Velykyi Liubin. Landmarks of an Ancient Resort

Recently, among fans of domestic tourism there has been a surge of interest in small towns and villages that have preserved a distinctive culture and historical landmarks. The settlement of Velykyi Liubin lies 20 kilometres south-west of Lviv and has a whole list of architectural and natural landmarks, for which 3-4 hours are enough to see them. The chronicle town of Liubin has been known since the 13th century; it was repeatedly destroyed by wars, destroyed again by the enemy after being rebuilt, but time and again it was reborn. The owners of the lands and the castle changed; it was passed down by inheritance, given as a dowry, and even lost at cards. In this settlement with a population of 4,500, the memory of the locality's formation and development has been preserved. In the eastern part of the settlement, on Zamkova Street, stands a palace founded on the site of a 17th-century castle.

 

Velykyi Liubin. The Brunicki palace-estate

Komarno. The Lantskoronski Palace. What Do the Ruins Tell?

On the western outskirts of the town of Komarno in the Lviv region there is a place steeped in centuries of historical events, but the impression left by contemplating these man-made masterpieces is a depressing one.

Komarno, Lviv region. The Lantskoronski Palace before 1939

Tulyholove. The Bal Palace, Then and Now

Only connoisseurs of old villas come to this remote village, and only devotees of aristocratic residences know of it.

 

Tulyholove, Lviv region. The Bal palace

Obroshyne. The Archbishops' Palace

To see the true state of an architectural monument, you have to approach it from the rear. More often than not, the front façades are freshened up to pull the wool over your eyes, while in the back yard mismanagement and neglect hold sway. In the fence of the archbishops' palace in Obroshyne, in the Lviv region, the local people, to cut a corner, removed a section of the fence and made a short cut to the centre of the village. Following the Obroshyne folk along the park path, your gaze will open onto a view of this 18th-century architectural monument from a different angle.

 

Hodoriv. From Station to Station in 2 Hours

There are towns you get to know while passing through them in transit. Hodoriv is a railway junction that you can reach by suburban and long-distance trains from Lviv, Stryi, Zhydachiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Halych. To sit at the station for two hours waiting for the suburban train — no, that is not for me. A two-hour blitz-hike along the town's main streets proved instructive and successful, despite the rainy weather.

Hodoriv. The railway station

Dubno Castle. An Impregnable Aristocratic Residence

Dubno Castle is one of the most impregnable, wealthiest and most legendary European castles. Emperors, hetmans and kings visited this aristocratic residence. The defenders of the impregnable fortress repelled enemy raids, and the stronghold never once submitted — not to the Tatars, nor the Cossacks, nor the Swedes.

Dubno. The castle. The gatehouse

Baturyn. The Unforgotten Tragic Pages of a Town and a State

Baturyn is a town in Chernihiv region, a former Cossack capital and the residence of the hetmans.

Baturyn. The palace of Count Kyrylo Rozumovsky, 1799-1803

To Odesa With Love

Odesa. Marine Terminal

Pidhirtsi Metamorphoses. Collective-Farm Sheds to Palace

When people mention Pidhoretsky Palace, they often think of the castle in the Brody district. But the Stryi district also has its own Pidhirtsi, with a little pearl of its own.

The Schönborn Counts Palace. A Zakarpattia Pearl

Would you like to see 19th-century Austria-Hungary? In the Mukachevo district of the Zakarpattia region there is a splendid castle of Count Schönborn

An atypical Ternopil. A town with a future

I fell in love with Ternopil as long as 30 years ago. Even then it was un-Soviet, unlike the other regional centres, and I marked it out for myself as a town that ranks among the three best cities of Ukraine.

The secrets of Vyshnivets Palace

In the settlement of Vyshnivets in the Ternopil region, a magnificent palace has survived, built in the Classicist style with Baroque elements.