Attractions of Cherkasy region

The Museum of the History of the Village of Starosillia was established in 1960 in the premises of the local House of Culture as a museum of the Five Hundred Movement.

In 1985, a new museum exposition was created in the premises of the secondary school building. The authors of the exposition are artists of the Kyiv Art Fund Yurii Shatilov and Andrii Skutin. In 1991, the museum was named "Museum of the History of the Village of Starosillia".

The museum exposition is located in four halls, which exhibit about 3,000 exhibits. The first hall houses an exposition that introduces archaeological finds in the village. The second hall is dedicated to the Five Hundred Movement and the Holodomor in Ukraine. The third hall tells about the village and its inhabitants during World War II. The fourth hall is about the post-war reconstruction of the village and the modern period.

A separate exposition is dedicated to the natives of the village, participants in the modern Russian-Ukrainian war.

Until 1923, the main building of the Cherkasy Polytechnic was a State Wine Storage, that is, a liquor and vodka factory.

Such Storage were massively created in the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as part of the "Wine Monopoly", introduced at the initiative of the Minister of Finance Serhiy Vitte in 1896.

The main building of the complex in the eclectic style was built in 1905 (according to other sources - in 1887). Initially, the facade was unequal in height: it had two- and three-story parts. The decor is made of facing brick. The ceramic floor covering with the stamp "Herenheym Society, Kharkiv", forged metal tanks in the basements, fragments of sewage and ventilation systems have been preserved.

Currently, it is one of the buildings of the Cherkasy Polytechnic College.

The construction of a hydroelectric power station on the rapids of the Ros River in Stebliv was launched in 1931 in accordance with the GOELRO plan, which provided for the creation of a whole network of small hydroelectric power stations throughout the country.

As a result of the construction of the dam and the rise of the water level in the river, the landscape changed significantly - two thirds of the picturesque rocks and rapids were under water.

The dam was damaged during World War II. In 1952, it was restored and brought to a capacity of 2.8 thousand kW. It is currently rented from a private company.

The waterfall formed by the station is called one of the most powerful lowland waterfalls in the country.

The Subotiv History Museum is located on the grounds of the ancestral estate of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in Subotiv. It is part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Chyhyryn".

The estate was founded in 1616 by the hetman's father Mykhaylo Khmelnytskyi (Khmil). After the death of his father, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi inherited the estate and built his fortified residence here with a defensive rampart, a fortress tower, and the Illinska Church, which also played the role of a fortification element of the fortress.

In 1648, during the absence of the owner, the Subotiv manor was seized by Danylo Chaplinskyi, the sub-mayor of Chyhyryn, who constipated Khmelnytskyi's young son to death and took possession of his bride Motrona (Helena) by force, which became the impetus for the uprising of the Cossacks under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

Ruling the Cossack state from Chyhyryn, Khmelnytsky often lived in Subotov. A few years after the death of the hetman, the estate was destroyed by the Poles, the fortress was destroyed. The foundation of the fortress tower, above which the pavilion was erected, has been preserved. The wooden watchtower and the entrance gate of the manor have been reconstructed.

The museum complex also includes two estates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries "Ukrainian House", one of which reproduces the interior of a potter's workshop. A Cossack cannon is installed on the castle grounds.

The manor of the Yakhnenko-Symyrenko family on the Platon farm in Mliiv was founded in the middle of the 19th century by the entrepreneur Platon Symyrenko, the son of the rich merchant Fedir Symyrenko, who was originally from Horodyshche.

Platon Symyrenko built a large sugar factory in Mliiv, on land leased from Count Mykhaylo Vorontsov, but later the enterprise was liquidated, its premises were used by the military.

At the end of the 19th century, the land of Platon hamlet was leased from Countess Balashova by the pomologist (fructologist) Levko Symyrenko to create the largest nursery in pre-revolutionary Russia, where the most valuable varieties of fruit and decorative plant species were collected. Here, the scientist discovered the famous Renet Symyrenko apple variety.

His son, Volodymyr Symyrenko, became the first director of the Mliiv horticultural research station during the Soviet regime. Currently, it is the Institute of Pomology named after Levko Symyrenko. A monument to the gardener was installed in front of the main building of the institute (1926).

A small one-story house built by Platon Symyrenko in 1855 has been preserved among the old manor buildings - it houses the memorial museum of the Symyrenko family.

From January 1, 1992, the Symyrenko Family Manor-Museum became a department of the Cherkasy Regional Museum of Local Lore.

The estate of businessman and philanthropist Vasyl Symyrenko (uncle of gardener Levko Symyrenko) was built in Sydorivka at the end of the 19th century.

It was a neoclassical palace with wings and a ballroom worth about 10 million rubles. In Sydorivka, Symyrenko opened a sugar factory, where he installed machines of his own development and began producing pastille, which was extremely popular in the Russian Empire.

The entrepreneur gave a tenth of his profits to support Ukrainian culture. In his old age, he bequeathed all his fortune to cultural purposes, but the events of the First World War and the Bolshevik coup of 1917 prevented the implementation of his plans.

During Soviet times, the Vasyl Symyrenko Palace housed a school and a hospital. Now the building is in ruins. It is located in the middle of a heavily neglected park.

The Taras ShevchenkoLiterary and Memorial Museum in Shevchenkove, formerly Kerelivka, was founded in 1939 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Kobzar's birth. It was created on the site of the estate of the family of Hryhorii and Kateryna Shevchenko, purchased by them in 1816. Taras spent his childhood there, which he repeatedly described in his works.

In 1914, the estate was bought by Kyiv cultural figures, and in 1935, construction of the museum began. Later, in the courtyard, his father's house was recreated in real size according to Shevchenko's drawings and a bronze sculpture of 13-year-old Taras was installed. The grave of his mother has been preserved in the garden.

The five spacious halls of the museum tell about the life and work of the poet, artist and thinker. His personal belongings, first editions of books, documents, portraits and photographs are presented. You can see a table and a bench from the poet's parents' house, furniture from the estate of the local landowner Engelhardt, a wedding towel from Kateryna's sister, and gifts from relatives.

Since 1992, the literary and memorial museum has been part of the historical and cultural reserve "Taras Shevchenko's Homeland", which united the villages of the poet's childhood.

Moryntsi Museum Complex is a reconstructed rural estate in the village of Moryntsi, restored to its original form on the site where the future Kobzar was born in 1814. It is part of the National Reserve "Taras Shevchenko Homeland".

Taras's parents - Hryhorii Shevchenko and Kateryna Boiko - lived for several years in an empty hut of a peasant exiled to hard labor, Kopii, next to the house of Yakym Boiko, grandfather of the newborn Taras. Both huts were restored according to the drawings and detailed description of Shevchenko scholar Oleksandr Konysky in 1989, with careful observance of technology and all the features of folk architecture characteristic of this area. An original wooden barn was moved from neighboring Kerelivka (Shevchenkove) to the courtyard.

The interiors of the residential buildings recreate the modest life of the Shevchenko family. Behind the houses there is a wonderful view of the ravine planted with an orchard. A monument to Kateryna Boyko with little Taras in her arms has been erected. A chapel has been built nearby.

Taras Shevchenko Museum was opened in 2014 on the territory of the Nahanovsky inn in the village of Moshny, where Shevchenko lived for a few days after his release from arrest in 1859, during his third (and last) trip to Ukraine.

A residential building has been preserved from the inn, where the main exhibition of the museum was located. In 2013, before the opening of the museum, the building underwent major repairs, the roof was covered, and the concrete foundation was poured. But all the walls, thresholds, ceilings and the stove with a couch remained original. The layout of the house has also been preserved. In the rooms, original furniture of the 19th century, household utensils, embroidered towels, icons are displayed.

All buildings in the yard of the former inn are reproduced according to descriptions and drawings.

The Literary Memorial Museum of Taras Shevchenko in Kaniv was opened in 1939. Before that, on Taras Hill, there was a folk museum of the poet "Tarasova Svitlytsia", opened at the end of the 19th century in the former house of the overseer of the Shevchenko grave, Ivan Yadlovskyi.

The new museum was built during 1935-1937 according to the project of the outstanding architect Vasyl Krychevsky, who is considered the founder of Ukrainian architectural modernism. According to the initial plan, the laconic, outwardly classicist building was to be decorated with Ukrainian ornaments in the majolica technique. This idea was never implemented, but the interior decoration was impressive with a folk color: a bright stained glass window in the depth of the lobby, caissons with colored rosettes on the ceiling, ornamental paintings on the walls.

After the reconstruction of 2003-2010, the building acquired a modern minimalist look with elements of constructivism.

Today, the museum collection includes more than 20,000 objects. The main exposition presents individual memorial items of Taras Shevchenko (carved casket, spindle, psalter), originals of some of his drawings and etchings, rare editions of the poet's works, works of art on Shevchenko themes, etc.

In a separate hall, Kobzar's posthumous plaster mask is displayed surrounded by texts from the "Testament" in various languages of the world. The interactive map "The last journey of Taras Shevchenko through Ukraine" shows the route by which the coffin with Kobzar's ashes was taken from St. Petersburg to Kaniv.

The exhibition is equipped with multimedia information kiosks, and various audiovisual programs are available to visitors.

The Taras Shevchenko Station Wagon Museum was opened in Smila in 1976 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the station's opening. The wooden passenger car, built in 1935, houses exhibits from the Shevchenko Railway Junction Museum.

Most of the exhibits tell about the formation of Smila as a junction station of the railway, which was originally built as a highway for transporting sugar during the time of Count Bobrynsky.

The car museum is attached to another rare locomotive - the SU 216-32 steam locomotive, built in 1940.

The first Taras Shevchenko National Museum on Chernecha Hill in Kaniv "Tarasova Svitlytsia" appeared long before the creation of the Shevchenko National Reserve.

As early as 1884, at the same time as the arrangement of Shevchenko's grave was completed, a house was built next to it. In one half of it lived the first caretaker of the grave Ivan Yadlovsky, opened the first national museum of the poet with a book of reviews.

The house was dismantled in the 1930s, during the construction of a memorial on Tarasova Hill, but was restored in 1991. The museum exposition presents a copy of a portrait of Shevchenko donated to the museum by artist Illya Repin, a copy of a towel embroidered for the museum by Lesya Ukrayinka, an icon depicting Shevchenko in the image of a saint.

In the second half, the room of the guard of Shevchenko's grave with the original samovar of Ivan Yadlovsky on the table was restored.

"Three Wells" in Subotiv are wells preserved from the time of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, which supplied water to the Cossack hospital. They are located at the bottom of a deep gully on the southwestern edge of the village.

According to legend, three Cossacks dug a spring at the site, the waters of which healed them after being wounded by a local elder.

It is believed that the taste of water from each well is slightly different from the others.

The wooden Transfiguration Church in Bilozirya was built in 1710. In 1867, the bell tower was rebuilt.

At the moment, the church yard is surrounded by a high concrete fence.

The ancient Orthodox Trinity Motronynsky Monastery in Kholodny Yar is located on the site of an ancient Rus settlement and even more ancient Scythian settlements (Scythian ramparts have been preserved).

According to legend, during the time of Yaroslav the Wise, the fortress of Prince Voivode Myroslav stood here. Returning from a campaign against the Pechenegs in 1036, Myroslav decided to check the defense of the fortress, which he entrusted to his wife Motrona. Attacking the fortress under the guise of enemies, Myroslav was accidentally killed by Motrona herself. After learning about what happened, Motrona accepted monasticism and founded a monastery, which was named after her.

The year 1198 is considered to be the official foundation date of the Motronynsky Monastery, when the Simeoniv Chronicle mentions the Pereyaslav Bishop Pavlo, who founded the Church of John the Baptist in the Motronynsky Monastery. In 1568, the revival of the monastery began after the Mongol-Tatar destruction, it came under the patronage of the Cossacks.

In the 18th century, the Motronynsky monastery became one of the centers of the struggle against the Union, as well as a stronghold of the Haydamak movement. In 1768, 3,000 Haydamaks received a blessing here to fight against the Polish nobility, which was the beginning of Koliivshchyna. These events are described in the poem "Haydamaki" by Taras Shevchenko, who visited the monastery in 1845. During the Ukrainian Revolution in 1919-1922, the Motronynsky Monastery served as a stronghold of the rebel units of the Kholodnoyarska Republic

The Trinity Church, built in 1727 and reconstructed in 1805, has been preserved. The cell building was built in recent years. A memorial cross was installed on the grave of centurion Ivan Kompaniyets.

From the entrance to the Motronynsky monastery, the descent to the miraculous spring of Saint Onuphrius begins. Nearby is the Haydamatskyi (Monastyrsky) pond, where the Haydamaks used to consecrate their weapons.