monument of Kolochava. Located in the center of the village, at the main intersection.

The shepherd's monument was created in the early 1950s based on the sketch of the statuette, which was awarded to Kolochava shepherds Dmytro Maleta and Ivan Ivanysh as the first place prize at the 1937 Prague sheepdog exhibition.

In 2009, the monument was restored and repainted from white to gold.

The "Old School" museum complex in Kolochava is housed in an old school building built in 1879 and consists of two school-museums: the Soviet and the Czech.

The Museum "Soviet School" conveys the atmosphere of children's education in the second half of the 20th century. The walls here are hung with portraits of Soviet leaders, there are inkwells on old desks, and there is a stove in the corner. In the director's office there is a massive telephone, an old typewriter, a radio receiver.

The Museum "Czech School" reflects the conditions of education of children during the time of the Czech government in the 1930s. The school, which operated for only 7 years, is recreated based on the memories of former students. It consists of two rooms: a classroom and a teacher's room. Here you can see a bust of the president of Czechoslovakia, a geographical map of the country in the old borders, school supplies and other items of the era. 

The monument "To teacher from Ukraine" has been installed in the museum courtyard, dedicated to all teachers who came to Transcarpathia from central and eastern Ukraine after the Second World War to teach children in remote mountain villages.

The Internationalist Soldiers Memorial Museum is dedicated to the residents of the village of Kolochava who participated in the Soviet-Afghan War of 1979-1989.

The memorial complex consists of a stone and metal bunker, above which a Soviet BRDM is installed, and a figure of a serviceman nearby. The rooms inside the bunker are decorated with camouflage nets and large panoramic photos with scenes from the Afghan war, a parachute is stretched under the ceiling.

The exposition presents samples of Soviet weapons of the second half of the 20th century, binoculars, a periscope, a field telephone, a military uniform and elements of soldier's equipment.