Attractions of Stryi district

The ancient Stilsko Settlement (Hillfort) with an area of 250 hectares is located on a high plateau between the villages of Stilsko, Iliv and Dubrova. In the 8th-10th centuries, the capital of the chronicled captives of the White Croats, who are considered the ancestors of today's Galicians, was located here.

White Croatia is mentioned for the first time in the book "On the management of the empire" by the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Red-headed. In 981-992, the principality of the Croats was annexed to Kyivan Rus by Grand Duke Volodymyr Svyatoslavych. Stilsko was destroyed and the level of the city did not rise again. In Byzantine sources of the 16th century, Stilsko is mentioned as the center of the Galician metropolis.

Since 2015, the archaeological sites of Stilsko and its surroundings have been part of the Historical and Cultural Reserve "Stilsko Settlement".

The center of the hillfort with a cubit surrounded by defensive ramparts is located on a hill rising above the church of Saint Paraskeva in the eastern part of the village. The names of the tracts "Golden Gate" and "Prince Well" remind us of the ancient buildings of the settlement.

In the nearby village of Dubrova, there are centers of pagan cults of the Stilsko settlement: the Temple of the Sun (or Sacrificial Stone, Dyriavets) and the cave cult complex of the White Croats. The latter is a rock with hollowed-out caves, in which, probably, the ministers of the pagan cult lived first, and then the Christian monks. Nowadays, local residents have turned the cells into cellars, installed doors, hung locks and store food in them.

Another ancient sanctuary is located in the village of Iliv.

The Great Synagogue in Stryi was built in 1817. The bars of the gate are made in the shape of a menorah.

In Soviet times, it was a food warehouse. Currently, the synagogue building is in a dilapidated state, and restoration is not planned yet.

The building of the former Stryi gymnasium was built at the beginning of the 19th century, although the gymnasium itself was opened only in 1872 as the Stryi Imperial Higher Real School.

In 1919-1927, the future leader of the OUN, Stepan Bandera, and other notable persons studied here.

Today it is the Stryi Lyceum No. 7. A monument to Stepan Bandera is installed in front of the building.

The Tustan fortress city is an ancient Rus rock defense complex that served as a border fortress and a customs post (the name is interpreted as an order to the traveler: "Tu stan!" (Stand!). Also known as "Dovbush Rock".

The first fortifications on the Rock of Kamin in the area of the current village of Urych were built by the White Croats in the 9th century. Wooden structures were inserted directly into the rock massif (grooves and cuts in the rock were preserved, which were reconstructed).

The Tustan fortress was an important stronghold of Kyivan Rus, later the Principality of Galicia-Volyn. In 1241, it was destroyed by the hordes of Khan Batiy, and in 1340 it was captured and rebuilt by the Polish king Kazymyr the Great as a royal fortress. Through it, salt mined in Drohobych and its surroundings was exported to Transcarpathia and Hungary. The last owner in the 16th century was the Polish magnate Blitsynsky, after which the fortress lost its importance and disappeared from the annals.

Remains of a stone wall, caves, stairs, a well and two water cisterns have been preserved. In 1994, the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Tustan" was created, the Tustan History Museum operates.

The Tustan History Museum is located in the center of Urych, near the turn to the Tustan rock fortress, next to the Nicolas Church and the Prosvita People's House.

The museum was created in 1997 to store and exhibit archaeological finds made on the territory of the ancient Rus settlement.

Paintings and diagrams by the artist and archaeologist Mykhaylo Rozhko, a model of the fortress city and the reconstruction of the governor's chambers are also presented. "Tustan - the fifth construction period" model, which reproduces all three rocks of Tustan (Stone, Sharp Stone and Small Rock), multi-story wooden structure of the fortress, walls and towers.

A separate layout shows how the entrance gate mechanism is arranged.

The Stryi Museum of Local Lore "Verkhovyna" is located in the former house of the Stryi lawyer and public-politician Yevhen Olesnytsky (built in 1899), which at the beginning of the 20th century was a center of Ukrainian culture and public life.

The museum's funds include 26,000 storage units. The exhibition consists of three sections: nature, ethnography, and history of the region.

The history section informs about the oldest settlements on the territory of the region, the history of medieval Stryi, the Opryshky movement. Covers the history of Stryshchyna during the period of Austrian occupation, the events of the First World War, the struggle of the locals for the Ukrainian state.

The most valuable exhibits: ancient books, icons, Boykiv and Hutsul Easter eggs, as well as Cossack and Opryshky weapons. A separate exposition is devoted to the activities of the UPA.

The Verkhovyna Museum of Local Lore includes:
- Memorial complex "Fighters for the Freedom of Ukraine";
- Bandera family Memorial Museum-Manor;
- Olha Bachynska Memorial Museum;
- Artist Petro Obal Museum.

Volodkevych's Villa in Stryi is called a romantic house in the Art Nouveau style, built at the beginning of the 20th century by the family of a local lawyer. This miniature castle is one of the most interesting architectural monuments of Stryi.

After 1939, the Teacher's House was located here. During the Nazi occupation, the building was used by penal authorities. Currently, the Volodkevych Villa houses the Center for Professional Development of Pedagogical Workers.

In five rooms on the second floor, the Museum of the Literary and Art Association "Waves of Stryi" is located. It was founded in 1976 by the Ukrainian writer and public figure Vitaliy Romaniuk, who headed the literary and artistic association "Waves of Stryi".

The exposition presents more than 500 different works of art: embroidery, art glass, painting, graphics, sculpture. The literary part of the exhibition consists of a selection of works by Stryi writers who were members of the "Waves of Stryi" association.

The cave cult complex of the White Croats tribe in the village of Dubrova is part of the Historical and Cultural Reserve "Stilsko Settlement". In the 8th-10th centuries, it was one of the centers of pagan cults in the capital of White Croatia in Stilsko.

The complex is a rock of limestone-sandstone origin with 21 man-made caves carved into it. All interior rooms have the correct shape, narrow entrances simultaneously serve as windows. In the walls of individual caves there are sunken square or rectangular niches. Presumably, at first, pagan worshipers lived in the caves-cells, and with the advent of Christianity, wandering monks. Nowadays, local residents have turned the cells into cellars, installed doors, hung locks and store food in them.

To the left of the cave complex is the "Dyravets Stone" or "Table Stone", which received these names because it has a large through hole, and its upper surface is flat, like a table. This megalithic stone is also called the Sun Temple. Presumably, an idol once stood on it, and the remains of altars can still be seen at its foot, so the stone clearly had a cult purpose.

The remains of another pre-Christian sanctuary can be traced on the rock to the right.

The valley of wild tulips is located on the southwestern outskirts of the village of Nadytichi in the floodplain of the Dniester and Rybnytsya rivers.

In this unique place, wild tulips of the Red Listed grouse grow. Due to barbaric extermination, their population is rapidly decreasing.

The Valley of Wild Tulips blooms for a short time (about a week) at the end of April - beginning of May.

The little-known Yablonovsky-Brunytsky estate in Pidhirtsi near Stryi is a well-preserved palace and park complex of the 18th-19th centuries, an architectural monument of local importance. It is now in private ownership and is being revived by volunteers as a tourist attraction.

The country palace in the ancestral estate in Pidhirtsi was founded in 1734 by Yuzef Aleksander Yablonovsky on the site of an old hunting castle that had existed here since the 17th century. The building was built by the architect Bernard (perhaps Bernard Meretyn) according to the principles of the French country house maison de plaisance. The palace was luxuriously furnished, had a library of 1,000 volumes and a gallery of portraits of Polish hetmans.

In 1815, Pidhirtsi became the property of the Brunytsky family, which owned the estate until 1939. At the end of the 19th century, Yulian Brunytsky reconstructed the palace in the Romanesque-Gothic style according to the project of the Chernivtsi architect Karl Romstorfer. The building was electrified and provided with water supply, dishes and products from the kitchen in the basement were lifted to the dining room by a special elevator. There were many farm buildings around, as Brunytsky was seriously engaged in agriculture, in particular, he created a nursery for fruit and ornamental trees.

The palace is surrounded by a park with an area of 8.2 hectares, which is a monument of horticultural art of national importance - it is considered one of the first arboretums in Galicia.

During Soviet times, the Yablonovsky-Brunytsky palace was turned into a boarding school, and later into a trout farm. For many years, the building stood empty and fell into disrepair, although it was privatized back in the 2000s.

Since 2014, the palace has belonged to three local families, who have been successively reviving the architectural landmark. A number of emergency works were carried out, the interiors of ten rooms were partially restored. The owners conduct tours and provide space for photo shoots.

The Zhydachiv Land Museum is part of the Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky Memorial Museum, which in turn is part of the Lviv National Art Gallery. Since 2013, the museum has been located in the premises of the former school in Zhydachiv.

The museum presents the most important events of the historical and cultural life of Zhydachiv - the chronicle Udech, the first written mention of which dates back to 1164. In particular, archaeological finds discovered during research on the territory of the former Zhydachiv Castle (XI-XIV centuries) and Castle Hill (XIV-XVI centuries) are exhibited. Among them: the Polovtsian idol of the VI-VII centuries, fragments of Cossack weapons, tools, iron, copper, stone products, etc.

Models of ancient castles that existed in Zhydachiv, as well as models of many other famous architectural monuments of Ukraine, are presented.

The exposition highlights the life and activities of famous historical figures associated with the Zhydachiv region. Among them are portraits and copies of portraits of the Danylovych, Zhevusky, Khodorivsky, Vyhovsky and other Cossack hetmans. The art gallery presents paintings and sculptures by famous Ukrainian artists of the 20th century. The permanent exhibition "Folk Embroidery of the Zhydachiv Region" displays the best examples of folk art of the middle of the 20th century.