Attractions of Berezova Rudka

The ancestral tomb of the Zakrevsky family in the unusual shape of an Egyptian pyramid was built in Berezova Rudka at the end of the 19th century by the famous lawyer Hnat Zakrevsky, who was in the service of Emperor Oleksandr III, was a member of the Masonic lodge and admired Egyptian culture. According to one version, he was also Russia's ambassador to Egypt.

The chapel-mausoleum built by him over the grave of his ancestors most likely has a secret symbolic meaning. The funeral building combined the classical forms of the Egyptian pyramid and pagan paraphernalia with Orthodox symbols. Thus, the entrance to the chapel was "guarded" by a statue of the goddess Isis brought by Zakrevsky from Egypt, and an Orthodox cross was placed on the portico above the entrance. In the center of the hall was an Orthodox altar with a large stone cross.

Hnat Zakrevsky himself died in 1906 in Egypt, his embalmed body was brought to Berezova Rudka and buried in the mausoleum.

Pyramid in Berezova Rudka is one of the three pyramidal temples in Ukraine. During the Soviet rule, the chapel was desecrated and looted, now the building is in a bad condition.

The palace and park complex in Berezova Rudka was built in 1838 by landowner Platon Zakrevskyi, a historian and ethnographer.

The palace in neo-baroque style was built according to the project of the architect Yevhen Chervinsky on the site of a burnt wooden house of the 18th century.

The estate consists of an elegant two-story palace with a view terrace and two bay windows, two one-story outbuildings and a large park (45 hectares) with more than 40 species of trees and shrubs.

In the 1840s, the brothers Viktor and Platon Zakrevsky repeatedly hosted the poet and artist Taras Shevchenko. Here he began to write the poem "Caucasus" and also painted portraits of the Zakrevskys. It is believed that Shevchenko was secretly in love with Platon Zakrevskyi's wife Hanna, dedicating to her the poem "If we met again", which became a famous romance.

Since Soviet times, the estate has housed an agricultural technical school. A monument to Taras Shevchenko has been installed in the central flower bed.

In one of the wings there is a historical and local history museum, which presents photos and documents of the Zakrevsky family, furniture, dishes, books and paintings.

Employees conduct tours of the palace, the park and to the pyramid-tomb of the Zakrevskys.