Attractions of Kotlovyna

The Holy Assumption Church was built in the village of Kotlovyna in 1938.

Construction began in 1914, but was stopped a year later due to the outbreak of World War I. After the war, the area came under Romanian rule, but the construction of the church was continued and it was officially opened in 1938.

In 1944, the church was closed by the Soviet authorities. Divine services resumed after Ukraine gained independence.

The Holy Assumption Church in Kotlovyna is the only church in Ukraine where part of the church services are held in the Gagauz language.

The Local Lore Museum of the village of Kotlovyna is located in the school building. One of the halls is dedicated to the history of the village, the second to the history of the school, and the third to ethnography and the history of the Gagauz people.

The museum is filled with various antiquities that were once used by the villagers. In addition to ancient and medieval ceramics, stone tools of the Neolithic era, an old student desk and a pioneer furnace, photographs, here you can get acquainted with tools, household items, clothing and other artifacts of traditional local Gagauz culture, as well as with the works of art of Kotlovyna artists, among whom Petro Chekirov and Viktor Chernov are widely known.

Special cauldrons used only by the Gagauz for preparing a ritual dish - "kurban" - are located here next to children's toys, carefully carved from wood or molded from clay. Also interesting are the traditions of Gagauz winemaking, the symbol of which even appeared on the coat of arms of Kotlovyna.

During the excursion, you can clearly see how the Gagauz lived in ancient times, what their houses looked like, how women and men dressed, and learn the personal stories of some families in the village.