I ride along, looking out of the window, observing and committing things to memory. Passing the station of Hnizdychiv, I noticed in the distance a kostel with a tall tower.
I asked a woman who had got on at this station what the building was. She told me about the kostel, about the villages of Hnizdychiv and neighbouring Ruda. She even has a book about the history of her native parts. On the other side of the train's route rose the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, 42 metres high, one of the tallest in Ukraine. The story and what I had seen intrigued me, and I decided to come and take a look if I could. I did not yet know that these plans would come to pass much sooner than the earlier ones.
Most of the passengers at Zhydachiv headed for the bus stop to get to Khodoriv. But I, following the direction my fellow traveller had pointed out, walked along a street of private houses towards the town centre, which is not so very close. I saw a sculpture of the Mother of God and a monument to the Fighters for Ukraine's Freedom.
Here now are the shops, the market and the bustle that goes with it. In the market rows a great deal was on sale — mushrooms, fragrant apples, chrysanthemums, home-made sausages. Each offering what they had. By the market is a cemetery, and at the entrance a plaque is set up stating that it is a historical monument.
Then I walked in a rough circle to see as much as possible. The first to meet me was Bohdan Khmelnytsky, whose bust is set up in a not very convenient spot. Behind it stretched the rows of the goods market with its Chinese wares.
Behind the Palace of Culture, with its stucco moulding and a fountain, are a children's playground and a summer stage.
And here is the main historical landmark — the kostel of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, built between 1577 and 1612. In the atheist years someone had the bright idea of putting a bus station in it. And later a local-history museum.
Beyond it is another shrine — the Orthodox Church of All Saints, consecrated in 1996. It was open, and I went inside.
In a small public garden, a Second World War memorial was supplemented in 2015 by the placing of a granite cross. The inscriptions on the stele, with the surnames and ranks of the fallen soldiers, are in Russian.
The centre of the town is Freedom Square, and its ornament is a fountain.
The central street is a row of administrative buildings, the people's hall, the library and a memorial sign to Markiian Shashkevych — enlightener, writer and priest, after whom the street is named.
Our prophet has been given a place on the square that bears his name, framed by beautiful trees.
The Greek Catholic Church of the Resurrection of the Lord was closed. It houses the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God "The Incarnation", or the "Zhydachiv Oranta", which dates to 1403.
I walked around a while and set off for the railway station. On the way I looked into the wooden Church of Boris and Hlib. It was built in 2010 and occupies a sizeable plot, with a bell tower, sculptures and beautiful plants.
At the station the local train, on its shortened route for the day, was waiting for its few passengers, to whom the ticket clerk was selling tickets right on the platform. Thank you, Zhydachiv, for a wonderful autumn walk!
On the way back I, of course, got off at the Hnizdychiv station and walked by intuition towards the kostel along a deserted street; only a lone cyclist overtook me the whole way. And yet there are quite a few multi-storey houses in the settlement. Along the way I saw a symbolic Cossack grave.
This locality has the historical name of Kohavyna. The kostel was built at the end of the 19th century. It now belongs to the Greek Catholic community and is consecrated in honour of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. The facade had already been restored.
The well-kept grounds showed that a great deal of effort had been put in here.
Walking another 200 metres or so, I saw a chapel, built in 1903 on the site of an apparition of the Mother of God in the 17th century. Beside it is a well of healing water.
Nearby, a closed building was once a monastery, then a boarding school. There are many trees around — probably it was a monastery garden, and later a school garden. One would like order to be brought here too. But there is a time for everything.
And I still had time to set off at a brisk pace for neighbouring Ruda, which my morning fellow traveller had told me about. On the way I went into a new church. I do not know in whose honour it is consecrated. There was no one to ask, though it was open, and I went in.
I crossed the embankment of a dismantled narrow-gauge railway, which had probably once toiled a good deal in the forestry industry.
On the outskirts of the village is the museum of Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky — a branch of the Lviv Art Gallery. The museum exhibits recreate the period of the Ukrainian Cossacks' struggle for independence. On display are paintings by Ukrainian and foreign artists of the 17th to 20th centuries.
As I was examining the watchtower on the museum grounds, a bus bound for Stryi stopped ten metres from me. I hurried to photograph the museum, but the bus had already pulled away, and there was no sense in waiting for the next one. I had to go back to the starting positions. Hello again, Hnizdychiv!
But even in the now-familiar Hnizdychiv there was no transport due any time soon by which I might get to Stryi. On the other hand, in about 15 minutes a rescuing bus was going to Zhydachiv. I had to travel there the long way round, skirting half the district. Then again, during the bus tour, jolting and bouncing along the dreadful roads, I saw the surrounding villages with their churches and monuments to T. H. Shevchenko. A bust of Ivan Vyhovsky stands in that very Ruda, which I also drove through.
In Zhydachiv, now unplanned for a second time, I changed onto a bus to Stryi and on the way I came to the conclusion that the day had been a success. I gladly share my impressions of what I saw with you.
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Жидачів — Гніздичів — Руда. Експромт буває краще запланованих подорожей
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