Right by the bus stop on the Stryi — Zhydachiv road stands a monument in honour of the abolition of serfdom, erected in 1848. In the 1960s it was destroyed, and in 1990 it was restored. In Austria the peasant reform was carried out under pressure from the revolutionary movement, including the Galician popular uprising. When peasant obligations were abolished in 1848, crosses were put up everywhere in memory of that event.
As I approached the village, I saw a war memorial on a slight rise even from a distance. It was unveiled on 9 May 1968 and has lost its handsome appearance over that time. The inscriptions on the stele have almost entirely worn away, and the surnames of the soldiers who died in the Second World War were impossible to read. Part of the monument has crumbled, leaving a pedestal with its reinforcing bars showing. The memorial grounds did not look neglected, and a basket of artificial flowers confirmed that people do come here from time to time.
Further on the distillery came into view, founded back in 1911. And on the new building the figures «1982» are laid out. For more than 100 years Uhersko has been producing ethyl alcohol, varnishes, paints and other chemical products.
The main street, Ivan Franko Street, was crowded that day: elections to the local councils were being held, and people were going to cast their votes in the hope of a peaceful and happy future for their children. They walked in families and in groups, in good spirits, dressed for a holiday. The polling station was housed in the House of Culture, which was built in 1988 as a single complex with the school and the village council.
People live not only in the private sector, there are blocks of flats as well. A water tower rose among them, with the state flag and a satellite dish fixed to it. In many places such towers no longer work. This one functions and supplies water. There too, amid greenery and flowers, sits the kindergarten.
Beside the school there is a swimming pool, a sports ground and a football pitch. I have noticed that small football pitches are met with quite often in the Lviv region, there are many local teams.
In the very centre of the village, in 1989, a monument to T. H. Shevchenko and I. Ya. Franko was erected under the name «Unity». On two stelae are bronze bas-reliefs of the Kobzar and the Kameniar and the inscription «In unity lies the strength of the people».
Beyond the park with its playground stands another handsome monument, «To the Fighters for the Freedom of Ukraine».
On this same street, in 1913, the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord was built to a design by the Lviv architects O. Lopushynskyi and T. Obliminskyi. The church clock on the wall, installed with diaspora funds as a gift to their native village, showed the exact time. On the church grounds is the small mound of a symbolic Cossack grave with a cross.
I do not know why the bust of Volodymyr Kulchytskyi, the village teacher, was set not by the school but beside the church. Kulchytskyi was the creator and conductor of the brass band and the initiator of the «Silskyi Hospodar» society. He ran the «A Good and Clever Book» circle, encouraging young people to read. In 1944, after his arrest by the NKVD, he served a term of imprisonment in Irkutsk.
While waiting for the bus, which comes no more than once an hour, I looked at the handsome houses and the autumn flowers beside them. The people of Uhersko were coming back from the vote, and everyone greeted me, as is the custom in this area: «Glory to Jesus Christ» — «Glory forever». With this greeting you wish a person health before the Lord God.
From the bus window I saw a tree fenced round with a chain. The plaque read: «Franko's Oak». Such oaks can be met with often. They were planted either by I. Ya. Franko himself during his travels or by residents in memory of the writer's stay in their village. The trees are always cherished, they are on the register and they are cared for. A pity I did not know, and it was right beside the bus stop.
About the Lake of Geologists, a natural monument to a man-made accident at the gas field in Uhersko, you can read here.
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| Uhersko. The Lake of Geologists |
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Угерсько. Пам'ятки прикарпатського села з 600-річною історією
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