Driving through the village, by the monument to T. H. Shevchenko, I recalled a brief conversation at the market in Morshyn with an old woman who was selling apples and prunes.
As I bought her fragrant gifts of autumn from her, I asked, "Where does such wonderful fruit grow?" "In Lysiatychi," — and so the seller of fruit from her own orchard revealed to me yet another place name of the Lviv region.
"And what do you have in your village? Are there monuments to Shevchenko or Franko?" I asked. Her answer simply astonished me and stayed with me for a long time: "Every village has a monument either to Shevchenko or to Franko, child!" — the woman of Lysiatychi replied, with pride and with surprise that I did not know this. In barely 30 seconds I learned so much about village landmarks and the fruitful orchards of the Subcarpathian region. And always, when I see monuments to our people's poets beside village schools and houses of culture, I remember the lesson taught by that seller of vitamin-rich produce.
Later I learned that the greatest number of monuments in Ukraine to the Kobzar (Shevchenko) and the Kameniar (Franko) have been raised in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions.
And so, when I saw the monument to the Kobzar through the window, I got off the bus to look at the villagers' pride and joy, which they had erected in 1990 at their own expense. On the day the monument was unveiled, all the residents of the village came to the celebration, and delegations from neighbouring villages arrived. The festive concert was opened by a church choir, then a military band and amateur performers took the stage. Among those present was Viacheslav Chornovil, head of the regional council. Such events foster a sense of national dignity and unity and, of course, will never be forgotten.
The ground by the monument is fenced off, and on two sides stand memorial crosses. On the left is one raised by trading chumaks from Eastern Ukraine, who used to stop in Lysiatychi many years ago. The village has a history of more than 800 years. Only, in the 1960s that cross was destroyed by the Bolshevik authorities, and it was restored in 1993 by the village community.
On the right is one in honour of the second anniversary of Ukraine's Independence.
The centre of the village is the village council with its tiled roof and the people's hall with a library.
An indispensable feature in these parts — the village stadium — was without players or spectators. Nearby stands a wooden Church of the Nativity of Christ, built in 1874. Unfortunately, at the time I did not know of its existence and did not go to see the shrine.
Another monument stands by the village council — a Second World War memorial. Its condition is quite satisfactory. No worse than elsewhere. Though by the look of it, it is already some 40 years old. Ones like it were built in the 1970s.
I walked around the village a while longer. I saw the school, which is in need of repair.
And this is a modernised mill.
At the edge of the village stands a cross on the spot of one destroyed in 1965 by the same regime as the chumak cross. It was restored in 1990 in honour of the 49th anniversary of the proclamation of Ukraine's independence in 1941 in Lviv. On the memorial slab are carved the surnames of the fellow villagers who died for Ukraine's freedom.
While waiting for the bus at a stop decorated with mosaic tiles, I photographed the Art School across the way. Here children are taught music, choreography, painting and the art of the spoken word.
A man came up to the stop. I asked why the oak growing by the school was fenced off with a chain. It turned out that it, too, is a landmark. The tree is more than 120 years old; it was planted by I. Ya. Franko in memory of his stay in the village. In his verse tale "The Wandering of a Rusyn with Misfortune" he mentions Lysiatychi.
My companion told me a great deal more about the village's history — about how it is older than Stryi. Strangely, on my own "wanderings" I always meet people who know the history of their land well. A pity that on the Sunday the local-history room was closed. But it will be a reason to come again to see the churches and to look into the village folk museum.
The stopover in Lysiatychi proved rewarding, though I did not manage to see all the interesting places because of my own lack of preparation, which I regret. But my impressions of the walk around the village are good, and I gladly share them with you.
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Лисятичі. Пам'ятки та історичні місця в селі на Стрийщині
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