Novi Petrivtsi

The "Mezhyhirya" national significance park-monument of landscape gardening art was officially created in 2023 on the basis of the Mezhyhirya government residence - a former suburban residential complex in Novi Petrivtsi near Kyiv, which gained scandalous fame during the tenure of the ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and became the most famous symbol of corruption in Ukraine.

The residence was founded in 1935 on the site of the ancient Mezhyhirya Transfiguration Monastery, founded in the 12th century. During Soviet times, all monastic buildings were demolished, and in their place a recreation complex with the country house of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, popularly known as "Dacha Shcherbytskoho", was placed.

In 2002, "Mezhyhirya" became the residence of Viktor Yanukovych, who was then the Prime Minister of Ukraine. After becoming president, Yanukovych privatized the residence with an area of 137 hectares and launched large-scale construction here through the use of false structures. The complex includes: the club house "Khonka" (the main palace), the old house of Yanukovych, a guest house ("Putin's House"), the "Galeon" landing stage, a sports complex, a spa center, a golf club, a yacht club, a garage with a collection cars, a zoo, a dog center, a huge park with artificial lakes, and more.

After the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime and the ex-president's flight to Russia in 2014, access to the "Mezhyhirya" residence was open to all. For almost ten years, the object was in an uncertain status. It was cared for by volunteers of the public organization "NPU Mezhyhirya", and they set a fee for visits and excursions. In 2023, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the creation of "Mezhyhirya" national significance park-monument of landscape gardening art.

On the territory of the park there are walking tours with a visit to "Khonka" and the health center, sightseeing tours on electric cars. Bicycles can be rented. For an additional fee, you can visit the canine center, where more than 70 dogs are kept, and the retro car museum, where about 40 pieces of machinery (cars, trucks, military equipment, motorcycles) are presented. La petite Ecurie Equestrian Club offers horse riding lessons and carriage rides. There are barbecue and coffee shops on the territory.

The private ethnographic complex "Savka House" in Novi Petrivtsi includes two authentic old Ukrainian manors: a wealthy peasant's house from 1786 and a gentleman's house from 1854.

The first one has been in its place for over two hundred years, the second one was transported from the village of Meleni in Zhytomyr region. There is a well, a cellar, a farm yard with a forge and a forge. During the excursion, visitors are offered to grind flour with their own hands with the help of stone millstones, work in a forge, and watch the work of masters of folk crafts.

After the excursion, you can taste the best dishes of Ukrainian national cuisine, prepared in a wood-fired oven according to ancient recipes. A professional folk group performs folk music.

The Bell Well in Novi Petrivtsi is an ancient spring in the Mezhyhirya tract, the only surviving object of the Kyiv-Mezhyhirya Savior-Transfiguration Monastery.

According to legend, the monks set up a whole system of bells above the spring, which rang melodiously, hence the name (according to another version, church bells were cast here).

The founding of the monastery is attributed to Prince Volodymyr the Great or Prince Andriy Boholyubsky, although Mezhyhirya is first mentioned in the documents of the XV century as a Cossack monastery. Hetmans Petro Sahaidachnyi and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi looked after him. A military hospital and a shelter for veterans were maintained at the expense of the Cossacks. In 1843. Taras Shevchenko visited here, describing Mezhyhirya in the poem "Chernets" (the Shevchenko oak has been preserved - 4.4 meters in girth).

In 1935, the monastery was blown up, in its place was created a closed country village of the party elite (the so-called "Scherbytsky's dacha", later - the residence of Viktor Yanukovych "Mezhyhirya"). It was possible to preserve only the spring, which is famous for the taste and healing properties of iron-rich water. In 2005, a small chapel was built, then a bathhouse, and in 2011, the wooden church of the Transfiguration of the Lord Mezhyhirya was consecrated (services are held on weekends and holidays at 12:00).

The brick temple of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Novy Petrivtsi was built at the beginning of the 20th century in the Rus-Byzantine style.

During Soviet times, the church was closed. From 1990 to 1993, the diorama "Liutizh Bridgehead" was exhibited in the premises.

Now the temple is active. There is a monument to the Liutizh Bridgehead nearby.

National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Military Achievements (former State Museum-Reserve "Battle for Kyiv 1943") in Novi Petrivtsi recreates the situation of the famous Liutizh military operation to liberate the capital of Ukraine from Nazi invaders in 1943-1944.

Defensive structures, dugouts, military equipment, and an exhibition of uniforms and weapons have been preserved on an area of 9 hectares.

Impressive diorama "Battle for Kyiv. Lyutizh bridgehead. 1943." opened in 1980.

Every year before the Day of Remembrance and the Day of Liberation of Kyiv, theatrical performances take place on the territory of the museum, which recreate the battles for Kyiv.

In 2022, a new exhibit - the Russian Mi-35N helicopter - appeared in the exposition of the National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Military Achievements. It was on February 24, the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that a Russian Mi-35N helicopter (RF-13024) was shot down by a soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine over the Kyiv Reservoir. The helicopter was part of an air attack on the military airfield in Gostomel, Kyiv region. In May 2022, the downed helicopter was raised from the bottom of the Kyiv Sea.