Attractions of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi

The Historical Museum of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi State Historical and Cultural Reserve is located on the territory of the Stanislav Ponyatovsky Palace in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, and operates as a research department of the reserve.

More than 2,000 exhibits in six halls reveal the history of Korsun in the context of the history of all of Ukraine from ancient times to the present. Fragments of Trypillya pottery, items from Cimmerian and Scythian burials, Slavic ornaments, a Polish cannon, armor and weapons of Poles, Ukrainians and Moscow archers are presented.

Also on display are items from the Stanisław Poniatowski Palace.

The dioramas "Anti-serfdom uprising of 1855 in the Korsun region" and "Battle of Korsun in 1648" give a clear idea of the key historical events of the region.

Separate sections of the exposition tell about collectivization and the Holodomor, about the participation of Korsuns in the First and Second World Wars, the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 and the Russian-Ukrainian War.

The palace and park complex in Korsun, on the islands in the middle of the Ros River, was founded in 1782 by Prince Stanislav Ponyatovsky as his own summer residence.

The Ponyatovsky Palace was built in 1787-1789 on the basis of the old Polish fortress of the Vyshnevetsky princes, who in turn were created on the site of the Ancient Rus Korsun settlement. The project of the palace in the neo-Gothic style was developed by architects Zhan-Anri Myunts and Yan Lindsey.

The new owner, Prince Pavlo Lopukhin, significantly changed its architecture in the middle of the 19th century, giving it features of Russian romanticism with elements of neo-Gothic and classicism. The last owners of the Korsun estate were the Lopukhin-Demidov princes.

After the Soviet-Ukrainian war, the manor was miraculously preserved and has survived almost unchanged to this day. The famous silhouette of the Ponyatovsky Palace is created by the keel-shaped kokoshniks, above which the belvedere towers rise. Nearby is a large three-story outbuilding (1782-1783), which was connected to the palace by the Order Gallery. The entrance gate in the form of French defensive architecture was built in the middle of the 19th century (there is a cafe in the basement). Other manor buildings have been preserved: the service building, the "Swiss house", the Orthodox chapel.

Most of Kotsyubynsky Island is now occupied by a luxurious landscape park (area of 100 hectares, 80 species of trees and shrubs) with bridges, gazebos, sculptures and a romantic grotto. It is especially beautiful in the spring, when the lilac is blooming.

In Soviet times, the exhibition of the museum of the history of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi battle was placed in the premises of the Ponyatovsky Palace. An exhibition of military equipment was on display in the square in front of the palace. In April 2022, at a meeting of the Scientific and Methodological Council of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Reserve, a decision was made to dismantle the exposition of the museum of the history of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Battle and change its name to the "Military Museum" with the creation of a new exposition in the Ponyatovsky Palace.

The new exposition presents the works of artists of different times and different directions, styles, and techniques. These are, in particular, the works of unknown Italian sculptors of the 18th century (at one time they decorated the palace), the Italian engraver Domeniko Kuneho, the Ukrainian artist Ivan Soshenko, the Italian sculptor Luyidzhi Yorini, the Hungarian artist Syhizmund Bubiks, a lithograph from the work of a Polish artist of Ukrainian origin, Yuliush Kossak, works local artist Herontiy Bondarenko and Ukrainian artists of the 20th-21st centuries Mykola Prokopenko, Borys Fedorenko, Serhiy Shyshko, Andriy Chebykin, Serhiy Dupliy, Oksana Tymkiv.

You can also see the palace projects of the palace and the palace ensemble, the originals of which are kept in the Cabinet of Drawings of the Library of the University of Warsaw; photos of the interiors of the palace from the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century; copies of drawings and lithographs of the 18th and 19th centuries, in particular, by Zhan-Anri Myunts, the Polish artist Napoleon Horda, Vanicek, the French lithographers Fransua-Zhozef Dyupresuar and Yevheniy Hyuho, the Polish artist Adolf Kozarsky.

Porcelain and ceramics from the collection of Canadian citizen Olena Berykul-Kryvoruchko, representing 20 countries of the world, is exhibited in a separate hall. Most products are from England, Japan, China, Italy, Germany, USA, France. A separate hall is also dedicated to sacred art, where, among other icons, the icon of the icon painter Hryhori Stetsenko, the father of the composer Kyrylo Stetsenko, and icons restored by the artist and icon painter Oksana Tymkiv will be presented.

The exposition include museum objects of everyday life, which characterize the era of the 18th - 19th centuries.

Ukrainian artist and teacher Ivan Soshenko is buried in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, where he died in 1876 during a trip to his native Bohuslav.

Soshenko was one of the closest friends of the poet Taras Shevchenko, took an active part in his release from serfdom. Later helped him enter the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

A memorial stone with a memorial plaque and a later tombstone - a muse with a palette and brushes in hand above a scroll with a portrait of the artist - were installed on Soshenko's grave.

Korsun-Shevchenkivska HPP is one of the first small hydroelectric power stations in Ukraine.

It was commissioned in 1934. According to its technical indicators, it was one of the best stations of that time, and became the basis of the first rural power system in the USSR.

The dam is located on the Ros River, forming a small reservoir.

In 2007, the Korsun-Shevchenkivska HPP dam was reconstructed. Today, the power plant has a capacity of 100 kW.

Art Gallery of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi State Historical and Cultural Reserve is located on the third floor of a three-story outbuilding of the Stanislav Ponyatovsky Palace in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, and is part of the research department of the reserve.

Paintings, graphics and sculptures of the 18th-21st centuries are exhibited in 14 museum halls. In particular, three works by the famous Ukrainian artist and pedagogue of the XIX century, one of Taras Shevchenko's closest friends Ivan Soshenko are presented: "Forum of Julius in Ancient Rome", "Temple of Vesta - an ancient Italian temple in Rome", "Port in Kumy. Italy". During the restoration of Soshenko's latest painting on the reverse, an engraving "Port in Kumy" by the famous Italian artist and engraver Domenico Cunego with a similar plot was discovered, which now occupies a special place in the exhibition.

Also presented are paintings by Luigi Iorini, Oleksandr Lopukhov, Vasyl Nepiypyvo, Andriy Chebykin, Mykola Yesipenko, some modern masters.

A huge monument to Rosych, a legendary inhabitant of the historic Korsun, was erected in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi in 1982 on Zeleny Island, which is located half a kilometer upstream from the HPP dam.

Officially, the monument is called "Cities-Outposts of Kyivan Rus", but primarily it symbolizes the version of the origin of the name of the ancient Slavic state of Rus and the Rusychi people (Rosychy) from the toponym Ros.

Authors of the monument: sculptor Edvard Kuntsevych and architect Borys Mykytenko.