Attractions of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district

The Museum of Ukrainian Culture "Cossack Bessarabia" opened in the village of Mykhailivka in early 2023 in one room of the village's House of Culture. Within a year, due to a lack of space to accommodate the museum's exhibits, it was necessary to look for a more spacious room.

On November 29, 2024, to mark the 200th anniversary of the village's founding, the renovated museum was opened in a separate room of the former children's library. The museum was named "Cossack Bessarabia" in honor of the Cossacks who founded the village.

The idea to create the museum belongs to former history teacher Valentyna Kozyarchuk, who dreamed of opening a museum. Although she failed to realize this idea, her many years of research into the history of the village were embodied in the book "Mykhailivka". After her death, museum enthusiast Nadiya Sporysh, who had been collecting exhibits for the museum for a long time, decided to make this dream come true.

In the museum "Cossack Bessarabia" you can see a lot of interesting things related to the life and traditions of the Mykhailivka people for many years. The exhibits for the museum were collected in various ways. Among the most valuable: a 100-year-old plow, a large homespun carpet from the 1940s, a blacksmith's plowshare, a collection of embroidered towels, Ukrainian scarves, embroidered paintings, old documents and much more.

The most impressive is the embroidered painting "Ukrainian woman", which was created by women in labor in the local maternity hospital for 20 years.

The Oleksandrivsky barracks were built in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in 1828-1838 by order of the Russian Emperor Oleksandr I in order to strengthen the border of the empire in Bessarabia.

The complex occupies an area of ​​2.6 hectares on the high bank of the Dniester estuary. It consists of officers' buildings and soldiers' barracks in an oriental style.

For a long time, the Oleksandrivsky barracks were used for their intended purpose - they housed a military unit. In 2001, the complex was transferred to the communal ownership of the city and since then it has been gradually falling into disrepair. The main building was destroyed by fire.

The old building of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Pedagogical Vocational College was built in 1900 for a male gymnasium.

An architectural monument of local importance.

There is a large square in front of the choir, where local residents like to relax.

Saint George's Church was built in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in 1840 according to the project of the architect Zaushkevych on the order of the Bulgarian community of the city.

There was a church cemetery near the church, which was closed together with the church in 1934. Here are the graves of the family of Princes Volkonsky, who made large donations for the upkeep of the church.

Today the Saint George's Church is active.

The underground church of John of Suchavskyi was built in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi over a stone well, where, according to legend, the Orthodox saint John of Suchavskyi was killed.

In 1330, the Orthodox merchant John from Turkish Trebizond, who traded in Akkerman, refused to convert to Islam, for which he was tortured by order of the governor of the Golden Horde. A chapel was built on John's grave, and the saint's relics were later moved to Moldavian Suceava (now the territory of Romania). Since that time, he is considered the heavenly patron of merchants.

A spring by the sea, which, according to legend, was often visited by John, was named after him. The water from the Saint John's Suchavskyi spring is considered healing, and people come from all over for it.

Saint Nicholas Church in Kulevcha was founded at the end of the 19th century by Bulgarian immigrants.

In recent years, the temple has become an object of mass pilgrimage thanks to several miraculous icons. The Kazan icon of the Mother of God is called the "Kulevcha miracle". On Easter, it is decorated with fresh lilies, which, after drying, soon sprout again and bloom on the Trinity, framing the image of the Mother of God.

In addition, there are 4 myrrh-flowing icons in the Saint Nicholas Church: the Iver icon of the Mother of God, the Kasperiv icon of the Mother of God, the Calvary Cross, the icon of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia.

Saint Nicholas Church was built in the village of Shabo, probably in 1805 - this is the date indicated on the plaque at the entrance.

The church is two-domed, cruciform in plan. Its architecture is similar to the Old Believer churches of Besarabiya.

The Saint Nicholas Church houses the miraculous icon "The Flagellation of the Lord Jesus Christ" and the miraculous myrrh-flowing "Image of the Mother of God the Prompt Obedient".

Next to the church is the healing spring of Saint Nicholas.

The church is active. It is an architectural monument of local importance.

Stфште Nicholas Church in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi was built in 1867 at the expense of local resident Herasym Ovchynnikov. Since its construction, the temple has not undergone any changes.

The architectural decor is not rich, the character is local, traditional. Modern painting on the facades and in the interior.

Next to the church was the Oleksandr-Mariyinsky Heart Disease Asylum with a hospital, opened in 1868 by Lieutenant General Ivan Hanhardt (commanding chief of the Danube Cossack Army).

The Sarata Historical and Local History Museum dates back to the 1922 exhibition of ancient artifacts dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Sarata colony. In the same year, the first public museum opened its doors, which existed at the expense of voluntary contributions from the founding members of the museum association. For eight years, the museum was located in the house of the chairman of the Vahner Museum Association, and since 1930 - in the famous Verner School. In 1940 of the last century, the German population was forced to leave their homes and leave for Europe, taking with them part of the exhibits.

Only in 1955, on the initiative of the then director of the Sarata comprehensive school, a museum room was organized. In 1969, a historical and local history museum was opened, which was located at the district department of culture.

The current Sarata Historical and Local Lore Museum was opened in 1990. The museum's exhibition area is 130 square meters. The museum exposition is divided into six sections, each of which shows the life of the village in different years: "Traces of the Great Cultures of Bessarabia. Socio-Economic Development in the 19th Century", "Foundation of Sarata. Its Development from 1822 to 1940", "Romanian Period (1918-1940)", "World War II (1939-1945)", "Post-war Period", "Modern Period".

Dishes, clothing, household items, tools, furniture, towels - each exhibit has a separate long-standing history. There are a lot of documents and photographs that clearly tell about the life of the village in the 20th century.

A new separate section is dedicated to the events of the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian War.

A stone tomb from Scythian times is called a Scythian Grave in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. The crypt was discovered in 1895.

It was a two-chamber structure on the rock, it was made of large (up to 3 meters long, up to 0.6-0.7 meters thick) limestone slabs. Plundered in ancient times. Inside there is an ornament in the form of a wood pattern. There is an assumption that an underground passage from the Akkerman Fortress was laid to the Scythian grave.

The ancient monument is located in the industrial zone near the seaport and the meat processing plant - access is difficult, but not prohibited.

The Semysotka Smart Village Museum is a "living" Bessarabian village that combines the features of an open-air museum, an eco-settlement with permanent residents, and a rural green tourism complex. Since 2011, a smart village has been created in the middle of the Tarutynskyi steppe in northern Bessarabia on the basis of the Semysotka village, which by that time had almost disappeared.

Old rural estates have been renovated while preserving their national color and identity, decorated with patterns, painted with paintings on household themes. All houses are equipped with solar panels and have independent water supply. People live in some estates permanently, others can be rented.

Along the paved central road, you can see an exhibition of wells of various designs in the open air. The ethnographic exhibition presents objects of folk crafts, tools, antique furniture, blankets, dishes and much more. In one of the courtyards, a vine grows, which is already over 150 years old. A museum of famous people of the Budzhak steppes is being prepared for opening.

Visitors are treated to placindas - Bessarabian pies made of puff pastry with a filling of feta cheese.

The Semisotka Smart Village Museum is part of the Center for Ethnographic, Rural Green Tourism and Family Recreation "Frumushika-Nova", located 2 kilometers south of the village.

The municipal institution "Shabo Local Lore Museum" of the Shabo Village Council is located in the center of the village in the same building as the Center for Administrative Services.

The museum exposition is located in several halls and reflects the history of the village from its foundation to the present day. Decorative and utilitarian exhibits, tools of labor, works of art, etc. give an idea of ​​the cultural traditions of the inhabitants of southern Ukraine.

Recently, the museum opened a "Safety Class" for children.

The modern Shabo winery is based on the ancient traditions of Shabo winemaking. The Turkish name of the village of Shabo - "Asha-abah" ("Lower gardens") - indicates that there were vineyards here already in the 17th century.

The development of winemaking was facilitated by French settlers who arrived in Chabot in 1822. The Swiss scientist and winemaker Louis Tardan planted the first vine here, and already in 1847, his son Karl Tardan presented 8 varieties of Saba wines at the first agricultural exhibition in Chisinau.

Today, on 1,000 hectares of its own vineyards, located between the Dniester estuary and the Black Sea coast, Chabo grows the best grape varieties, many of which were brought over 200 years ago by the first French settlers. The wine is produced using modern cold bottling technologies.

The "Shabo Wine Culture Center" was created at the plant, tours and tastings are held. During the tour, you can visit the ancient Royal Cellar, Sherry Cellar, underground vaults, Cognac Court, Champagne House, cold bottling shop, museum labyrinth.

The Tatarbunary Museum of History and Local Lore was established in 1949 as a museum of the Tatarbunary Uprising, an armed peasant uprising in Tatarbunary organized by the Bolsheviks in 1924 against Romanian rule.

Today the museum has 8 halls and an art gallery. The history of the settlement of the region by numerous peoples is presented, starting with the Cimmerians, Scythians, Polovtsians, Tatars, Turks and ending with the Transdanubian Cossacks.

The main themes of the exposition: ethnography, Tatarbunary uprising, the period of the Second World War, the epoch of collective farms, sports glory of Tatarbunary region, creativity of Tatarbunary artists and poets (in particular works of Odessa artist Viktor Sharapenko).

The museum is located on the second floor of the Palace of Sports.

The Tuzlivsky Lymany National Nature Park (Tuzlivsky Estuaries) was established in 2010 with the aim of preserving valuable natural, historical and cultural complexes and sites of the Northern Black Sea Region.

The nature reserve of the park is located in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district of the Odesa region in the basin of the Tuzlivska group of estuaries. It covers an area of ​​27,865 hectares, on which there are 13 sea estuaries, 44 kilometers of sea coast and 1 million migratory birds.

The territory of the Tuzlivsky Lymany National Nature Park is characterized by diverse floodplain landscapes, specific flora and fauna. Species of plants and animals listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, the Red Book of the Black Sea, the Red List of the Odesa region and the European Red List grow here. In the park you can see almost 300 species of birds, about 60 species of fish live in local reservoirs, 37 species of mammals are represented.

For some birds, the Tuzlivsky Lymany are a kind of "transit station" on the way to Asia and Africa, some nest and winter directly in the estuaries. This is one of the best places for birdwatching, recreation on the Black Sea coast, and treatment with mud from the estuaries.

The territory of the Tuzlivsky Lymany park is part of the controlled border area. In the summer of 2022, the park suffered from fires due to shelling by the Russian military during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the deoccupation of Zmiyiniy Island by Ukrainian defenders in early July 2022, the sea carried the bodies of dead dolphins to the coastal zone of the park. Ivan Rusev, head of the research department of the Tuzlivsky Lymany National Nature Park, estimates that the Russians have killed over 50,000 dolphins. Small mammals, birds of the park, and migratory birds are suffering from Russian aggression.