The museum is the first building we saw as we got off the bus. Despite it being Sunday, it was open, and we were met by the keeper of the town's historical treasures — Yulia. I have already written in my notes that, from my observations, museum workers are not only educated but also very beautiful people. In this museum works the most beautiful and erudite museum curator I have ever happened to meet. Over 2 hours, Yulechka told us fascinating stories about the town and the people who inhabited it at various times, and let us photograph the exhibits as a keepsake. At our request she spoke in Russian, since my friend is not from Ukraine.
I want to note that the museum was created by Yulia's grandfather — the local historian, scholar and public figure Roman Skvorii. A memorial plaque in his honour has been installed on the museum building, which is an architectural monument.
The second building of the museum is devoted to the work of Natalia Kobrynska, a writer and feminist who lived in Bolekhiv and met with I. Ya. Franko, Olha Kobylianska and other well-known personalities. The portraits from the end of the 19th century depict a beautiful young woman. On another occasion I visited an exhibition in this building organised for Mother's Day. One could admire embroidered items, icons and clothing.
In front of the museum stands a monument to the organiser of the women's movement, Natalia Kobrynska.
And on the site of the house where she lived, a memorial sign now serves as a reminder of this.
Another monument, which appeared in 2015, is in honour of the political figure and sculptor Mykhailo Havrylko.
Opposite the museum is the People's House, where all the town's events take place.
And behind the museum is the school.
The Ivano-Frankivsk region has the largest number of monuments to the national poet I. Ya. Franko. In Bolekhiv it is right in the centre.
Our other poet, T. H. Shevchenko, is not forgotten either. In his honour a memorial plaque with a bas-relief has been installed.
A monument to the victims of Stalinist repressions I saw in the yard by the police station.
In the town there are several churches of different denominations. The Church of St Paraskeva was built in 1891 and belongs to the Greek Catholic community.
In the years of the First World War, fierce battles were fought near Bolekhiv. Among the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen there were many killed, wounded and taken prisoner. In the town cemetery, founded in 1781, there is a plot with the burials of Ukraine's defenders. Sadly, the stele built in 1917 can no longer be restored to its original appearance. It was restored unsuccessfully. In the photograph it is on the left.
To see and photograph the memorial plaque in honour of Zenovii Petesh, the famous master of violins, I walked across the whole town, with a detour to the cemetery, more than two kilometres. But he is truly one of a kind — our Ukrainian Stradivari!
In this same district there was a saltworks, founded in the 19th century. Now only the signboard remains of it. The salt is not rock salt; it was evaporated from brine, beginning in the middle of the 16th century. But, bitterish in taste, it is now neither used nor produced.
Right here I saw an old building with stucco moulding on the wall and unusual window openings. It was probably someone's mansion. Now lonely elderly people live out their days there. I wanted to look at the building more closely, and I went up to the high porch, on which two old women were sitting. They thought I had come to see someone, were glad of a chance visitor, and began to question me. I too was curious how they live here. The old ladies did not complain; they invited me to look at the chapel inside the premises. Evidently, this had earlier been a "Red Corner". Now the old folk have themselves, as best they could, fitted out a room for their spiritual needs. I thanked them for the conversation and went to the bus stop.
At the turn a chapel has been built in honour of John the Baptist. On the plaque the date of construction is given — 1995 — and the words of T. H. Shevchenko from a verse prayer are written: "To the toiling people, All-Bountiful, on their plundered land, send down Thy strength!"
Right here a memorial sign and a cross have been set up to the victims of the Holodomors and the repressions.
Of course, one cannot tell in a single note about all the notable sights of this town. I did not manage to tell you about the town hall, about the synagogue, converted in Soviet times into a club, about other monuments of history and architecture. On my next trip I will film a video report, and then I will gladly show this Subcarpathian town. For now, I got on the bus and rode to one more significant place. There is no stop here; I asked the driver to stop. If you have driven along the Lviv — Chernivtsi highway, you will have seen, on the border of the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, a multitude of crosses. Earlier they were made of birch, but now they are of stone. This is the symbolic cemetery of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.
Right here there is another notable landmark — an oak, planted by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary Franz Joseph during his stay in these parts in the 1850s. To Morshyn I walked on foot along the highway. That is about another 2.5 kilometres. I admired the landscapes. I was overtaken by bikers in identical gear with Polish flags; there were more than a hundred of them.
With that, the first part of my journey to Bolekhiv came to an end. I share my impressions with you and will supplement them later with some more useful information.
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Болехів. Історична і культурна спадщина прикарпатського міста на Бойківщині
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