Attractions of Ternopil district

The Berezhany City Book Museum is located on the first floor of Berezhany City Hall.

Founded in 1984, since 1994 it has been a department of the Ternopil Museum of Local Lore. It tells about the history of printing in Ukraine and about outstanding writers of the region.

The exhibition presents old prints of the XVII-XIX centuries, the first edition of Taras Shevchenko's "Kobzar", "Grammar of the Little Russian Language in Galicia, composed by Ivan Vahylevych" (1845), "Grammar of the Ruthenian (Ruthenian) language" by Yosyp Levytsky (1834).

Also on display are paintings by Lev Lepky, graphics by Olena Kulchytska and others.

A separate exposition is dedicated to the public and philanthropic activities of Roman Smyk.

In addition, the Berezhany City Hall houses the Berezhany Museum of Local Lore, the Museum of Sacred Art and Church History, and the Bohdan Lepky Museum.

The State Historical and Architectural Reserve (DIAZ) in Berezhany was established in 2001 to protect, restore and use the city's cultural heritage sites, which preserved European planning buildings from the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, architectural ensembles Rynok Square, Bankova and Armenian streets.

In total, the reserve unites more than 30 architectural monuments, 6 of which are of national importance, including the Berezhany Castle Complex (Synyavsky Castle).

The administration of the reserve is housed in a manor house in the style of late classicism (empire) of the early XIX century, which is an architectural monument of local significance. The central part of the facade is decorated with a portico with four columns of the Corinthian order and a classical pediment. In 1828-1829, while studying at the local gymnasium, the famous Ukrainian writer and educator Markiian Shashkevych lived in this house.

In the administration of the Berezhany Historical and Architectural Reserve you can book sightseeing tours of the city, thematic tours of the Synyavsky Castle and the outskirts of Berezhany.

The Berezhany Museum of Local Lore is located on the second floor of the Berezhany City Hall, which is an architectural monument of national importance.

Built in 1803-1811, the two-story City hall building with a clock tower reflects the typical Halician style of provincial urban planning of the early classicism period. It is the central architectural dominant of the Rynok Square in Berezhany.

On the ground floor there were shops, and on the second floor in 1805 the Berezhany Gymnasium was opened, where the writer and educator Markiian Shashkevych and the writer-literary critic and public figure Bohdan Lepky studied.

The Berezhany Museum of Local Lore opened here in 1980. The museum exposition is opened in 26 halls: "Natural Hall", "Archeology Hall", "Middle Ages and Cossack times in Berezhany", "Berezhany Gymnasium - center of education, science and culture", "Literary Berezhany", "Plast History and Political Repression Hall", "World War II", "Boyan Choir", "National Revival Hall", "Lemko Room", etc.

The model of Berezhany Castle attracts the attention of visitors, as well as exhibits that tell about the history of the Sieniawski family and the birth of Berezhany, the coat of arms of the Potocki dynasty.

Valuable artifacts are an authentic Cossack battle braid, Cossack cradles, a spearhead and a Cossack pistol.

A separate exposition is devoted to the history of the USS (Ukrainian Sich Riflemen) in the Berezhany region, in particular the battle on Mount Lysonya.

In addition, the Berezhany City Hall houses the Regional Communal Museum of Bohdan Lepky, the Museum of Sacred Art and Church History, and the Berezhany Book Museum.

The Berezhany Synyavsky Castle 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 Mykola Synyavsky. 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 Synyavsky tomb with marble tombstones by Yan Pfister was added to the church. Mykola Synyavsky and his sons Hiyeronim and Yan, as well as Hiyeronim'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 Synyavsky Castle 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 Blessed Yacub Strepa was founded in Staryi Skalat in 1910. The construction of the church in the neo-Romanesque style was completed in 1912.

In Soviet times, the building was used as a warehouse. The shrine was restored after Ukraine gained Independence in 1995-1997.

The Regional Municipal Museum of Bohdan Lepky in Berezhany opened in 1995 in the Berezhany City Hall on Rynok Square.

It was here that the Berezhany Gymnasium was located from 1805, where the outstanding Ukrainian poet, writer, literary critic and public figure Bohdan Lepky studied and later taught. Here he began to write his first poems and stories.

The main fund of the Bohdan Lepky Museum has about 3,500 exhibits. The exposition in six halls consists of lifetime editions of the writer's works, original photographs, various documents, textbooks, publications in German magazines and paintings. 

In addition, the Berezhany City Hall houses the Berezhany Museum of Local Lore, the Museum of Sacred Art and Church History, and the Berezhany Book Museum.

The Carmelite monastery-fortress with the Renaissance Church of the Assumption was built in Terebovlia on the banks of the Hnizna River in 1617 at the expense of Petro Ozhyha.

Surrounded by a fortress wall with four corner towers with loopholes. The most notable building of the monastery is the former Terebovlia parish church, the construction of which was completed in 1639. A miraculous icon of the Mother of God was kept here, which is now in Gdansk.

In Soviet times, the premises of the Carmelite monastery housed a Christmas tree toy factory.

In 1990, the complex was handed over to the community of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The church was rededicated as the Orthodox Church of Saint Volodymyr, a seminary was opened in the monastery premises.

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ was built in Zbarazh in the 18th century at the expense of the burgher Hryhoriy Hymonyuk, the construction was completed by Count Mykola Potoski.

Made in the Ukrainian Baroque style. It was preserved in a slightly modified form as a result of large-scale restoration works in 1879-1933.

Today, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ is active and belongs to the Greek-Catholic community of the city.

The monument to the ancient Rus prince Danylo Halytskyi, the unifier of Western Ukrainian lands, was erected in the center of Ternopil in 2002.

In the middle of the 13th century, Danylo Halytskyi managed to unite in his hands the Galicia-Volyn state, which he inherited from his father Roman Mstyslavych, and in 1254 he became the first king of Rus. He was also the first Rus ruler who was able to defeat the troops of the Golden Horde. Under him, the spread of Western culture and the European type of state and administrative management began in Rus lands.

The author of the equestrian monument to Danylo Halytskyi is the sculptor Bohdan Rudy.

The Denysiv Museum of Local Lore was opened in the village of Denysiv in 1967 on the initiative of the writer and prominent public figure Ivanna Blazhkevych, who donated a large number of folk embroideries, household items, paintings and a collection of ancient coins to the museum.

From the beginning, the exhibition was located in the building of the Denysiv School. In 1984, the museum was moved to the house of the prominent musical and cultural and public figure of Galicia, Father Yosyp Vitoshynsky.

In 1989, the Denysiv Museum of Local Lore was granted the status of a folk museum, and in 1993 - a state museum.

Over seven thousand exhibits of the museum are located in nine exhibition halls. These are objects of decorative and applied art, valuable documents, rare books and manuscripts, a collection of numismatics, including Ukrainian jubilee and commemorative coins, old and valuable photographs, a considerable number of tangible objects, works of fine art, archaeological finds, technical equipment, etc.

All of them are thematically divided into separate expositions: "For the Cossack family - no translation", "Interior of a peasant hut of the late 19th century", "The First World War", "Ukrainian Sich Riflemen", "Ukrainian People's Republic", "Activities of the OUN-UPA", "The Second World War", "Diorama: Ukraine rebelled on June 30, 1941", "UGD UNA", "Repressed and rehabilitated", "Literary and artistic Denysiv", "Post-war decades: the establishment of a collective farm, the evacuation of people from Lemko, Kholm, Posiannia, Poliashsha", "Education. Culture", "Political parties and cultural and public organizations", "Our glorious diaspora".

The local history museum has its branch - the museum-house of the writer Ivanna Blazhkevych.

In 2002, the Denysiv Museum of Local Lore was recognized as the best rural museum in the Ternopil region.

"Heritage" ethno-gallery was founded in Ternopil in 2016 by the family of entrepreneurs Taras and Iryna Demkur on the basis of their private collection of authentic Ukrainian national clothing, embroidered towels, adornment and household items.

The gallery space is located in the "Atrium" business center in the city center. About 5,000 rare examples of applied folk art from all over Ukraine are presented here. These are ethnic Ukrainian costumes, ancient women's adornment, collectible towels, Cossack and painted household icons, clay products, rare documents and much more. There are also artifacts of Trypillya culture, the Cossack era and the liberation movement of Ukraine.

The special pride of the "Heritage" ethno-gallery is the collection of Borshchiv embroidery, embroidered with black threads on white canvas. In 2020, Borshchiv folk embroidery was included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

It is possible to visit the gallery with a tour.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the village of Khmelyska was founded in 1897 as the Catholic chapel of Saint Yakub.

The temple was built by the Polish community of the village on land allocated by the landowner Rozenstok. In 1905, a parish house was built nearby. The chapel was damaged during the 1911 earthquake.

In 1931-1938, a new stone church of the Ascension was built according to the project of the architect Yan Karol Sas-Zubzhytskyi, the author of the Dominican Church in Chortkiv. Neo-Gothic influence is visible in the architecture.

In Soviet times, the church was closed and used as a warehouse.

Now the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has been revived.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Nadstavna) is the oldest church in Ternopil.

It was built by the founder of the city, crown hetman Jan Tarnovsky, on the site of the ancient Rus temple of the times of King Danylo Halytskyi. The church was located next to the western (Lvivsky) gate of Ternopil above the pond, which is why it received the second name "Nadstavna" or "Church above the pond".

In 1627, the bell tower was completed. Old Rus defensive architectural traditions are used. In 1959, the Exaltation Church was restored.

Belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Palace of the Golukhovskys in Strusiv is located on a cape formed by a loop of the Seret River.

It was built at the end of the 18th century by the Lyantskoronsky nobles, who decided to dismantle the old, dilapidated Strusiv castle. A two-story building in the Empire style was erected from the stone obtained during the dismantling of the castle.

At the end of the 19th century, Count Yuzef Golukhovsky, the son of the Austrian Minister of Internal Affairs and Governor of Galicia Agenor Golukhovsky, reconstructed the palace. The interiors were decorated with stucco and carved wood, crystal chandeliers and two-meter candelabra (fragments of the decor have been preserved).

The palace is surrounded by a balustrade, the central portal has 6 columns, the park facade is decorated with monumental stairs. A beautiful park descends from them to the banks of the Seret River, where a 250-year-old black Austrian pine grows, a natural monument of state importance.

Currently, the Strusiv boarding school for children with diseases of the cardiovascular system is located on the territory of the manor.