Attractions of Subotiv

The defensive Illinska church-tomb of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi is the only surviving building of the Khmelnytsky family estate in Subotiv.

The church was built in 1653 at the expense of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the Cossack Baroque style (depicted on the modern 5 hryvnia banknote). It is located on the castle grounds, where the fortified country residence of the hetman was located. It served as one of the fortification nodes of the Subotiv fortress, as evidenced by the keyholes in the embrasures on the gable.

After the death of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in 1657, the hetman was buried in his ancestral church-tomb.

The foundation of the defense tower, over which a protective pavilion was built, has also been preserved from the manor. Nearby - stone crosses of the 18th century, a Cossack cannon, a restored Ukrainian hut of the 18th century.

During Soviet times, the memorial museum of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was opened in the premises of the Illinska Church.

Today, the church is active, although part of the exposition of the Subotiv historical museum, located on the territory of the former Khmelnytsky manor, remains in it.

The Subotiv History Museum is located on the grounds of the ancestral estate of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in Subotiv.

The estate was founded in 1616 by the hetman's father Mykhaylo Khmelnytskyi (Khmil). After the death of his father, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi inherited the estate and built his fortified residence here with a defensive rampart, a fortress tower, and the Illinska Church, which also played the role of a fortification element of the fortress.

In 1648, during the absence of the owner, the Subotiv manor was seized by Danylo Chaplinskyi, the sub-mayor of Chyhyryn, who constipated Khmelnytskyi's young son to death and took possession of his bride Motrona (Helena) by force, which became the impetus for the uprising of the Cossacks under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

Ruling the Cossack state from Chyhyryn, Khmelnytsky often lived in Subotov. A few years after the death of the hetman, the estate was destroyed by the Poles, the fortress was destroyed. The foundation of the fortress tower, above which the pavilion was erected, has been preserved. The wooden watchtower and the entrance gate of the manor have been reconstructed.

The museum complex also includes two estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries "Ukrainian House", one of which reproduces the interior of a potter's workshop. A Cossack cannon is installed on the castle grounds.

"Three Wells" in Subotiv are wells preserved from the time of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, which supplied water to the Cossack hospital. They are located at the bottom of a deep gully on the southwestern edge of the village.

According to legend, three Cossacks dug a spring at the site, the waters of which healed them after being wounded by a local elder.

It is believed that the taste of water from each well is slightly different from the others.