Attractions of Medvedivka

The Medvedivka Local Lore Museum is the basis of the Kholodny Yar branch of the Chyhyryn National Historical and Cultural Reserve and the starting point of tourist routes through Kholodny Yar. It is located in the former priest's house opposite the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the center of Medvedivka.

The museum was founded in the late 1960s by local historian and teacher Oleksandr Rudenko. Currently, its five halls feature about 300 exhibits that reveal the role and significance of Kholodny Yar in the formation of Ukrainian statehood, and show the multiplicity of its contents as a natural object and a place of struggle for freedom and liberty.

The exposition tells about the history of Kholodny Yar from ancient times to the present day: Scythian times, Kyivan Rus, the Cossack era, the Koliivshchyna, the Kholodny Yar organization, the partisan struggle during the Second World War. A separate exposition of the museum is dedicated to the participation of Kholodny Yar residents in the events of the Revolution of Dignity of 2013-2014 and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Employees of the Medvedivka Local Lore Museum also conduct excursions throughout the territory of Kholodny Yar.

The tourist route begins from the monument to Maksym Zalizniak in Medvedivka and then runs through the neighboring village of Melnyky, which is the center of this region. There are many memorable places here, connected with the events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 and the activities of the Kholodny Yar organization.

In the depths of Kholodny Yar, the ancient ramparts of the Motronynsky settlement of the Scythian period (7th-5th centuries BC) have been preserved. Stops at the Motronynsky Monastery, the Haydamatsky Pond, and the "Sklyk" memorial sign are mandatory. The final point of the route is the 1000-year-old Oak tree of Maksym Zalizniak, which is one of the oldest and most famous trees in Ukraine and all of Europe.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medvedivka was built in 1860-1864 at the expense of the Kyiv Civil Governor Ivan Fundukley, who owned Medvedivka in the 19th century.

The church is one-story, cruciform in plan. Its appearance is close to standard diocesan architecture, but at the same time it differs in some modern features.

The Assumption Church in Medvedivka is an architectural landmark of the 19th century of local importance.

The ruins of the Roman Catholic church are located in the central part of Medvedivka. The temple was built in the 19th century. Made in the Neo-Gothic style.

In Soviet times, the church building was used for economic purposes. It is currently in a state of emergency.

The monument to the leader of the Haidamaks, Maksym Zalizniak, in Medvedivka village was erected in 1993 to mark the 225th anniversary of the Koliivshchyna region at the expense of the residents of the village, which is considered the homeland of the national hero. The bronze sculpture on a granite pedestal is located in the center of Medvedivka village, near the school named after Zalizniak.

According to the most common version, Maksym Zalizniak was born around 1740 in Medvedivka (according to another version, in neighboring Ivkivtsi village). At the age of 13, he went to the Zaporizhzhian Sich, and upon his return, he became a novice at the Motronynsky Monastery.

In 1768, Zalizniak led an uprising of Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, courtiers, and peasants against Polish rule, known as the Koliivshchyna. It was from Kholodny Yar that the rebel detachments set out on a campaign through the surrounding towns and villages, where they brutally dealt with the local Polish and Jewish population. These tragic events were described by Taras Shevchenko in his poem "Haidamaky".

The monument in Medvedivka depicts Maksym Zalizniak, standing in Cossack attire, leaning on a saber and holding an ataman's shishpar in his hand. The authors of the composition are sculptor Anatolii Kravchenko and architect Leonid Kondratsky.

Ceremonial events related to honoring the memory of the heroes of Kholodny Yar, as well as tourist routes through Kholodny Yar, usually begin near the monument.