Lazeshchyna. Three Wooden Churches in a Hutsul Village

The picturesque village of Lazeshchyna, so attractive to tourists, lies in the foothills of the main peaks of the Ukrainian Carpathians - Hoverla and Petros - to which marked routes have been laid. From Lazeshchyna trails lead to the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, up to the Chornohora massif and to protected natural tracts.

 

Lazeshchyna, Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia region

Mykulychyn. Mount Kostel (Gorgany) and the Stone Garden

If fate has cast you into Mykulychyn and you feel the need to take a fresh gulp of the picturesque Carpathians, a one-day hike up Mount Kostel will be a wonderful choice, with a sense of soaring over the folds of the mountain ridges and the dense forest expanses.

 

Mykulychyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Mount Kostel (Gorgany)

Yablunytsia. Wooden Churches and Chapels of the Carpathians

A church in a Carpathian village is a beacon that shines without cease; it is the guardian of Divine light, of prayer and of joy. The greatest adornment of the village of Yablunytsia in Ivano-Frankivsk region is the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, which for almost 130 years has delighted the eye with the perfection of its forms, the richness of its interior and the living nature of the wood of the Carpathian forest.

 

Yablunytsia. Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God. 1895. UGCC

Tatariv. Polonyna Zalim and the Narinetskyi Waterfall

Looking at the photographs from our travels, we love to recall the places we have seen, the episodes, the events and the new acquaintances. A walk becomes all the more unforgettable thanks to interesting conversation with the locals. Stories, tips and good wishes often grow into friendship and shape super-positive impressions of what we have seen. The little-known Narinetskyi waterfall in Tatariv, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, gained its popularity thanks to the people who live nearby. The efforts of the Stefurak family are an example of a civilised attitude towards little-known natural sites.

Tatariv. Ivano-Frankivsk region. Polonyna Zalim

Yaremche. A Walk in the Park of Miniatures

Parks of miniatures enjoy great popularity with tourists and have an educational purpose. Adults and children feel like Gullivers in the land of the Lilliputians as they walk among the scaled-down copies of palaces, castles and natural landmarks. In Ukraine, parks of miniatures have been created in Kyiv, in the Crimea, and since 2015 in Yaremche in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. This small open-air museum presents the architectural and natural landmarks of the Carpathian land.

 

Yaremche. Ivano-Frankivsk region. The park-museum of miniatures

Mykulychyn. In Flight on the Carpathian Swing

Both adults and children love to swing, feeling the euphoria of flight and the sensation of free fall. Everyone tries to reach the maximum height, increasing the amplitude of their swinging as they compete with one another. A person is familiar with the effect of swinging from childhood, when a newborn is rocked in its cradle. Doctors consider the swing a therapeutic procedure, beneficial for development and health, since the back-and-forth motion soothes and lifts the mood. One of the most famous swings in Ukraine towers on a mountain slope in Mykulychyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and every day crowds of tourists head here to spend a pleasant time, to feel the joy and to reach seventh heaven.

 

Mykulychyn. The great Carpathian swing

Vorokhta. The Ski Jump. A Sports and Tourist Magnet

Here they fly like birds. In Vorokhta, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, a complex of ski jumps has survived, and it is only in Vorokhta that there is the possibility of holding the Ukrainian ski-jumping championship for adult athletes. Ski jumping is a spectacular sport, and those who make the longest jumps compare it to flight and feel themselves to be birds.

Vorokhta. Ivano-Frankivsk region. The ski jump

Mykulychyn. The Museum of Hutsul Customary Symbolism

The only museum of the customary symbolism of the Hutsul region in Ukraine is located in Mykulychyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, almost in the centre of the village on the main street, and all travellers on the Yaremche-Bukovel route are sure to drive past this unique local-history, ethnographic, historical and spiritual landmark.

 

Mykulychyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region. The Museum of the Customary Symbolism of the Hutsul Region

Nadvirna. The Jewish Necropolis, Off the Tourist Route

Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine are little-studied and almost unknown objects of folk culture that form part of the history of our state. Abroad, such places are popular with tourists and are kept in good condition. A city of the dead is not suitable for a stroll, yet to get an idea of the cultural and historical heritage of the Jewish community in the town of Nadvirna in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, it is enough to visit the north-western sector of the Jewish cemetery.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park, a Monument of Landscape Art

City parks, recreation areas, green oases - these are gifts of nature and man-made landmarks in industrial centres that have accumulated the inconveniences of crowded traffic and engineering structures. One of the most picturesque parks of culture and leisure in Zakarpattia is located in Rakhiv, in the north-western part of the town.

 

Rakhiv. Zakarpattia region. Burkut Park