Attractions of Khmelnytskyi district

Horodok Museum of Local Lore, founded in 1969, after a complete reconstruction in 2016-2021, became a modern cultural and educational hub and was named Horodok Museum or G-Museum.

On the first floor there is a branch of the Museum of Internal Affairs, on the second - an exposition on the history of Horodochchyna, on the third - a large hall for exhibitions of contemporary artists, on the fourth - a laboratory and a hall with a panorama of the city.

The concept of the museum exposition is based on the figure of the famous scientist-microbiologist, author of fundamental discoveries in natural science of the late XIX - early XX centuries Serhiy Vynohradsky, who was the last landowner of Horodok. Reconstruction of the interior of the study of a scientist and a modern scientific laboratory is presented.

Also in the exhibition you can see the diorama "Sarmatian Sea", learn about the geology and nature of Podolian Tovtry, see a collection of unique objects of Trypillya culture, trace the development of Horodok from XIV to XX century in historical materials, documents, photographs.

Part of the exhibition is an audiovisual installation.

The unique Holy Intercession Church-Fortress in Sutkivtsi is a vivid example of a medieval defense-type temple.

It was built in the 14th century as a purely defensive structure on the Kuchman route - one of the routes of Tatar raids. The architecture is reminiscent of Western European Gothic castles. After Fedir Sutkivetskyi (Sutkivskyi), the owner of these lands, started building a new castle in the 15th century, the old one was rebuilt into the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. One of the bells shows the date of reconstruction - 1476.

The building is two-story: the temple was located on the first floor, and the battle passages and loopholes on the second. The middle part of the temple was covered with a high Gothic gable roof with a Baroque tower, and a tall wooden belfry rose on the front facade.

Development at the beginning of the 20th century gave the Church of the Intercession Rus Orthodox forms.

Currently, restoration is underway to restore the original appearance. The visit is free, but it is desirable to leave a donation for the reconstruction.

The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Krasyliv was founded in 1820 at the expense of Colonel Mykola Sapyeha. Decorated at the expense of Kostyantyn Chorba.

The temple was built in a classical style, its facade was decorated with semi-columns.

In 1921, the last rector of the parish, Father Kazymyr Mazur, was shot by the Bolsheviks in front of the church.

During the Soviet period, the shrine was closed (except for a few years during the Second World War), the building first housed a warehouse, then the House of Pioneers.

In 1990, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Krasyliv was transferred to the monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins.

In the square in front of the church there is a memorial to those who died during the Second World War.

The picturesque Starokostiantyniv Castle at the confluence of the Ikopot River with the Sluch was built in 1561 by Volyn Prince Vasyl-Kostyantyn Ostrozky to protect the region from the Tatars (the "Black Path" of Tatar raids passed here).

For some time, the castle served as the main princely residence of Ostrozky. Since 1575, the castle has never been attacked. In particular, in 1618, he withstood the siege of the 30,000-strong Tatar horde.

The castle was surrounded by a defensive rampart, it was separated from the land by a moat connecting the channels of two rivers. The walls were fortified with five towers designed in the Renaissance style. There was an eight-story wooden watchtower-pyramid on the territory.

The semicircular donjon tower, the princely palace, the house church, the lower tier of the gate tower, and fragments of the walls have been preserved. Under the palace there are cellars with wells-chambers leading to the river.

The castle church of the Holy Trinity, which performed defensive functions, has been restored (belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine). Part of the frescoes of the 16th century have been preserved inside, in particular the original coat of arms of Prince Vasyl-Kostyantyn Ostrozky: an eight-pointed star surrounded by a crescent moon.

Archaeological excavations and restoration work are underway on the rest of the complex.

The historical and cultural center-museum "Old Kostiantyniv" was created on the basis of the castle of Princes Ostrozky. Excursions are conducted, additional services can be ordered.

Sutkivtsi Castle today is the only surviving defensive tower of the fortified residence of the Sutkivetskyi family.

The construction of a regular tower castle was started by Fedir Sutkivetskyi in the 15th century on the basis of a 14th century fortification fortified with a stone wall. It became the main point of the southern defense line on the Kuchman road - one of the roads of the Tatar invasion.

The castle, rectangular in plan, had 4 corner towers, the entrance was made through a gate tower, from which a drawbridge was thrown over the moat. In 1567, the building was badly damaged during one of the Tatar assaults. In 1623, the new owner Oleksandr Balaban carried out reconstruction, but by the end of the 17th century, the castle lost its defensive significance and began to gradually collapse.

The pentagonal eastern tower, fragments of walls and ramparts have been preserved to this day. Restoration and creation of a historical and cultural reserve is planned. Access is free.

Starokostiantyniv Museum of Local History presents an exposition dedicated to all stages of the city's development.

The museum is located in a two-story building of the XIX century, which until 1917 housed the gendarmerie, then Starokostiantyniv Revolutionary Committee, the headquarters of the Bohunsky Regiment of the First Ukrainian Red Division and other bodies.

The exposition presents more than 5 thousand exhibits.

The Literary Memorial Museum of Anna Akhmatova in Slobidka-Shelekhivska was opened in 1989 "in a house near a road with no traffic," as the poet herself described the house of her aunt Anna Vakar.

Akhmatova repeatedly visited her relatives in Podillya, often visited Slobidka-Shelekhivska, and wrote several poems there. In the 1920s, Akhmatova's mother Inna Horenko also settled here, where she lived until the end of her life.

The grave of Akhmatova's mother, her aunt and her husband have been preserved in the village cemetery.

In front of the museum, the first monument to Anna Akhmatova by Viktor Zayko, as well as two cast-iron benches and a street lamp from St. Petersburg, was installed in Ukraine.

The Literary Memorial Museum of Anna Akhmatova is a department of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Literary Museum.

The stylish mansion, which now houses the Antoninivsk Town Council, was built at the beginning of the 20th century according to the project of the Viennese architect Ferdinand Fellner, the author of the Odesa Opera.

This is one of the few surviving pre-revolutionary buildings in the Art Nouveau style with the use of half-timbered timbers, which were used to build the square in front of the front gate of the Sangushko-Potocki palace. The Potocki garage for 9 cars and a workshop were located here.

Today, the restored mansion is one of the most visible and attractive architectural monuments of the village.

The church of John the Baptist of the monastery of the Capuchin order is located in the current administrative center of the city of Starokostiantyniv, although when the monastery was founded in 1750, Prince Yanush Sangushko allocated land outside the city walls.

The Catholic Church of John the Baptist was built in the strict late baroque style by the famous Italian master Paolo Fontana. The construction of the entire complex lasted until 1778, but the church was finished much earlier.

In Soviet times it was closed, now it is valid.

The palace in Bozhykivtsi was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Zdyslavom Kolonna-Chesnovsky, a Polish landowner with Italian roots.

From 1923 to the present, the Chesnovsky manor houses a secondary school. Other manor houses have been preserved. The wing houses a kindergarten, and the bakery houses a country club. The former distillery was converted into a starch factory in 1931.

In 1998, the museum of the journalist and writer Dmytro Prylyuk was opened, a memorial plaque was installed on the school building.

The Craftsmen Synagogue in Khmelnytskyi is the only surviving Jewish temple in the city.

A small synagogue was built in 1890 in the Jewish quarter of artisan bakers, opposite the current central food market.

In Soviet times, the building housed a gymnastics school. In the early 1990s, the Craftsmen Synagogue was returned to the Jewish community of Khmelnytskyi, and it is now in use.

Derazhnia Historical Museum is located in the city center.

The exposition tells about the nature and history of the region, has 8 thematic sections: "Geographical position of the region", "Nature of the region", "From the depths of the ages", "The region on the way to independence", "At the turn of the millennium", "Glorious names of the region", "Trouble of the 1930s-1940s" and "For Ukraine, for her will".

Museum employees conduct sightseeing tours of the Derazhnia.

A synagogue with a crypt, in which in 1760 one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the Jewish people, the Kabbalist, the founder of Hasidism, Israel Ben Eliezer, who was called Baal Shem Tov (Lord of the Good Name) or simply Besht, was buried.

He spent the last 20 years of his life in Medzhybizh. The Beshta had many followers, including the famous tzaddik Rabbi Nachman of Uman.

Beshta's grave is the object of a mass pilgrimage of Hasids (supporters of this orthodox current in Judaism) and other people who are fascinated by Kabbalism. A crypt was built over Beshta's grave.

In the old Jewish cemetery, you should see the unique beauty of the tombstone. A modern synagogue building was built nearby. Many Jewish houses of the 19th century have been preserved around.

The palace of lawyer Samuel Hershhorin is located on the central street of Derazhnia.

The one-story residential building in the Art Nouveau style was built in 1910. Later, a gymnasium was located here, which in 1921 was repurposed into a labor school, and later into a house of pioneers. Due to an error in the documents, the building received the status of an architectural monument of local importance as the "Mansion of the private lawyer Perytorin".

In 2022, the building was purchased at an auction by the founder of the "Spadshchyna.Ua" initiative, Hanna Havryliv. She plans to use the Gershhorin Palace to develop the tourism potential of Derazhnia. The restoration of the monument has begun, research work is being carried out.

The majestic Medzhibizh Castle at the confluence of the Buzhok River with the Pivdeniy Buh, where the ancient Rus city of Mezhibozh stood in the 11th and 13th centuries, began to be built in 1362 by princes Koriatovych (Koryatovych), who received these lands from the Grand Duke Olherd of Lithuania.

Medzhibizh Castle became an outpost on the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later Poland. In the XV-XVI centuries, he successfully repelled Tatar attacks.

In 1540, the castle passed into the possession of the noble family of the Russian voivodes of Senyavsky, who rebuilt it and strengthened it with corner towers. An elegant palace and a Gothic chapel were built on the territory, which was later rebuilt in the Baroque style. A small garrison and palace servants occupied the service premises.

Princes Chartoriysky added even more luxury to the architecture in the 18th century.

The castle survived to this day in a good condition, although it was damaged during two world wars. The pentagonal Knight's Tower with an observation deck, the castle church, the carriage row and the barracks, which house the museum exhibits of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Mezhibyzh", have been restored. In particular, historical and ethnographic museums, as well as the Holodomor Museum. The restoration of the palace is ongoing.

In August, the "Ancient Medzhibizh" festival with knightly tournaments takes place on the territory of the fortress.