Attractions of Starobilsk district

The municipal institution "Local Lore Museum of the Aidar town territorial community" was founded in the town of Aidar in the Luhansk region in 1960.

Since 1984 it has been located in the former premises of the industrial complex.

The exposition of six chapters tells about the nature of Aidar region, the ancient past of the region and its economic development in the XIX-XX centuries, the traditional culture and life of Slobozhanshchyna residents.

Separate stands highlight the topics of the anti-Bolshevik resistance, the Holodomor, and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Aidar Museum of Local Lore also has its own open-air historical and cultural complex "Slobozhanske Podvirya" (Slobozhan courtyard), which presents an original village house of the late 19th century with furniture and other interior items of the time.

Bilovodsk District Museum of Local Lore was founded in 1967.

Today, its funds number more than 5,600 exhibits. The exposition in seven halls tells about nature, ecology, archeology, ethnography and history of the region from ancient times to the present.

In particular, materials on the events of the Ukrainian Revolution, World War II, the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine are presented.

Visitors are very interested in dioramas "The first settlers of Bilovodsk" and "Virgin steppe".

Recently, a new modern exposition "Bilovodsk - the capital of equestrian plants of Ukraine" was opened in the museum, which has two audiovisual multimedia installations: "Bilovodsky steppe" and "Equestrian plants of Bilovodsk region". Two original musical compositions for accompaniment were created by the composer from Uzhhorod Anton Dehtyarov .

Markivka Historical Museum in the village of Markivka in Luhansk region was founded in 2016.

The exposition tells about the history of the village in the upper reaches of the river Derkul from its foundation in 1660 by people from Chernihiv, Poltava and Voronezh provinces to the present day. In particular, about the achievements of Markivka agrarians, who received awards at the World's Fair in Paris in 1907 and 1931, about the events of World War II.

A monument to Ostap Bender, the hero of the satirical work "12 Chairs" by Ilya Ilf and Yevhen Petrov, is erected in front of the old building of the former female gymnasium in Starobilsk, where the faculty of Luhansk National University named after Taras Shevchenko is now located.

The idea to immortalize Bender belongs to the LNU team. Researchers of the works of Ilf and Petrov believe that the city of Starhorod described in "12 Chairs" is Starobilsk, where the writers worked in 1923.

The sculpture of NLU teacher Andriy Borovoy depicts the scene of the appearance of the "great combiner" in Starhorod, which was accompanied by communication with a homeless person. The words that begin the 5th chapter of the novel are written on the pedestal: "At half past twelve from the northwest, from the side of the village of Chmarivka, a young man of twenty-eight entered Starhorod. A homeless man ran after him..."

The Saint Nicholas Cathedral was built in Starobilsk in 1886 "in memory of the prosperous 25-year reign of Emperor Nicholas I in the name of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myrlikia".

The author of the project was the diocesan architect of the Kharkiv Spiritual Consistory Kraevsky.

Restoration is currently underway.

The Starobilsk Women's Monastery "Joy of All Sorrowfuls" was founded on the basis of a shelter for orphan girls, which was organized in 1849 by the noblewoman Hanna Bulych.

In 1862, the asylum was transformed into a women's community in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Sorrowfuls". In 1870, a winter temple was built in honor of the Holy Life-giving Trinity. In 1886, the community was raised to the status of a monastery.

During the First World War, an infirmary was opened for typhus-wounded soldiers who were refused care by doctors.

In 1924, the monastery was dispersed, some of the sisters were killed or arrested. In Soviet times, a military unit was located on the territory, and during the Second World War - a concentration camp.

In 1992, the temples were returned to the Orthodox Church, and in 1993, the monastery began to function again. The main shrine is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Sorrowfuls".