Attractions of Ternopil district

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ternopil is an architectural monument of the late European Baroque.

A large Roman Catholic church with two elegant towers was built in 1749-1779 in the historic center of the city according to the project of the architect Avhusta Moschynskyi (according to other sources - Yan de Vitte) on the site of an ancient Rus Orthodox church. At the same time, a two-story cell block of the Dominican monastery was built. Between them is the so-called "Italian courtyard", currently not accessible to tourists.

The Dominican church was badly damaged during the Second World War and was restored in 1953. It was used as a picture gallery of the Ternopil Regional Local Lore Museum, and the archive is still located in the monastery building.

In 1992, the building was restored and handed over to the Greek Catholic community. The interiors were not preserved.

Next to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a monument to Metropolitan Yosyp Slipiy has been erected, and in the square opposite the church - a monument to Prince Danylo Halytsky.

The Roman Catholic Church of Mother of God of Perpetual Help in Sorotske was built in 1937. A very interesting example of Neo-Gothic architecture of the early 20th century.

On the wall of the church, a double Polish family coat of arms has been preserved, combining the coats of arms "Prus" and "Swan" (probably the coat of arms of the founders of the church). Stained glass windows have been partially preserved.

Currently, the church is closed and abandoned.

The Historical and Memorial Museum of Political Prisoners opened in Ternopil in the basement cells of the temporary detention center of the former Ternopil Department of the NKVD-KGB on October 14, 1996.

The museum's exposition tells about the struggle of Ukrainian patriots against the communist regime, the repressive methods of the Soviet special services and the life of convicts in the Gulag camps, and recreates the regime of detention of political prisoners and interrogation methods. Among the museum's exhibits are a map of the USSR indicating the locations of special camps, stands with biographies of armed underground leaders, belongings of political prisoners, photographs and biographies of OUN and UPA leaders, postcards from 1940-1950, photographs from the unique UPA photo archive found in 1999 in Ivano-Frankivsk region, materials about the repressions of 1939-1941 in Western Ukraine.

The prison environment has been recreated in 28 pre-trial detention cells. Visitors can see the punishment cell, torture instruments, clothing and household items of prisoners. Models of a Siberian concentration camp and a "calf barn" wagon are also on display.

The Berezhany Castle of Sieniawski is one of the best examples of Renaissance defensive architecture in Ukraine, which the Poles called the "Eastern Wawel". Monument of architecture and urban planning of national importance.

The magnificent defensive residence in Berezhany was built in 1534-1554 by the Rus (Ukrainian) voivode, Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Sieniawski (Mykola Syniavsky). The impregnable fortification with four towers was built by Italian craftsmen according to the New Dutch system by French engineer Hiyom de Boplan using an artificial water barrier in the floodplain of the Zolota Lypa River. The facades of the palace buildings in the castle courtyard were crowned by two-story arcades-galleries like the Italian palazzo, which surrounded the buildings around the perimeter, and the windows were decorated with Renaissance carvings. The interiors of 14 ceremonial halls were decorated with paintings with battle scenes, on the third floor of the palace was a rich art gallery.

The Trinity Church was located on the territory of the castle, the former splendor of which can be judged even in its current dilapidated condition. In the 17th century, the Sieniawski tomb with marble tombstones by Yan Pfister was added to the church. Mikołaj Sieniawski and his sons Hieronim and Jan, as well as Hieronim's wife Anna, were buried here.

In the XIX century the castle began to decline, suffered severe damage during the two world wars. In Soviet times, it was abandoned and turned into a landfill.

In 2002, the Berezhany Castle of Sieniawski became part of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve in Berezhany, and its restoration began. A small museum exposition has been opened on the territory of the castle, excursions are organized, souvenirs can be bought.

The strict complex of defensive monastic buildings of the Bernardine order rises above Berezhany on Storozhisko hill.

The monastery was built in the 17th century in the Baroque style at the expense of the great crown hetman Mykola Synyavsky. The central building is the Saint Nicholas church with a stone fence, which gives it a pronounced defensive appearance. Being near the city walls, the temple was part of the system of city fortifications.

During the Soviet era, the monastery cells were used as cells in a penal colony for minors.

After the independence of Ukraine, services were resumed in the Saint Nicholas church - the monastery church became the church of the Pratulin Martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, whose activities were prohibited in Soviet times. At the expense of parishioners, the dome with the cross was restored in the church, works on the restoration of the church are ongoing.

A picturesque panorama of the old city opens from the height of the monastery hill.

The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the late Gothic-Renaissance style has a pronounced fortification character, as it was part of the system of city fortifications of Berezhany.

It was built in the years 1600-1620 on the initiative of the then owner of Berezhany, Adam Yeronim Synyavsky, according to the project of the architect Pavlo Rymlyanin, as the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. The bell tower was rebuilt from a defensive tower in 1741.

In Soviet times, a gym was placed here.

Now the church again belongs to the Catholic community of the city, consecrated in honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

The Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity in the late Baroque style is located opposite the Potocki Palace in Mykulyntsi and is connected to it by a maple avenue.

It was built in 1761-1779 according to the project of architect Avgust Moshynsky at the expense of Countess Lyudvika Potocka. The church of the Hofkirche royal palace in Dresden, Germany, where the architect studied, served as a model.

The decor of the temple and its elegant forms perfectly harmonize with the central facade of the palace and organically close the perspectives of the regular part of the park.

The original interior has not been preserved, because during the Soviet times the premises were used for economic purposes.

Today, the Trinity Church is active and belongs to the Mykulyntsi Catholic community. Next to the church is an old Polish cemetery with the graves of members of the Count family of Ray.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Ternopil is a surprisingly beautiful temple, one of the best examples of the Podillya architectural school of the 17th century.

The church was built in 1602-1608 by a craftsman named Leontiy near the eastern city gate. It acquired a modern appearance as a result of further reconstruction and restoration in 1937.

Currently, the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The main shrine is the icon of the Mother of God of Ternopil.

The Plebanivka Railway  bridge-viaduct, also known as the Terebovlian bridge, attracts attention with its high arches at the entrance to Terebovlia from the Chernivtsi side.

The nine-arch stone railway bridge was built in 1896 during the construction of the Ternopil - Kopychyntsi railway.

The bridge, constructed by Austrian engineers, has been well preserved to this day and continues to be used for its intended purpose.

The huge church of Saint Anthony, which is the central building of the Bernardine monastery, is clearly visible from the castle hill.

The monastery was founded by Prince Yuriy Zbarazky in 1627, the construction of the original complex was completed in the 1650s by the efforts of Yanush Korybut-Vyshnivetskyi and his wife Yevheniya. In its current Renaissance-baroque form, the church was rebuilt in 1723-1755 at the expense of the Kyiv voivode Yuzef Potoski (architect Yan Hants). A philosophical school, then a gymnasium, and a hospital worked at the monastery.

During Soviet times, the complex was abandoned, but in 1990 it was returned to the Bernardine family. Restoration is underway, services are held.

The interior contains altars with sculptures by Anton Osinsky (18th century), fragments of frescoes from the 18th-19th centuries.

The courtyard of a large building on the corner of Taras Shevchenko and Stefan Kachala streets is called the "Venetian (Italian) courtyard" in Ternopil.

In 1893, the Polish stock exchange and library "People's School Society" (Towarzystwa szkoly ludowej) opened here. In 1913, the Podillya Museum was opened with four departments: ethnographic, historical-numismatic, natural history and archeology (its exposition formed the basis of the current local lore museum). Later, the building housed a women's gymnasium, and now it houses the Ternopil City Council Education Department.

The inner courtyard of the building was nicknamed "Venetian" ("Italian") for its characteristic design with an arcade and a portal with columns.

Until recently, the Municipal Police Department was located there, the object was in a very bad condition. Currently, the partially restored "Italian Courtyard" is the summer patio-terrace of the conceptual restaurant-gallery "Bunkermuz".

The Yaroslav and Slava Stetsko People's Historical and Memorial Museum was opened in 2002 in the village of Velykyi Hlybochok in the oldest (1773) building of the village - the former parish house, in which in 1912 the future ideologist of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, leader of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Peoples, Prime Minister of the Ukrainian State Government Yaroslav Stetsko was born.

The organizer and founder of the museum is Myron Sahaidak, who became interested in Stetsko's biography after meeting his uncle Vasyl when he returned from Siberia, and after meeting Slava Stetsko in 1991, when she came to visit her husband's native village.

The museum's exposition reflects the life and struggle of Yaroslav Stetsko himself, as well as his wife and long-time associate - Slava Stetsko. The museum exhibits paint a detailed picture of Yaroslav Stetsko's childhood - photographs of the Stetsko family home, Yaroslav's father-priest and mother, his first nanny, brother and sister, and high school friends. The exhibition includes more than a hundred original exhibits related to the life and activities of the Stetskos, in particular - personal belongings of Mr. Yaroslav, which were transferred by Slava Stetsko from Munich, and those that Myron Sahaidak himself collected from everywhere, many interesting photographs, letters, and documents.

The main exhibit of the museum is Yaroslav Stetsko's embroidered shirt, which his wife Slava Stetsko embroidered for him in 1944 in Munich in order to support his wounded husband.

In 2018, the Yaroslav and Slava Stetsko People's Historical and Memorial Museum in the village of Velykyi Hlybochok became part of the museum complex "Museum of the National Liberation Struggle of the Ternopil Region".

Zaliztsi Museum of Local Lore was founded in 2020 at the initiative of local historians. The museum is located in the assembly hall and library of Zaliztsi polyclinic.

The exposition tells about the nature of the region and the history of the village from the earliest times. In particular, the exhibition presents a sculpture of Saint Francis of the XIX century from the ruins of the monastery of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy in Zaliztsi.

In 2023, the archaeological exposition of the Zaliztsi Museum of Local Lore was opened. Here you can see the fossilized remains of mollusks of the Sarmatian Sea, silicon products of the Mesolithic era, ceramics of the Vysotska culture, body crosses of the XII-XIII centuries, Cossack pipes and silver coins of the XVII century, and other finds from archaeological excavations on the territory of Zaliztsi.

An exposition in memory of the victims of political repressions is being set up in the former NKVD torture chamber.

In the museum, you can buy souvenirs, book an excursion, and get background information about tourist attractions in the area.

The architectural complex of Zbarazh Castle is one of the best-preserved ancient defensive structures of the Ternopil region, an architectural monument of national importance. For centuries, the castle in Zbarazh served as a residence for Lithuanian princes and Polish nobles, and is now the center of the National Reserve "Castles of Ternopil Region".

The construction of a new fortress instead of the fortress in Stary Zbarazh destroyed by the Tatars was started in 1620 by Princes Hristofor and Yuriy Zbarazkyi, who commissioned a project in Venice from the famous architect and engineer Vinchentso Skamotstsi. His work embodied the advanced achievements of the art of fortification of that time.

The castle consists of a Renaissance-style palace, casemate ramparts surrounding it, an entrance tower and a moat. In the courtyard there is a siege well 70 m deep, connected by underground passages with the Bernardine monastery at the other end of Zbarazh.

In the 17th century, the new owners of Zbarazh Castle, Princes Vyshnevetskyi, fortified it with four bastions. In 1649 the castle withstood a seven-week siege of Bohdan Khmelnytsky's Cossack army, and in 1734 it was captured by the Haydamaks.

Potocki magnates in the XVIII century turned the military fortress into an ordinary palace estate.

During the first half of the 20th century, the building was severely damaged during the wars, and restoration was completed only in 1985. On the basis of Zbarazh Castle, in 1994, the State Historical and Architectural Reserve was created, which later became the National Reserve "Castles of Ternopil Region".

Over the past decade, the White Fireplace Hall, the Arched Gallery, the Upper and Lower Vestibules, the Lord's Living Room and the Mirror Hall have been restored in Zbarazh Castle. The medieval interiors feature exhibitions of antiquities, paintings, icons, and antique furniture, as well as exhibitions of works of art by modern masters. An archaeological and ethnographic exhibition has been set up, a collection of weapons is exhibited in the casemates, unique works by woodcarver Viktor Lupiychuk are on display, and the creation of the diorama "Siege of 1649" is underway.

In one of the casemates there is a restaurant "Legend", in the manor house (XIX century) on the outskirts of the park opened the hotel "Hetman".

The Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary was built in Zaliztsi in 1889 as a chapel of the monastery of the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul.

During the Soviet rule, the church building was used as a warehouse.

Today it is an active Roman Catholic church.