Mykolaiv. The Pysanka Chapel and Vysokyi Kamin

Every town or village has its own calling card, which stands out through the information it conveys about the place and is a part of its history. In Mykolaiv in the Lviv region, such a symbol appeared in 2002 — one that is known beyond the town and that tourists include in their routes. A chapel in the shape of a painted Easter egg stands on Mount Vysokyi Kamin and can be seen from several kilometres away.

 

Mykolaiv. Lviv region. The chapel in honour of the Nativity of Christ. The pysanka chapel

Watchmaker's Day. Wall, Street and Tower Clocks of Ukraine

Our life is scheduled to the minute, and we constantly check the time by electronic, wrist and street clocks, and when we notice a fault in the clockwork we turn to the masters of time. Not everyone knows that on 3 November watchmakers celebrate their professional holiday together with jewellers, since specialists of these magical crafts are called masters of golden work, or masters with golden hands.

 

In the watchmaker's workshop

Rudnyky. The Vanished Monastery and Village Landmarks

From monastic prayers of old

The spiritual bell tower tolls.

For the living generations –

Our chapel of remembrance.

According to legend, in the Middle Ages monasteries were built near sites of pre-Christian culture, and also where a holy image had appeared. Many cloisters were spiritual centres and places of pilgrimage for centuries, yet have not survived to our day. Relics gathered over the ages vanished; the houses of prayer did not outlive reforms and troubled times, and were burnt and destroyed. These holy places lie far from tourist routes, surrounded by silence and filled with spiritual power. One of the vanished monasteries had existed since time immemorial in the village of Rudnyky, and now a memorial chapel has been erected on the holy site.

 

Rudnyky, Lviv region. The chapel of Sts Peter and Paul on the site of the vanished monastery

Tatariv. The Kirkut. A Place of Memory and Sorrow

The history of Tatariv is closely interwoven with the history of the Jewish community of this Carpathian village, whose story reaches back to the 17th century.

 

Tatariv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. The kirkut

Wherever You're Headed, I'm Off to Semenivka!

A stroll through Semenivka in the Lviv region, known for its architectural monuments, is guaranteed to enrich your knowledge of little-known landmarks. Semenivka lies 20 kilometres south of the regional centre and has its own railway halt, and the Lviv-Mukacheve suburban train, the hugely popular "mukachivka", whisks you to the start of the walking route in half an hour. The settlement arose at the end of the 14th century, and its first written mention dates from the mid-15th century. In 2018 the villagers celebrated the 300th anniversary of the church of St Michael, an architectural monument of national significance, and they continue to preserve its rare 18th-century murals.

 

Semenivka, Lviv region. The church of St Michael. 1718

Lviv. The Courtyard Museum. No Entry for Outsiders

Lviv counts more than 40 museums – state-run, private, open-air. The historic centre could itself be called one continuous museum with an unbroken stream of tourists and guests of Ukraine's cultural capital. Lviv folk are creative people with imagination, and in the very heart of this museum-city, in the courtyard of an ordinary residential house, they created their own unofficial museum, which won no small popularity in its few years of existence.

 

Lviv. The house-museum

Truskavets. We Will Come After the Victory

From the first day of the Russian invasion Truskavets turned into a refuge and evacuation haven for Ukrainians who have suffered from the war. The community took in displaced people from the front-line territories, housed them temporarily, and provided food and necessities to those in need. The people of Truskavets united, set up a humanitarian headquarters, and keep receiving refugees and giving every kind of support to those arriving from the hot spots. The number of displaced people has exceeded the local population and the infrastructure is overstretched, but the townspeople are coping and try to help everyone who needs it.

 

Truskavets. Lviv region

Lviv. The Sculptures of Stryiskyi Park

For Lviv Sculpture Week 2023

Part of the collection of the ChervoneChorne art association: especially for Lviv's annual week, these unconventional creations by well-known authors were brought from historic Kaniv to the cultural capital.

 

Uhersko. The Lake of Geologists, a Natural Monument

Beside the M-06 highway, on the Stryi-Lviv stretch near the village of Uhersko, there is an artificially formed body of water in the shape of a circle.

 

Vorokhta. The Church of the Nativity. Hutsul Architecture

Everyone knows it, writes about it and grieves – it is no longer possible to see a wooden church in the Hutsul lands in its pristine form, untouched by radical repairs. But to our good fortune, harmony and perfection, a caring attitude to the spiritual heritage, still live in our villages and small towns. And you need not climb far into the mountains to be struck by the beauty of proportion and the craftsmanship of our forefathers. The church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God is considered the talisman of Vorokhta and the spiritual calling card of the popular Carpathian resort.

 

Vorokhta, Ivano-Frankivsk region. The church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God