Attractions of Izium district

The Balakliia Local Lore Museum is located in the oldest building in the city of Balakliia, which was built in 1818 for the headquarters of the Serpukhov Regiment in the style of classicism.

The museum opened in 1979. The basis of his exhibition was a collection of memorial items of the famous opera singer of the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, Oksana Petrusenko, a native of the city of Balakliia. Currently, the museum's collections include about 13,000 items that characterize different periods of the life of the Balakli region.

Before the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, the museum featured three permanent exhibitions: an ethnographic department with a collection of household items of the 17th-20th centuries; exposition on the history of Balakliia region during the Second World War; exhibition "Oksana Petrusenko - an outstanding Ukrainian singer", where portraits and sculptures of the singer, personal belongings, photographs are presented.

During the Russian occupation of Balakliia in 2022, the museum building was damaged, the occupiers partially looted and damaged the exposition. Now the Balakliia Museum of Local Lore is in need of restoration.

The Cross of Ascension Church in Izium was built at the expense of the parishioners instead of two outdated wooden churches of the 18th century.

Initially, it was made in the style of classicism, but during its more than one and a half century history, it was rebuilt several times.

It was closed in Soviet times.

The paintings of the dome and the oil painting on the walls, made by the artists of Viktor Vasnetsov's school, have been preserved. Only the lower tier of the belfry adjoining from the west has been preserved.

The Church of the Ascension of Holy Cross (Nicolas) was heavily damaged by Russian shelling in March 2022 during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Museum of the History of Izium Optics was opened in one of the halls of the "Optics City" shopping center in Izium, opposite the upper passage of the famous Izium Optical and Mechanical Plant (IOMZ), whose products have been known for over a hundred years.

At one time, the Izium glassmakers held the fifth place among the world leaders in the production of optical glass. The exposition begins with the words of Mykhaylo Lomonosov: "I sing before you in delight the praise of neither precious stones nor gold, but glass."

The hall presents the products of IOMZ and IPO Izium factories: glasses, equipment, devices, various types of glass, photographs and other exhibits representing the history of production, unique characteristics and innovations.

The Holy Ascension Cathedral in Izium was built and consecrated in 1826 instead of the old church, which was located on the left bank of the Siversky Donets.

Even in the old church, a miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Pishchanska appeared to Saint Yosyp Horlenko of Belhorod. Now it is one of the most famous and revered shrines of Eastern Ukraine.

Nearby is the healing spring "Kyrychenkova krynytsia" with a small chapel-bath.

The Holy Ascension Cathedral was heavily damaged during the battles for Izium during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The five-domed Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Izium is one of the oldest stone buildings in the Slobozhanshchyna.

It was part of the city fortifications, and the architectural ensemble of the city center formed around it. It was built at the expense of Colonels Kostyantyna Donets-Zakharzhevskyi and Fedir Shydlovskyi in 1684 in the Ukrainian Baroque style by a team of craftsmen who later built the Intercession Cathedral in Kharkiv, erected churches in Nizhyn and Baturyn.

The architecture of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral uses the traditional forms of a three-timbered wooden church with a separate bell tower. In 1903, the engineer Mykhaylo Lovtsov carried out a reconstruction in a neo-Russian style: new domes with bulbous heads were erected, kokoshniks were built on top of the walls.

In 1953-1955, the architectural monument was restored to its original form.

During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral was heavily damaged and partially lost its glazing due to shelling by the Russian army.

The exposition of the Izium Museum of Local Lore named after Mykola Sibilov is located in an old residential building built in 1818 (reconstructed).

Currently, the museum has more than 11 thousand units of storage of fixed assets. The exposition presents archeological finds of different epochs and cultures, ancient tools, Polovtsian stone statues, etc. Special attention should be paid to: a beautiful numismatic collection, which presents rare coins, the Gospel in silver and gold - a gift from Peter I Izium Transfiguration cathedral (edition of the beginning of the XVIII century), personal belongings of the family of the Decembrist Andriy Rosen, works of painting: sketches by Serhiy Vasylkivsky, paintings by Mykhaylo Fedoriv, Vasyl Zabashta, Fenya Kogan.

During the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Izium found itself on the front line. The city was under full occupation from April to September. The infrastructure and residential multi-apartment buildings in Izium have been destroyed by 80%. The Museum of Local History also suffered significant damage - a Russian projectile hit the museum building. In addition, part of the collection was looted by the Russians. However, the workers of the Izium Museum of Local History managed to save the most valuable exhibits - the Gospel of 1707 in a silver and gilded frame, issued by Hetman Ivan Mazepa, as well as a portrait of Andriy Samborskyi, a well-known public figure of the 18th and 19th centuries in the Slobozhan region, made by his famous contemporary Yohan Baptist Lampi, and other valuable canvases , objects of the Cossack era.

Kremenets Mountain is a geological monument of nature, the historical core of the city of Izium, the highest point of the Kharkiv region (218 meters above sea level).

The place where the Siverskyi Donets River bends over a huge ledge of Upper Miocene and Jurassic rocks has long served as a natural fortification for the people who lived here. Stone statues gathered on the outskirts are installed on the mountain slope. According to an ancient legend, the tribes living in the steppe worshiped the sun god, but they angered him and were turned into stone. Dated to the middle of the 12th century, they give an idea of the physical appearance of the nomads, their clothes, jewelry and weapons.

The rampart and moat of the Izium Fortress, built in 1681 to protect the southern borders of Russia from raids by the Crimean Tatars, have been preserved on the heights. The fortress was one of the most powerful fortifications of that time and became the foundation of the city.

Other monuments remind of the events of the 20th century - the Soviet-Ukrainian and Second World Wars. In 1985, a magnificent memorial complex was built. Military equipment from the period of the Second World War is on display: the legendary "Katyusha", T-34 and KV tanks, self-propelled artillery installations and others.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during the battles for Izium, the Russian army repeatedly fired at Mount Kremenets. As a result of these shellings, the "Attack" memorial, dedicated to those who died in the Second World War, was destroyed, and one of the nine Polovtsian women (dating from the 9th to 13th centuries) was destroyed.

Kyrychenko's Well , located near the Holy Ascension Cathedral, is one of the most picturesque corners of Izium.

Many wonderful stories are connected with the bathing chapel, located on the healing spring of the icon of the Pishchanska Mother of God.

Today, Kyrychenko's well is known far beyond the borders of Izium. Many people come to taste its healing water, tired tourists quench their thirst here, travelers stop to rest.