Attractions of Shepetivka district

The Arian tower in Tykhomel is a unique landmark of sacred architecture, the only similar structure in Ukraine.

The chapel was built by a local landowner, Pavlo Kshyshtof Senyuta, who was a follower of the Arians' Christian teachings, which were considered heretical. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Arianism was widespread in Eastern Europe, and, in particular, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Arians denied the triune essence of God, that is, the Holy Trinity, affirming the superiority of God the Father over God the Son, who was created by him - Jesus Christ.

The frescoed chapel is built on a mound above the grave of Pavlo Kshyshtof Senyuta, on the site of the ancient Rus settlement of Tykhomel. Later, the chapel served as a tower of the fortress built here. Preserved in ruins.

The grandiose complex of the Bernardine monastery rises on a hill a little away from the center of Iziaslav.

The construction was started in 1596 after the Union of Berestey. The architect Yakub Madlena perfectly integrated the defensive monastery complex into the surrounding landscape. The main buildings were Saint Michael's Church (1602) and a huge cell building (1610), surrounded by 6-meter walls with an entrance tower and a gate.

The monastery was damaged during the War of Liberation in 1648, but was later restored and rebuilt under the direction of the architect Paolo Fontana.

During Soviet times, the monastery was converted into a maximum security prison. The building still performs this function, so it is not possible to inspect the territory.

A cascade of five lakes in a pine forest northwest of Slavuta, near the village of Stryhany, was formed on the site of exhausted peat quarries.

The lakes are deep, with clear and transparent water - due to the sandy bottom and a large number of artesian springs, which raise the glacial water of the Precambrian period to the surface.

There are pike, carp, crucian carp, crucian carp, tench, perch, and rare blue crayfish. There are wild ducks and swans.

During the Soviet times, on the shore of one of the Blue lakes, the Khmelnytsk NPP, located nearby, began to build the buildings of a pioneer camp and a recreation center, which remained unfinished.

Green tourism is developing in the surrounding villages. On hot summer days, there are many vacationers here, mostly motorists.

The first wooden Church of the Holy Intercession in Polonne was founded in 1720. In 1910, a new wooden temple was built next to the old church - also wooden, on a stone foundation.

The first priest of the newly built church was archpriest Mykolay Matusevych, who served here until 1937. With the advent of Soviet power, he was repressed and exiled to Kolyma, where he died in 1940. The church was closed and a granary was built in it, the bell tower was destroyed.

Services in the Intercession Church resumed after the Second World War.

On July 23, 2023, the church community voted for the transition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Iziaslav historical and local history museum is located in the premises of the cultural center.

The museum was founded in the 1920s and 1930s, but was closed during the Second World War, and was restored only in 2003.

The museum presents an exposition that tells about the history and ethnography of the region. In particular, you can see unique exhibits from the interior of the Church of Saint Michael, which was located on the territory of the Bernardine Monastery.

A separate exhibition tells about the culture and traditions of the Jewish community of Iziaslav: ritual objects, cult books of the 19th century.

An exhibition of works by local artist Mykola Tkachuk is on display: painting, sculpture, wood carving.

The Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary in Slavuta was built in 1819 at the expense of the parishioners and with the participation of Prince Yevstakhiy Sangushko.

Made in the Ukrainian Baroque style, painted in the image of the Saint Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv.

Later, the church was expanded, a priest's house, a psalmist's house, and a prosphora were built nearby.

Netishyn City Museum of Local Lore was founded in 1994.

The exposition of the museum is located in the annex to the first floor of a residential building near the city center and is represented by eighteen exhibition halls, which reflect the main directions of history, ethnography, nature of the region.

The Archeology Hall exhibits materials of the Acheulean epoch from the Paleolithic site on the Spivak hamlet and finds from the burial mounds of the East Bronze Age Bronze Age culture from the Kozatsky Mohyly tract near Netishyn.

In the ethnographic exposition you can see household items, clothes, tools, utensils of different eras. Weaving, cooperage, pottery and weaving from elastic raw materials are presented in the halls of handicrafts and crafts.

Some halls of the museum bring visitors closer to the history of the villages of Netishyn and Dorohoshcha, which reaches deep into the XVI-XVII salt marshes. Here is exhibited one of the first known maps of the Netishyn farm from 1813.

The hall of the same name tells about the recent past of the city of Netishyn and Khmelnitsky NPP, in the center of which is a model of a WWER-1000 nuclear power unit operated at KhNPP.

The exposition is completed by the numismatics and bonistics halls, which reflect the general history of the region's money circulation.

The first museum of the famous Jewish poet Perets Markish in Ukraine was opened in Polonne in 1998.

Markish was born in Polonne in 1895, and spent his childhood there. He became famous in the world as one of the leading Jewish writers, was widely published abroad, was a member of the leadership of the Union of Writers of the USSR, and was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1949, he was repressed for his participation in the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, and in 1952 he was shot.

The exposition of the Polonne museum tells about the life and creative path of the poet. The museum exhibit includes 23 books by the writer in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Russian, English, and even Chuvash. A special place in the exposition is occupied by the jubilee Israeli edition of three books by Perets Markish. They were issued in 1998 on the initiative of the mayor's office of the city of Beer Sheva. One of the three books contains 24 poems and excerpts from the poem in Yiddish, the other two are translated into Russian and Hebrew. The museum received these books as a gift from David Bonfeld, the mayor of Beer Sheva.

The museum exhibits a lot of photographs from different periods of Perets Markish's life, including his childhood and youth spent in Polonne. Also in the museum exposition is a gift from the poet's daughter, the famous artist and sculptor Olha Rapay-Markish - original ceramic products. The exhibition also includes books by Perets Markish's sons - Shimon and David.

The Perets Markish Jewish Cultural Society operates on the basis of the museum.

In 2007, the museum was awarded the honorary title "People's Museum".

The People's Museum of the History of Polonne is located in the building of the city's cultural center.

The museum was founded on October 25, 1964. The exhibition presents a collection of antiquities found on the territory of the region, which gives an idea of the ancient way of life, traditions, and customs of the inhabitants of Polonne region.

Currently, the historical museum of Polonne preserves a unique collection of 4,735 pieces of products of defunct, at the time, world-famous porcelain and art ceramics factories. The products were transferred to the balance of the museum by the keeper of this unique collection, in the past the chief artist of the Polonne Porcelain Factory, Mykola Kozak.

Propaganda Museum was opened in Shepetivka as a memorial museum of Mykola Ostrovsky - one of the four museums of the writer on the territory of Ukraine.

Renamed by the decision of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council in 2020.

It was founded in 1946, and the current building of the museum was built in 1974-1979 according to the individual project of architects Mykola Husyeyev and Viktor Suslov. A three-story building of round shape, built of stone and metal, covered with red and black enamel. According to UNESCO, the Museum of Propaganda in Shepetivka is included in the international catalog "Museums of the World" as a unique architectural monument.

The artistic and monumental decoration of the exposition was developed by the artist Anatoliy Haydamaka. In the vestibule, there is a bust of Mykola Ostrovsky by the sculptor Volodymyr Kornev. The main exhibition is on the third floor. The exhibits are in black cubes fixed on rails. Above the cubes are placed spatial compositions of various things corresponding to the era and the theme of the stands. Submitted photos, documents, memorabilia, editions of the writer's works and illustrations to them.

The museum is located on a hill, all the approaches to it are beautifully paved with stone, which, in addition to the original design, unfortunately creates serious inconvenience for people with disabilities.

Here, on the square, stands a monumental monument to Mykola Ostrovsky.

The majestic complex of the Church of Saint Anna has been standing in Polonne on a hill above the Khomora River for more than 400 years.

It was founded in 1583 by Prince Yanush Ostrozky, Voivode of Volyn, who owned Polonne at that time. He was the first in the Ostrozky family to convert to Catholicism. Construction lasted 24 years. The walls of the temple reach a thickness of 2 meters, it is decorated with cornices, stained glass windows and paintings. In 1612, the Jesuit fathers opened a school at the church.

Over the centuries, the church fell into ruin several times, but each time it was restored, and even in Soviet times, thanks to the strong Catholic community of the city, it remained active. Restoration was carried out in 1995-2002.

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Dorothy was built in Slavuta in 1825.

It is an exact copy of the Paris church of Saint Yevstafiy. It was the ancestral tomb of the Sangushko princes.

It is located on the territory of the city park, laid out in the 18th century by the famous park builder Dionisiy Mikler. The Sangushko castle was located here, which has not been preserved to this day.

The Cathedral Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist is one of the oldest buildings in Iziaslav.

Founded by Prince Yanush Zaslavsky and his wife Oleksandra next to the Iziaslav Castle, together with a school, a hospital and a presbytery. The architect Iacolo Madeleine built the defensive temple in the Gothic style, but after the reconstruction in 1756 under the guidance of the architect Paolo Fontana, it took on the features of the Renaissance.

The Church of John the Baptist served as the burial place of the Sangushko princes.

In Soviet times, the temple was turned into a local history museum, then the premises were used for various economic needs. In the 1960s. the house was heavily damaged by fire and has not yet been restored.

The Missionary Church of Saint Joseph in Zaslav (present-day Iziaslav) was built by the court architect of the Polish royal court, Paolo Fontana, who at the time served as an artillery lieutenant for the owner of the city, Pavlo Karl Sangushko.

One of the most interesting examples of late baroque in Volyn. In the 19th century, the cell building of the Lazarite monastery was added, which now houses the local pension fund and other organizations. The church is located next to the ruins of the Sangushko Palace, which is connected to it by an arched bridge.

The church has been partially restored, services are held. In front of the building there is a monument to the heroes of the Second World War - a self-propelled artillery installation.

The Dominican monastery with the church of Saint Vikentiy de Pol in Bilohirya was founded in 1612 at the expense of Pavlo-Kshyshtof Senyuta, who owned the city at that time.

The current building was rebuilt in 1789. The monastery existed until 1859, after which the church was rebuilt into an Orthodox church.

In Soviet times, the building was used for various institutions: a prison, a cultural center, a library.

Only in 1991, the church of Saint Vikentiy de Pol was returned to the Catholic community of the village. Currently, the church is being restored by the Pallottine Fathers of the Catholic Apostolic Society.