Attractions of Drohobych

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Bartholomew was founded in Drohobych in 1392 by the Polish king Vladyslav II Yahaylo, but it was consecrated only in 1511.

The massive Gothic building of the church was built on the basis of the princely palace of the Galicia-Volyn principality. A powerful defense tower located nearby, which was part of the city fortifications on Castle Hill, began to serve as the bell of the church. Over the centuries, the building was rebuilt several times.

In Soviet times, the church premises were used as a warehouse. In 1989, the temple was returned to the Roman Catholic community of the city.

Gothic white stone portals, wall paintings and stained-glass windows of the 19th century based on drawings by famous artists Yan Mateyko, Stanislav Vyspyansky and Yuzef Mehoffer have been preserved in the interiors.

The walls are reinforced with buttresses. On the northern wall of the church there are unusual white stone reliefs - three windows depicting a palm, foot and head in a papal tiara. Some sources call them symbols of Catholic rule, others consider these symbols to be pagan.

The marble decoration of the door with two swords reminds of the inhabitants of the city who died in the Battle of Grunwald.

The historical and memorial complex "Prison on Stryiska" was opened in 2013 in the former torture chamber of the NKVD, which was located in the inner courtyard of the District Court building in Drohobych.

During the Second World War and in the first years of the Soviet occupation, at least 1,200 residents of Drohobychchyna were tortured and shot here.

The former building of the Imperial District Court in Drohobych is one of the most beautiful in Drohobych, but at the same time it is a symbol of totalitarianism and repression of the four occupation regimes. The three-story building in the historicist style was erected at the beginning of the 20th century, becoming one of the largest courts in Galicia. In addition to 20 judges, there was a court office and a temporary prison. In the interwar period, the Polish authorities placed a city court here.

The same premises were also used as a court during the German occupation of 1941-1944. But the most terrible glory of the "Drohobych torture house" was acquired in the years 1939-1941 and 1944-1959, when the Drohobych Directorate of the NKVD was located here with an internal prison, where local residents were tortured and shot en masse.

Currently, it is the building of the Institute of Physics, Mathematics, Economics and Innovative Technologies of the Drohobych State Pedagogical University.

In 2013, on the site of the former torture chamber, the memorial "Prison on Stryiska" was created according to the project of Drohobych architect Maksym Chirka, and a museum, which is a subdivision of the Drohobychchyna Museum, was opened.

The exhibition tells about Stalin's terror and repression in the western Ukrainian lands: the occupation and establishment of Soviet power in Drohobych region, the creation of Drohobych region, the repression of the NKVD-NKGB in Drohobych region. A photo-martyrologist of NKVD-NKGB victims is presented. The review of the personal belongings of the tortured, instruments of murder and torture, found during the research of the territory of the former torture chamber, causes special excitement.

The Basilian Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Drohobych is one of the best examples of sacred architecture in the city of the 19th century.

The monastery was founded in 1775. The current complex was built in 1828 on the initiative of hegumenYosafat Kachanovsky, after the old wooden Peter and Paul monastery of the Basilian fathers burned down.

During the Soviet rule, the monastery was closed, many monks were tortured in the torture chambers of the NKVD.

Since 1992, the Basilian Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Drohobych has been operating again.

The villa of Burgomaster Reymond Yarosh, who ruled Drohobych from 1909 until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is the decoration of Tarasa Shevchenko Street (former Panska Street).

A two-story house in the style of Viennese secession, richly decorated with stucco, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by entrepreneurs Shpitsman , local oil magnates. When the Shpitsman left Drohobych, located on the most prestigious street of the city, on the eve of the First World War, the villa was bought from them by burgomaster Reymond Yarosh.

In the period between the First and Second World Wars, Yarosh not only contributed to the strengthening of the economy of Drohobych, but also initiated the rapid development of the resort of Truskavets.

Until recently, Yarosh's villa was used as a city palace for schoolchildren. Currently, the dean's office and classrooms of the Faculty of Biology of the DrohobychState Pedagogical University are located here.

The largest synagogue in Eastern Halicia was built in 1842-1865 for the numerous Jewish community of Drohobych, which played an important role in the economic life of the city.

Neo-Romanesque elements characteristic of the German "Rundbogen" style are used in the architecture of the temple. The synagogue in the German city of Kassel was taken as a model for the design. Along the perimeter of the inner walls, in each of the fields, there are 12 semicircular arches that correspond to the number of tribes of Israel. The combination of annexes and pylons gives the facade of the synagogue a monumental appearance.

After the end of the Second World War, a salt warehouse was placed in the premises of the Choral Synagogue, then a furniture store, and food warehouses were located in the annexes.

After Ukraine gained independence, the synagogue was returned to the local Jewish community. After the restoration, the synagogue was opened in 2018, and on July 3, 2019, the Torah was solemnly brought to the synagogue.

The tall clock tower of the current Drohobych City Hall rose above the city in 1927, when Drohobych returned to the Polish state, but the traditions of self-government in the city are much older.

Drohobych received Magdeburg rights in 1460, and then the first wooden city hall was built. By 1829, this building was very old and unusable, so a new Austrian-style city hall was built, this time made of stone. The need for a new building arose after the First World War. The architects of the project were Yan Semkevych and Maryan Nikodymovych.

A square three-story house surrounds a small courtyard. The main building is a marble meeting hall. The building houses the Museum of Scales, which has more than 500 exhibits.

The Tourist Information Center of Drohobych is also located here, which, in particular, organizes tours to the city hall tower, which allow you to see the clock mechanism and see the best panorama of the city.

Drohobych imperial-royal gymnasium named after Frants Yosyf I was opened in Drohobych in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1867-1875, the future writer Ivan Franko studied here (a commemorative plaque was installed).

In 1896, the gymnasium was moved to a new three-story building, and the Queen Yadviha Girls' Gymnasium was located in this building.

Now the former building of the gymnasium is occupied by the Faculty of Philology of the Drohobych Pedagogical University. Adjacent to the building is the university park, in which a monument to Adam Mitskevych was erected back in 1894 (the sculpture was restored after the Second World War).

Drohobych Salt Plant is a museum enterprise that has been operating continuously since the 13th century to the present day. It is considered one of the oldest continuously operating industrial enterprises in the world and the oldest in Ukraine.

The saltworks in Drohobych were first mentioned in 1250. Since then, it has been working continuously in the same place - near the lakes of salt oil, from which salt is extracted by evaporation. It was around this enterprise that the city of Drohobych developed, becoming an important industrial and trade center of Galicia.

The Drohobych Salt Plant reached their peak during the Austrian era. The technical base was updated in Soviet times, salt production reached 10-11 thousand tons per year, but now the technology has returned to the artisanal level. Today, this is the only enterprise in Europe where salt is made using the same method as it was used thousands of years ago - by boiling it from natural oil. Drohobych Salt Plant produces approximately 700 kilograms of salt every day.

Until recently, the plant was leased by CJSC "Drohobych-Halka", but in 2013 the enterprise was returned to state ownership. It is planned to build a new shop and create a museum on the basis of old industrial premises.

Excursions are conducted.

The Drohobych Tower is the oldest building of the early medieval period preserved in Drohobych.

Powerful stone and wooden defensive structures were built in the 13th century, during the times of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

In the 16th century, the monumental church of Saint Bartholomew was built on the territory of the castle, and the tower was used as its bell tower. In the 19th century, the rest of the city fortifications were dismantled, defensive ditches were filled in, and a third tier with arched windows was built above the bell tower.

In front of the tower is a monument to the medieval scientist Yuriy Drohobych, who was the rector of the University of Bologna and the teacher of Nicolaus Copernicus.

The historical department, the nature department and the administration of the "Drohobychchyna" museum are located in the former building of the Drohobych County Council (1894).

The exposition of the museum, opened in 1940, was based on the collections of Count Lyantskoronsky, the Khyriv Jesuit School, as well as part of the collection of the Sambir Museum. In particular, the oldest earthenware on the territory of Prykarpattya, a bronze treasure of the Early Iron Age, a certificate of confirmation of Drohobych's Magdeburg right, scales for weighing salt, a public cash register of the 16th century, a collection of coins of the 14th-19th centuries, and others are presented.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UPA, a model diorama "Insurgent Hideout" was opened, which was made according to the description of the UPA commander Stepan Stebelskyi.

A branch of the "Drogobychchyna" museum is the historical-memorial complex "Prison on Stryiska" in the former building of the County Court.

The wooden three-log church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Drohobych is considered one of the best buildings in the style of Galician folk architecture.

The temple was founded in the 16th century, but as a result of the reconstruction in 1661, it lost its original appearance.

Monumental tempera painting of the 17th century and unique examples of icon painting of the 15th-18th centuries have been preserved.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is located in the suburb of Drohobych Zvarychy, on the territory of the fire department. Nearby is a wooden bell tower of the 17th century.

The gallery of sacred art in Drohobych was opened in 1996 in a building that was built at the beginning of the 20th century by Vice-Burgomaster Yakub Fayyershteyn.

The facade of a small building in the art nouveau style has been completely preserved.

Particularly valuable exhibits are ancient Boykiv icons of the 16th-20th centuries. Also in the exposition: sacred sculpture, decorative carvings, forged crosses, handwritten church books and old prints, priest's clothing, etc.

The wooden church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva Pyatnytsya in the Drohobych suburb of Zavyzhne is located near two masterpieces of Drohobych wooden architecture - the churches of Saint George and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

It was built in 1815 on the site of the ancient Pyatnytsya Church, which existed in 1496. The temple is three-log, one-story. There is a defensive bell tower nearby.

During Soviet times, the church of Saint Paraskeva was closed, now it belongs to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The authenticity of the wooden architecture hides the modern tin covering.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Drohobych was built in 1690-1709 in the Baroque style as a Catholic church of the Carmelite monastery.

In 1808, the church passed to the Basilians and was consecrated as the Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity. In 1909, an iconostasis was installed (carving was performed by Lviv master Andriy Sabaray, icons were painted by Modest Sosenko). In the 1930s, the walls were painted by Ivan Bal.

In recent years, the Trinity Cathedral in Drohobych was completely restored. Currently, it is the main church of the Sambir-Drohobych eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

On the anniversary of the execution of the participants of the Revolution of Dignity on the Maidan in Kyiv, a memorial sign was installed on the facade of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in honor of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred and fallen soldiers of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Parish Museum, created in 2014 on the first anniversary of Bishop Yuliyan's death, operates in the basement of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The museum premises consist of three halls.

In the first hall, antimins consecrated by bishops in various historical periods of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as well as liturgical books and items of church use, are on display for inspection. ​In the second hall, personal belongings and paraphernalia related to the activities of Bishop Yuliyan (Voronovsky) are on display. In the third hall (crypts for burials), bishop vestments and liturgy items used by Bishop Yuliyan are on display.

Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University of Drohobych was established in 1940.

Its main building was built in 1896 as a gymnasium, which before that was located in a smaller building at the opposite end of the University Park (now the Faculty of Philology of the University is located there).

In 1939, the world-famous writer and artist Bruno Shults, who died during the Second World War in the Drohobych ghetto, taught here. A writer's museum has been opened in Shults's teacher's office, where the first editions of his works are presented.