Attractions of Hamaliivka

Hamaliivka (Kharalampiivskyi) monastery is a monastery-prison, one of the most negative examples of the use of historical and architectural heritage in Ukraine.

Founded in 1702 as a hermitage at the wooden church of Saint Harlampius. In 1713, Hetman of Ukraine Ivan Skoropadskyi issued a charter and allocated funds for the construction of a women's monastery. He was buried right there in the ancestral crypt of the Harlampius church (white stone tombstones have been preserved), and the monastery actually became an ancestral tomb.

In 1735, the construction of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin was finished, the territory was surrounded by walls with towers and a belfry over the gate, stone cells and farm buildings appeared.

In the 18th century, the monastery burned twice and was rebuilt. It existed until 1924, when a nursing home and a children's shelter were opened here, and the cathedral was transformed into a cultural center.

In 1961, correctional and labor colony No. 66 of strict regime was established on the territory, the crypts of the Skoropadskyi were walled up, and the graves of the monks were dug up. It was only in 1994 that the restoration of the Harlampi church was carried out, and religious services for prisoners began to be held in it. The cathedral is still used as a workshop. The issue of returning the monastery to the Orthodox Church has not been resolved.