Attractions of Drohobych district

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Bartholomew was founded in Drohobych in 1392 by the Polish king Vladyslav II Yahaylo, but it was consecrated only in 1511.

The massive Gothic building of the church was built on the basis of the princely palace of the Galicia-Volyn principality. A powerful defense tower located nearby, which was part of the city fortifications on Castle Hill, began to serve as the bell of the church. Over the centuries, the building was rebuilt several times.

In Soviet times, the church premises were used as a warehouse. In 1989, the temple was returned to the Roman Catholic community of the city.

Gothic white stone portals, wall paintings and stained-glass windows of the 19th century based on drawings by famous artists Yan Mateyko, Stanislav Vyspyansky and Yuzef Mehoffer have been preserved in the interiors.

The walls are reinforced with buttresses. On the northern wall of the church there are unusual white stone reliefs - three windows depicting a palm, foot and head in a papal tiara. Some sources call them symbols of Catholic rule, others consider these symbols to be pagan.

The marble decoration of the door with two swords reminds of the inhabitants of the city who died in the Battle of Grunwald.

The historical and memorial complex "Prison on Stryiska" was opened in 2013 in the former torture chamber of the NKVD, which was located in the inner courtyard of the District Court building in Drohobych.

During the Second World War and in the first years of the Soviet occupation, at least 1,200 residents of Drohobychchyna were tortured and shot here.

The former building of the Imperial District Court in Drohobych is one of the most beautiful in Drohobych, but at the same time it is a symbol of totalitarianism and repression of the four occupation regimes. The three-story building in the historicist style was erected at the beginning of the 20th century, becoming one of the largest courts in Galicia. In addition to 20 judges, there was a court office and a temporary prison. In the interwar period, the Polish authorities placed a city court here.

The same premises were also used as a court during the German occupation of 1941-1944. But the most terrible glory of the "Drohobych torture house" was acquired in the years 1939-1941 and 1944-1959, when the Drohobych Directorate of the NKVD was located here with an internal prison, where local residents were tortured and shot en masse.

Currently, it is the building of the Institute of Physics, Mathematics, Economics and Innovative Technologies of the Drohobych State Pedagogical University.

In 2013, on the site of the former torture chamber, the memorial "Prison on Stryiska" was created according to the project of Drohobych architect Maksym Chirka, and a museum, which is a subdivision of the Drohobychchyna Museum, was opened.

The exhibition tells about Stalin's terror and repression in the western Ukrainian lands: the occupation and establishment of Soviet power in Drohobych region, the creation of Drohobych region, the repression of the NKVD-NKGB in Drohobych region. A photo-martyrologist of NKVD-NKGB victims is presented. The review of the personal belongings of the tortured, instruments of murder and torture, found during the research of the territory of the former torture chamber, causes special excitement.

Mineral water springs No. 25 and No. 26, located next to each other on the edge of the forest near the "Zeleniy Bir" sanatorium in the southern part of the resort, are called the "Andropov Source" in Skhidnytsia.

According to its chemical composition, these are weakly mineralized, hydrocarbonate-sulfate-calcium-magnesium waters of the "Naftusya" type. They are mostly used to treat urological diseases.

The popular name "Andropov Source" is connected with the fact that in the 1980s, Soviet Secretary General Yuriy Andropov was treated with water from these springs. According to legend, water for him was delivered first by helicopter to the nearest military airfield, and then by jet military plane directly to Moscow.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Boryslav was built in 1929.

It is located at the exit from the city in the direction of Skhidnytsia (then it was the village of Mraznytsia).

The temple, according to the project of architects Serhiy Tymoshenko and Oleksandr Pezhanskyi, is built on a high plinth made of Ternopil stone, the floor is paved with Czech tiles, the main throne is made of white Carrara marble. The church is decorated with four entrance columns made of white stone, the domes of the church are covered with copper sheet. Artistic stained glass windows were executed by the famous impressionist artist Petro Kholodnyi under the supervision of the poet and artist Bohdan Lepkyi.

In 1962, the Church of the Assumption in Boryslav was closed by the Soviet authorities.

Reborn in 1991 as Greek Catholic.

The Basilian Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Drohobych is one of the best examples of sacred architecture in the city of the 19th century.

The monastery was founded in 1775. The current complex was built in 1828 on the initiative of hegumenYosafat Kachanovsky, after the old wooden Peter and Paul monastery of the Basilian fathers burned down.

During the Soviet rule, the monastery was closed, many monks were tortured in the torture chambers of the NKVD.

Since 1992, the Basilian Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Drohobych has been operating again.

The Boryslav History and Local Lore Museum was founded in 1987 on the initiative of the local local historian Mykola Kryzhanovsky.

It is located in the building of the former department of the NKVD, where victims of repression were shot during the establishment of Soviet power in the region.

The museum's funds include more than 5,000 exhibits. Minerals, flora and fauna of Prykarpattya are presented in the nature department.

The most interesting exhibits of the historical department: fragments of an ancient Rus bracelet and a silver hryvnia, a wooden grain barrel made of solid wood, a fire pump of the end of the 19th century, tools and personal belongings of oil miners, a painting by the German artist Romuald Volkel "Old Boryslav" (1918).

Paintings by modern artists are exhibited.

The villa of Burgomaster Reymond Yarosh, who ruled Drohobych from 1909 until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is the decoration of Tarasa Shevchenko Street (former Panska Street).

A two-story house in the style of Viennese secession, richly decorated with stucco, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by entrepreneurs Shpitsman , local oil magnates. When the Shpitsman left Drohobych, located on the most prestigious street of the city, on the eve of the First World War, the villa was bought from them by burgomaster Reymond Yarosh.

In the period between the First and Second World Wars, Yarosh not only contributed to the strengthening of the economy of Drohobych, but also initiated the rapid development of the resort of Truskavets.

Until recently, Yarosh's villa was used as a city palace for schoolchildren. Currently, the dean's office and classrooms of the Faculty of Biology of the DrohobychState Pedagogical University are located here.

The largest synagogue in Eastern Halicia was built in 1842-1865 for the numerous Jewish community of Drohobych, which played an important role in the economic life of the city.

Neo-Romanesque elements characteristic of the German "Rundbogen" style are used in the architecture of the temple. The synagogue in the German city of Kassel was taken as a model for the design. Along the perimeter of the inner walls, in each of the fields, there are 12 semicircular arches that correspond to the number of tribes of Israel. The combination of annexes and pylons gives the facade of the synagogue a monumental appearance.

After the end of the Second World War, a salt warehouse was placed in the premises of the Choral Synagogue, then a furniture store, and food warehouses were located in the annexes.

After Ukraine gained independence, the synagogue was returned to the local Jewish community. After the restoration, the synagogue was opened in 2018, and on July 3, 2019, the Torah was solemnly brought to the synagogue.

The Museum of the Sambir-Drohobych Diocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was opened in Truskavets next to the Church of Saint Nicholas.

The exhibition tells about the life and activities of prominent figures of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church, such as Archbishop Yosafat Kuntsevych, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, Patriarch Yosyp Slipy.

Ancient books, church utensils, other objects of sacred art are presented. Sacred relics of the museum: the relics of Saint Josaphat, a lock of hair of Metropolitan Andrey, the metropolitan's cape, personal belongings of Patriarch Yosyp, a copy of the charter of the Brest Union.

The tall clock tower of the current Drohobych City Hall rose above the city in 1927, when Drohobych returned to the Polish state, but the traditions of self-government in the city are much older.

Drohobych received Magdeburg rights in 1460, and then the first wooden city hall was built. By 1829, this building was very old and unusable, so a new Austrian-style city hall was built, this time made of stone. The need for a new building arose after the First World War. The architects of the project were Yan Semkevych and Maryan Nikodymovych.

A square three-story house surrounds a small courtyard. The main building is a marble meeting hall. The building houses the Museum of Scales, which has more than 500 exhibits.

The Tourist Information Center of Drohobych is also located here, which, in particular, organizes tours to the city hall tower, which allow you to see the clock mechanism and see the best panorama of the city.

Drohobych imperial-royal gymnasium named after Frants Yosyf I was opened in Drohobych in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1867-1875, the future writer Ivan Franko studied here (a commemorative plaque was installed).

In 1896, the gymnasium was moved to a new three-story building, and the Queen Yadviha Girls' Gymnasium was located in this building.

Now the former building of the gymnasium is occupied by the Faculty of Philology of the Drohobych Pedagogical University. Adjacent to the building is the university park, in which a monument to Adam Mitskevych was erected back in 1894 (the sculpture was restored after the Second World War).

Drohobych Salt Plant is a museum enterprise that has been operating continuously since the 13th century to the present day. It is considered one of the oldest continuously operating industrial enterprises in the world and the oldest in Ukraine.

The saltworks in Drohobych were first mentioned in 1250. Since then, it has been working continuously in the same place - near the lakes of salt oil, from which salt is extracted by evaporation. It was around this enterprise that the city of Drohobych developed, becoming an important industrial and trade center of Galicia.

The Drohobych Salt Plant reached their peak during the Austrian era. The technical base was updated in Soviet times, salt production reached 10-11 thousand tons per year, but now the technology has returned to the artisanal level. Today, this is the only enterprise in Europe where salt is made using the same method as it was used thousands of years ago - by boiling it from natural oil. Drohobych Salt Plant produces approximately 700 kilograms of salt every day.

Until recently, the plant was leased by CJSC "Drohobych-Halka", but in 2013 the enterprise was returned to state ownership. It is planned to build a new shop and create a museum on the basis of old industrial premises.

Excursions are conducted.

The Drohobych Tower is the oldest building of the early medieval period preserved in Drohobych.

Powerful stone and wooden defensive structures were built in the 13th century, during the times of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

In the 16th century, the monumental church of Saint Bartholomew was built on the territory of the castle, and the tower was used as its bell tower. In the 19th century, the rest of the city fortifications were dismantled, defensive ditches were filled in, and a third tier with arched windows was built above the bell tower.

In front of the tower is a monument to the medieval scientist Yuriy Drohobych, who was the rector of the University of Bologna and the teacher of Nicolaus Copernicus.

The historical department, the nature department and the administration of the "Drohobychchyna" museum are located in the former building of the Drohobych County Council (1894).

The exposition of the museum, opened in 1940, was based on the collections of Count Lyantskoronsky, the Khyriv Jesuit School, as well as part of the collection of the Sambir Museum. In particular, the oldest earthenware on the territory of Prykarpattya, a bronze treasure of the Early Iron Age, a certificate of confirmation of Drohobych's Magdeburg right, scales for weighing salt, a public cash register of the 16th century, a collection of coins of the 14th-19th centuries, and others are presented.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UPA, a model diorama "Insurgent Hideout" was opened, which was made according to the description of the UPA commander Stepan Stebelskyi.

A branch of the "Drogobychchyna" museum is the historical-memorial complex "Prison on Stryiska" in the former building of the County Court.

The Ethnographic Museum "Ukrainian Khutir" was opened in 2024 on the territory of the eco-landscape park "Cossack Sloboda Rakovets", located in the village of Volia Yakubova in Drohobych region.

The museum complex recreates an authentic Ukrainian yard of the 18th-19th centuries: a restored Ukrainian house with a warm stove, a barn with household goods, a barn with domestic animals. In the yard there is a working Carpathian forge, a real cart, a well with a crane and a covered shelter for recreation.

The exhibition is interactive. Here you can learn to forge iron, try baking bread or smoke ribs in a painted oven. Excursions are held.