Attractions of Starokostiantyniv

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.

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 Art Nouveau building, which currently houses various administrative organizations and shops, was built in Starokostiantyniv in the middle of the 19th century.

The modern two-story volume of the building is composed of several separate buildings placed close to each other, forming a single building - a square with an inner courtyard.

In 1917-1919, the headquarters of various military formations fighting in the district, in particular the Bohun Brigade of the Shchors Division, were located here at various times.

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 neglected building of the inn yard (korchma) is located in the central historical district of Starokostiantyniv, between the castle and the watchtower.

The main architectural accent of the two-story house in the style of early classicism (end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century) is a wide, massive arch. The strictness and restraint of the design of the facades of the building is somewhat disturbed by the active plastic decoration of the window openings. The use of small decorative elements (diamond-shaped overlays and niches, multi-shaped protrusions) is characteristic of provincial architecture.

The Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin was built in Starokostiantyniv in 1807 on the site of a wooden Orthodox church known since 1687.

This is the only cult building of the era of mature classicism that has survived in the city.

During Soviet times, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was the only active one in Starokostiantyniv.

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 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.