Bila Tserkva

The Roman Catholic Church of John the Baptist was built in Bila Tserkva in 1812-1813 by Count Ksaveriy Branytskyi on Castle Hill, where the nursery was located during the princely times.

According to one of the versions, an ancient church stood on this place, which gave the city its name. Branytskyi built the church in memory of his son Oleksandr, who died in childhood.

In the plan of the building lies the Latin cross, traditional for Catholic architecture, stretched on the east-west axis. The interior of the church is decorated with ornamental moldings with openwork rosettes complex in terms of plot and technique. The church is painted with monumental paintings by unknown masters. A white marble stele in memory of Kateryna Branitska-Sanhushko has been preserved on one of the walls.

In 1990, the organ of the Czech firm Rieger-Kloss was established. Today, the Church of John the Baptist is the Bila Tserkva city organ and chamber music hall with a 300-seat hall.

The "Oleksandriya" State Dendrological Park of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was established in Bila Tserkva in 1793 by the crown hetman Frantsishek Ksaveriy Branytskyi and named after his wife Oleksandra.

Park was considered one of the best in Europe. The plan was developed by the French park developer Muffo. The park ''Oleksandriya" covers more than 200 hectares, has 25 reservoirs, and has 2,500 species of plants, including those from South America, China, and Japan: red oak, tulip tree, Kobus magnolia, Japanese rhododendron, and others.

The basis for planning the arboretum is the Great Lawn, from which a network of alleys, decorated with park architecture and sculptures, runs for 20 kilometers: "Romantic Ruins", "Chinese Bridge", "Lion" spring and others. The "Echo" colonnade has unique acoustics: a word spoken in a whisper at one end of the colonnade is heard at the opposite end. According to legend, Prince Potemkin-Tavriyskyi is buried under the Rotunda.

The summer palace of the Branytskys was destroyed during the Soviet period, but the "Ball Pavilion" has already been restored in its original form.

In the garden "Wall" (year 1816) with an area of 3.5 hectares, surrounded by a stone wall 3 meters high, more than 300 varieties of fruit and berry crops from all continents of the world are grown (tours with tastings are held).

The highest point of the park "Oleksandriya" is Paliy Hill, on which a monument to Semen Paliy is erected.

The building of the "Economic Yard" now houses the directorate and Living Nature, Flora and Fauna Museum of the Park "Oleksandriya", which features marble park sculptures. You can buy seedlings here.

The Church of Saint George the Victorious on Zamkova Hill (Castle Hill) in Bila Tserkva was restored in 2013 at almost the same place where in 1032 Prince Yaroslav the Wise laid the foundation of the first church and the city of Yuryev.

According to legend, the white stone church that survived after the Mongol-Tatar invasion gave the city its current name. In Lithuanian-Polish times, a castle was built on the site of the child, and the church was dismantled. Its foundations were discovered in the 1980s by archaeologist Ruslan Orlov.

Restoration of the Church of Saint George was initiated in 2011 by the Charitable Foundation of Kostyantyn Yefimenko. The project was developed by the architect Vyacheslav Mishchenko, based on the plan of foundations discovered by archaeologists and the appearance of typical ancient Rus temples of the XI-XIII centuries. In the basements, it is planned to open a museum of Zamkova Hill with an exhibition of finds made during construction. The original, preserved foundations will be covered by a glass pavilion.

A monument to Yaroslav the Wise has been erected nearby.

The Church of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene was built in the 18th century at the expense of Countess-patron Oleksandra Branytska (Enhelhardt), who vowed to build 12 Orthodox churches. It was the only temple built outside the historical center of Bila Tserkva - on Zarichchya.

The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene is built in the classical style, the bell tower is attached directly to it.

During the Soviet rule, it was one of the few functioning churches of the White Church. In 2001, the construction of the great monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene began.

The complex of shopping rows in Bila Tserkva was built at the beginning of the 19th century by Count Branytskyi.

Built in the style of early classicism, the enclosed guest courtyard faces the square with large arches with formal porticos along the axis of the four facades. Porticos played a large compositional role, closing the perspective of four mutually perpendicular streets, planned along the axes of the square Market Square. The originally designed shopping complex with an area of about 5,000 square meters was designed for 85 benches. The opening of shopping streets significantly stimulated trade in Bila Tserkva and contributed to the expansion of the Jewish community.

The old shopping rows is still used for its intended purpose - shops and cafes are located here. Various festivals and cultural events take place on the territory.