Attractions of Khmelnytskyi district

The concrete embankment at the mouth of the Ikopot River in Starokostiantyniv was built at the end of the 20th century.

The embankment is decorated with a bright group of sculptures made of metal and various parts of machines and mechanisms, depicting fairy-tale heroes: Neptune in a cart, a mermaid, a mosquito, and others.

They were created by the Khmelnytskyi sculptor Mykola Mazur, the author of similar sculptural compositions in Taras Shevchenko Park and in many other places in Khmelnytskyi. His whimsical works are reminiscent of the avant-garde sculptures of the Stravinsky fountain near the Pompidu Center in Paris.

The wonderful palace and park complex in Samchyky is one of the best-preserved landlord estates of the 18th and 19th centuries in Ukraine, a brilliant work of architecture and garden and park art.

The manor was founded in 1725 by the nobleman Yan Khoyetsky, and in its present form was rebuilt in 1790-1805 by the headman of Haisyn, colonel Petro Chechel.

The Empire-style palace was built by the Polish architect Yakub Kubycky, the landscape park was created by the Irishman Dionisiy Makkler, and the interiors were designed by the Italian sculptor Zhan-Batist Tsahlyano.

An enfilade of parade halls is available for viewing: Big (Red), Round (Blue), Roman (Green), and others. The unique painting of the Japanese cabinet in the oriental style was made by an unknown author (according to legend, Mykhaylo Vrubel).

The grand facade of the palace with white columns and lions (sad and laughing) at the entrance faces the picturesque lake.

The manor complex also includes the Count's gate, the old Khoiecki palace (1725), a Chinese house (used as a refrigerator, now a gallery of Samchyky painting), outbuildings with cellars, and a fountain.

160 species of shrubs and trees grow in the park (including the rare Enhelmann spruce), the Gothic alley with a gazebo, and the ruins of a greenhouse have been preserved.

In Soviet times, the complex was used as an agricultural research station. In 1972, thanks to the efforts of the local artist and local historian Oleksandr Pazhymskyi, the estate was recognized as an architectural monument and taken under state protection. For many years, Pazhymskyi and his son Bohdan have been engaged in the restoration and preservation of the complex.

Today it is the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Samchyky", a museum exposition has been opened in the palace.

Taras Shevchenko Square is a favorite recreation spot for residents of Khmelnytskyi.

Until the 19th century, there was an oak grove on the outskirts of old Proskuriv. In 1824, a shopping area was created on the site of the grove, and part of the trees were cut down. For some time, the square was used as a military parade ground of the 46th Dnipro Infantry Regiment. At the end of the 19th century, they decided to create a city garden at this place, and the square was planted with trees.

Decorative shrubs were planted in 1960-1980, at the same time a cinema was built. The park zone with an area of 5 hectares has a regular layout. The main compositional node is the square with the monument to Taras Shevchenko (1992).

The square is decorated with whimsical metal sculptures created by the modern artist Mykola Mazur.

The main architectural monument of Staryi Ostropil is the Transfiguration Church - an architectural monument of national significance.

The stone church of the Transfiguration of the Lord is a rotunda with a rectangular vestibule covered by a complex system of vaults resting on four pylons and walls.

Elements of classicism are used in the decorative design of facades and interiors. The upper part has been changed as a result of unscrupulous reconstruction.

Since May 2022, it belongs to the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Volochysk Historical and Ethnographic Museum is located in the city center. The exposition tells about the history of the region from ancient times to the present day.

The high six-level brick watchtower over the Sluch River, clearly visible from the route, is considered a symbol of Starokostiantyniv.

The 35-meter-high square tower-donjon in the Gothic style was built in the 16th century under Prince Kostyantyn Ostrozky and was part of the system of city fortifications. Later (according to other sources, at the same time as the construction), the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Cross was added to it, which Yanush Ostrozky handed over to the Catholics in 1612.

The tower became the belfry of the Church of the Mother of God Hromnycha of the Dominican monastery located here. In the 18th century, reconstruction was carried out (architect Ernest Zhiber), the tower received a Renaissance design. In 1853, the church was rededicated as the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and 20 years later it was rebuilt in the pseudo-Rus style.

During Soviet times, the temple was closed and destroyed, the tower lost its ceiling. The monastery premises were occupied by structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Currently, the premises are used by the Exaltation of the Cross Men's Monastery of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.

On one of the walls of the temple, you can see the contours of the faces of the saints that appeared through the plaster (perhaps the Holy Mother of God and Princess Olha).

The beautiful five-story building of the water mill made of red brick is clearly visible from the castle of Ostrozki in Starokostiantyniv on the opposite bank of the river.

The Red Mill was built in 1905 on the isthmus at the confluence of the Ikopot River with Sluch by the order of the sugar factory Dubasov, then it became the property of his widow, the last mistress of the Starokostiantyniv Castle.

The monumentality of the architectural image, the expressive decorative design of the facades, the successful location - all this makes the Old Kostiantyn mill one of the most striking monuments of industrial architecture of the modern era in Ukraine. Restoration is underway.

The Museum of the Second World War in Volochysk was established in 2012 on the basis of the Pillbox (DOT - long-range firing point) of the Proskuriv Fortress District (PrUR) during the Second World War, which was part of the so-called "Stalin Line".

It is a two-storey machine gun semi-caponier for two machine guns. On the upper floor there were battle casemates and a control point. At the bottom - living room, fan, diesel, storage. The military situation was recreated in the premises, samples of weapons, uniforms, personal belongings of soldiers of those times were collected.

The section of the defensive line of the Proskuriv fortified area was reconstructed nearby: a trench of the infantry division's position, a dugout for sheltering personnel. An exposition of military equipment of different years has been opened.

The ruins of the castle in Zinkiv are located on a high oblong promontory formed by the valley of the Ushka River and a ravine.

Zinkiv Castle was founded on the site of an ancient Russian fortification in 1431 by the Podillya Voivode Petro Odrovonzh, making it one of the most important outposts in the network of Podillya fortresses. He repeatedly repelled Tatar attacks.

The castle, triangular in plan with walls 10 meters high and up to 3.5 meters thick at the corners, had large hexagonal towers, two of them three-story, one a four-story donjon tower. One of the walls of the fortress was the outer wall of a large three-story building. From the side of the city, the castle was separated by a deep moat, over which a suspension bridge was thrown.

The fortress was slightly damaged during the Liberation War and during the Turkish invasion, but was completely rebuilt after the return of the Poles in the 18th century, when Zinkiv was owned by the Senyavskyis.

In the 19th century, Zinkiv Castle was used for administrative and economic purposes, but in 1898, the village community decided that the old walls threatened the church below, and the building was almost completely dismantled for building materials. Only the ruins of its oldest part - the southern tower (one floor high) and four casemate apartments under the foundation of the western wall - have survived from the once powerful fortress.