Attractions of Cherkasy region

The city history museum was opened in the city of Bahacheve in 1997 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the city.

The museum has two exhibition halls and one exhibition hall with a total area of ​​180 square meters. The museum funds include over 2 thousand exhibits, among which are unique - mammoth bones, shark teeth. Exhibitions of works by local craftswomen of decorative and applied arts, artists, amateur photographers and works by students of the city art school are held here.

The art exhibition "Footstones of Bartosyk Generations" in Ivanky was opened in 2013 by the metal artist Sashko Bartosyk, the son of the famous Ukrainian monumental artist Mykola Bartosyk.

The art gallery is dedicated to the work of the Bartosyk family, where the central place is occupied by plastic compositions made of metal by the artist-blacksmith. The subject of his works: lyrics, love, philosophy of life.

According to the creator's plan, in the future the space of the gallery will be filled with his new sculptures and his daughter's creative works, various entertainment and educational activities will be held here.

The gallery is currently free to visit.

There is a shop on the first floor of the gallery, and a coffee shop in the basement.

The Museum of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in Chyhyryn is located in the two-story building of the district administration reconstructed in 1995.

The building was built at the beginning of the 19th century at the foot of Castle Hill, where the Lower Town of the Hetman's capital was located.

Museum collections include about 2,000 exhibits. The main place in the exposition is occupied by monuments of the Cossack era: weapons and equipment, objects of decorative and applied art, numismatics, household items. With their help, the material environment in which Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky lived and performed state affairs was recreated.

The pride of the museum is the series of paintings "Hetmans of Ukraine" by the People's Artist of Ukraine Danylo Narbut.

The wings of the building are occupied by the administration of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve of Chyhyryn.

Nearby is the restored Peter and Paul Church, as well as the chapel of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, in which the remains of 263 Cossacks and city residents who died during the Tatar raids of the 17th century are reburied.

The reconstruction of the complex of the fortified residence of Khmelnytskyi, embassy buildings and other buildings of the hetman's capital, on the basis of which the tourist historical and architectural complex "Residence of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi" was created, is being completed.

The artificial lake Buchak was formed on the site of the lower pit of the unfinished Kanivska HPP, the construction of which was started in 1984.

Construction was stopped after the accident at the Chornobyl NPP, and in 1992 it was completely frozen for economic reasons.

During construction, the village of Buchak was partially displaced and destroyed, part of the oak forest was uprooted, and the ecosystem of this area was disturbed. Currently, the issue of resuming the construction of the Kanivska HPP is under consideration.

Meanwhile, Lake Buchak, replenished with spring water, self-cleansing and overgrown with reeds on the banks, is a wonderful place for secluded recreation in nature. It has very clean water, fish are found there.

The Local Lore Museum of the village of Buchak in Cherkasy Region is the only museum institution on the Trakhtemyriv Peninsula. It created in 2021 at the initiative of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Trakhtemyriv" in partnership with the Society of Creative Initiatives "Buchak" thanks to the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund and the State Agency for Tourism Development.

The exposition of the Buchak Local Lore Museum presents the ancient historical, cultural and natural heritage of the Trakhtemyriv region, the history of the village and the artistic depiction of the picturesque Buchak in painting and cinema. Much attention is paid to traditional housing, everyday life and the peculiarities of crafts of the original Dnieper village.

In particular, visitors to the Buchak Local Lore Museum can learn about the centuries-old history of the settlement of the Trakhtemyriv Peninsula, which is confirmed by more than 80 archaeological sites. Although the village of Buchak itself is mentioned in documents only from the middle of the 18th century, it is known for certain that there was a settlement here from the 1st millennium BC (Scythian and Zarubynet cultures) and a large settlement from the times of Rus.

Of particular note are the materials about the period of the middle of the 20th century, when the outstanding Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko drew attention to Buchak as a location for filming. The exposition introduces many film works created in this "Hollywood on the Dnieper" by Serhiy Paradzhanov, Yuriy Illenko, Volodymyr Denisenko, Andrey Tarkovsky and others.

The exposition also mentions the tragic events of the 1980s, when the Soviet authorities destroyed most of the village for the construction of the Kaniv hydroelectric power station, and the subsequent restoration of the village by enthusiasts.

The old wooden windmill in Buchak is the only one of three mills preserved in this village-museum near Kaniv. It is located on a hill in the center of the village.

This traditional four-bladed pillar-type windmill was built in 1946 by a local craftsman Yevdokym Pidlisniy, who worked as a miller in the village. For half a century, this Buchak mill served the residents of the surrounding villages.

The windmill has survived to this day without the blades, but with all the other authentic mechanisms inside. Thanks to the initiative of the local community, the building has been preserved and electrified. Further restoration is planned.

The largest Buddhist temple "White Lotus" in Europe was founded in Cherkasy in 1988, built in the 1990s by followers of the "Sha-Fut-Fan" school of kung fu.

Its prototype is a Buddhist temple in Laos. The architectural project of the temple complex was initiated by Volodymyr Skubayev, the head of the Cherkasy Society of Buddhism. According to legend, during the laying of the foundation, an ancient stone was found on which the Buddha in the mask of a warrior is depicted. At the entrance to the cell, there are two figures of soldiers brought to Cherkasy from Tibet. In the ritual hall, the floor is covered with carpets, the walls are decorated with wood and velvet.

Followers of Buddhism study Thai boxing and kung fu here.

On Sundays, tours and tea ceremonies are held in "White Lotus". It is possible to organize a wedding ceremony.

Burty Hillfort is located 1 kilometer north of Chaplynka village. Earthen ramparts 10-12 meters high surround the territory of 1.9 hectares.

Traditionally, "Burty" is attributed to Scythian times (VI-VII centuries BC), however, recent research has revealed burials of the Bronze Age (2-3 millennia BC) in the center of the settlement.

In Cossack times, the ramparts were used as fortifications by the troops of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, then Colonel Semen Paliy. The "Black Path" of Tatar raids passed 8 kilometers to the northeast of "Burtiv". During the Korsun-Shevchenkskyi battle (World War II), German troops placed an artillery battery here, but they did not last long. At that time, the settlement occupied up to 12 hectares.

In the 1960s and 1970s, "Burty" was intensively plowed. Today, it is a monument not only of archeology, but also of nature, as representatives of the "Red Book of Ukraine" can be found among the local vegetation.

The remains of the fortifications of Chyhyryn from Cossack times have been preserved on Castle (Bohdanova) Hill in the center of the city.

The small Chyhyryn fortress, founded in the 16th century, served as an outpost of the Commonwealth of Nations, then as a Cossack fortress. The stone fortification measuring 200 by 150 meters was surrounded by walls with towers and bastions. In 1677, a 120,000-strong Turkish army unsuccessfully besieged the Chyhyryn fortress for 3 weeks, and only the following year did the Turks manage to capture it, returning with 200,000 forces.

Later, hetman Ivan Samoylovych's Cossacks recaptured Chyhyryn with the support of the Moscow army of Voivode Hrihoriy Romodanivskyi.

In the 19th century, the fortifications were almost completely dismantled for building materials, when a quarry was built on Castle Hill. Currently, there is a park here, in which there is a reconstructed Doroshenko bastion (XVI-XVII centuries), a stone cross in honor of the defenders of the Chyhyryn bastion (1912), a monument "Kobzar" at the foot and other sculptures. A majestic monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky 18.6 meters high (1967-82; sculptors Oleksiy Oliynyk, Makar Vronskyi) was erected on the top of the mountain.

At the foot of the Castle Hill is the chapel of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, in which the remains of Cossacks from the 17th century cemetery are reburied.

The complex is part of the Chyhyryn National Historical and Cultural Reserve. Excursions are conducted by employees of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Museum, located near the Hetman's residence at the foot of the Castle Hill.

The memorial complex with the monument "Motherland" in Cherkasy is located on the territory of an ancient castle, on the site of the Holy Trinity Church, which was destroyed during the Soviet regime.

According to one version, during Cossack times, the Cherkasy fortress was located on this small hill. In fact, in different periods there were three fortresses in Cherkasy. An ancient Rus settlement of the 14th century and the remains of the Cherkasy fortress of the 18th century were located on the site of the current Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Park on Castle Hill  (now there is a stele in honor of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and a monument to Ivan Pidkova), and on the site of Hill of Glory there was a reserve fortification, on the territory of which in 1863, a stone Trinity Church was built instead of the wooden church of the same name in the lower town.

All architectural and archaeological monuments were completely destroyed during the construction of the Glory monument. The church was blown up in 1961, the cultural layer was removed in 1965 during the construction of the Hill of Glory, and in 1977 the Memorial of Glory with the bronze monument "Motherland" was opened.

A large panorama of the Kremenchuk Reservoir opens from the top of the hill.

The Roman Catholic church in Moshny was built in the 1850s at the expense of Yelyzaveta Vorontsova, the widow of Count Mykhaylo Vorontsov.

During Soviet times, the temple was closed. Until now, the building is used as one of the production buildings of the mill.

Kamyanka Central Park is located on the slope of a steep mountain above Tyasmyn. These are the remains of a large romantic park that was founded at the end of the 18th century around the landowner's estate of the Davydov family, which stood on the mountain.

Heroes of the war of 1812, the Decembrists, Pushkin, Petro Chaykovskyi visited the park. After Vasyl Davydov, the owner of the estate, was exiled to Siberia, the park fell into desolation. In 1926, to the 100th anniversary of the execution of the Decembrists, the park was named in their honor. And only in 1975, to the 150th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising, the park was cleared and put in order. In the same year, a monument to Pushkin (author Vira Shatukh), the composition "The Decembrists in Kamyanka" (authors Makar Vronskyi and Volodymyr Chepelyk, architect - Vasyl Hnyezdylov), the stele of the Decembrists were erected.

In one of the cozy corners of the park is the Grotto of the Decembrists. It was built at the end of the 18th century as an architectural decoration of the park. A grotto is arranged in the hill, it is always cool inside, good acoustics. Pushkin liked to rest in it, which is why it is now sometimes called Pushkin's Grotto. Many legends are associated with him. It is said that the Decembrists gathered in the grotto and talked about political topics. According to legend, a secret underground passage connected the grotto with the "Green House", which the Decembrists could use in case of danger. Later, the grotto lost its importance as a place of rest and was used as a fruit and wine cellar. It was restored in 1982. Interesting literary and musical evenings are held here, united under the name "Summer Meetings in the Grotto", as well as the All-Ukrainian Literary Festival.

The Cherkasy Academic Puppet Theater is located in the central part of the city, in a building that is an architectural monument of the 19th century.

The building belongs to the so-called "model houses", the author of which was the architect Luyidzhi Rusca. At the beginning of the 19th century, he released the album "Exemplary facades", which were used to build many Ukrainian cities. From the moment of construction, not only the walls and ceilings, but also the carpentry, and even the fittings with the monograms of the firm "M. and H. Babashov. 1850" have been preserved.

Since the 1970s, the building has been used by a puppet theater. The front side of the building is decorated with a mosaic with characters from children's fairy tales.

The Cherkasy Regional Art Museum is housed in the former Communist Party's city committee, which was vacated after the August 1991 events.

The exposition is formed from the former private collections of Count Bobrynsky, Princes Lopukhin, Bilokopytov, which were transferred in 1918 to the Cherkasy Historical and Pedagogical Museum named after Taras Shevchenko.

The Department of Decorative and Applied Arts introduces the folk art of the middle Dnipro. The second chapter presents the iconography of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the beautiful portrait painting of the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Cherkasy Regional Museum of Local Lore is located in a modern building built in 1985 in the historic center of the city, near the Hill of Glory (Castle Hill). The project was designed by local architects Kondratsky, Sobchuk, Fursenko.

In 30 halls there are sections of the nature of the region, archeology, ethnography, history of the region XIV - beg. XX century, as well as new and modern history from 1917 to the present. A total of 12,000 exhibits were presented.

Cossack flags and a copy of Bohdan Khmelnytsky's first letter to Russian Tsar Oleksiy Mykhaylovych asking for help in the war with Poland, written in Cherkasy on June 8, 1648, are kept in Cherkasy Regional Museum of Local Lore.

Other rare objects of Cossack times are presented, including stove tiles of the second floor. XVII century with a relief plot "Three Musketeers" and the inscription "Zholdak".