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South
of Lviv
Stilsko-Mykolaiv
-Drohobych-Boryslav-
Tustan-
Verkhnie Syniovydne- Skole- Slavske- Stryi
Stilsko
Here, deep in the woods, one can stumble across the
remains of walls belonging to the ancient urban area.
The treasure trove of Roman coins found here provides further
evidence to the lengthy heritage of this settlement. In the 6th
c, the area came under the rule of Great Croatia. It is most probable
that the capital of Great Croatia was located on the Stilsko site in the
8th/9th cc, with the main sanctuary of the State
located in the present-day
village
of
Iliv
. In 981, the Kyivan Prince Volodymyr conquered
the lands of White Croats, joining them to his State. During the wars
with the Kyivan Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavovych , the Croatian capital
in Stilsko was destroyed, never again to be rebuilt even to a size of a
small town. Only the remains of ramparts and stoneblock pavements, caves
and rocks, bearing ancient letters, are a reminder of the once
flourishing town.
Mykolaiv
on the River
Dniester
Mykolaiv emerged in 1570, when the Polish King
Sigismund II Augustus issued a letter to Mykola Tarlo, a member of the
Nobility (szlachta),
granting him the right to found a town. The town was therefore
named Mykolaiv, after its founder. The main occupations of the townsmen
at that time were farming, crafts and trade. In 1820, Count Stanislaw
Skarbek, one of the richest men in the Austrian Empire, purchased these
estates for 178,630 gold coins, so that he could build a large Home for
orphans and the elderly, and a
Regional
Vocational
Crafts
School
. In the spring of 1940, construction of a cement plant began, which
still operates today, thanks to the very rich deposits of clay and
limestone found here.
Drohobych
This is a town with a long history and many
interesting architectural landmarks. In the olden days, salt provided
the living for the town, and was traded throughout
Galicia
and many European countries. Salt tabs are the main elements of the
Drohobych coat-of-arms.
The architectural landmarks still surviving in the town are the
oldest remaining in this area: a Fortress wall from the 13th/early
14th cc, a Gothic Latin Church from the 14th/16th
cc, built upon the foundation of an ancient prince’s tower-chamber,
wooden churches - St George’s Church from the 15th/17th
cc, The True Cross Exaltation Church from the 17th c,
together with St Peter and St Paul’s Church, The Very Holy Trinity
Church, and others.
Drohobych was the cradle for Yuriy Kotermak-Drohobych, Doctor of
Philosophy and Medicine, Rector of Bologna University, Dean of Krakow
University, and a Royal Physician. Many artists, scholars and writers,
among them Ivan Franko, Vasyl Stefanyk, Modest Mentsynsky, Kornylo
Ustyianovych, and Bruno Schulz, lived and worked in this town.
Boryslav
19 March 1387
is considered the date of its inception, with
Boryslav receiving its name from a nearby monastery. During the 15th/17th
cc, the town gained fame as the largest salt-producing centre in
Ukraine
. From here, salt was traded with
Lithuania
,
Poland
,
Hungary
and
Romania
. At the end of the 18th c, salt production went into a steep
decline, resulting in the transformation of Boryslav into an ordinary
and unremarkable small village. This situation continued until the
extraction of an important commodity, oil, began. With the rapid
progress of technology and industry during the second half of the 19th
c, oil became the main source of energy, and thus Boryslav regained its
significance.
Tustan
Village
of
Urych
Tustan,
a fortress town, emerged here in the 9th c. Rocks of a
strange configuration served as natural walls, and the builders filled
the inter-rock spaces with wooden blocks, using a frame structure. Once
the rocks were fitted with these blocks and beams, grooves were hollowed
out. Traces from these wooden structures have survived in their
thousands. Based on these, Mykhailo Rozhko, who for many years has been
a researcher of Tustan, created a graphical reconstruction of the
fortress. Tustan was an important locale in terms of strategy, and made
up part of the Carpathian defensive line for the frontiers of the Kyivan
Rus, and later Galician-Volhynian Principality. The Fortress stood on
the trade crossroads, and was used as a Customs Point to the Carpathian
passes.
The rocks bear the largest collection of petrogliphic
images in Carpathia . Most probably, the complex of Urych rocks was a
sanctuary of astronomical observation associated with the movement of
the sun.
Today, Tustan is a natural and architectural landmark of National
significance, unique in
Europe
. The array of rocks is protected by the ‘Tustan’ State Historical
and Cultural Preserve and the ‘Skolivski Beskidy’
National
Nature
Park
.
Visitors to Urych must surely admire the stately and chimerical
rocks, proudly bearing traces of the ancient times, and the caves and
grottos. Standing here, one can try to estimate the size of the former
Fortress, and at the same time pay tribute to the genius of the Rus
masters who built it.. The
guide narrates a story of this unassailable fortress and the legends
associated with it. The museum exhibits the history, research and
graphical reconstruction of Tustan, the
Fortress
Town
built upon rocks.
It seems that time has stood still in the village. The historical
agricultural landscape of old has been preserved, and everything within
sight looks just the same as it would have done many centuries ago.
Visitors, Urych’s most welcome guests, are offered traditional dishes
to sample, together with an
invitation from the hospitable villagers to spend the night in an old
Boiko hut.
Once
every year Tustan springs into life! Thousands of visitors from all over
Ukraine
come here to take part in and witness the spectacle of The Festival of
Ukrainian Medieval Culture ‘Tu Stan!’. Once again, just as it did
all those years ago, Fortress life bubbles over, with proud Rus men and
pretty ladies out in force mingling with the crowds, swords clattering,
arrows whistling though the air, horses galloping, smiths and potters
displaying their skills, merchants trading goods from overseas,
captivating music resounding, and the whole world singing and dancing.
Then, when darkness falls, the ancient Dragon comes alive, the Lords of
Fire and Shadow burst onto the scene, and once again Tustan is attacked
by Horde troops. Of course, any attempt to conquer the town fails, due
to the courageous actions of the soldiers defending it!
Verkhnie Syniovydne
At the junction where the River Stryi flows into the
River Opir, the
village
of
Verkhnie Syniovydne
(Synevydske, Syniovodne) can be seen to stretch for several miles. The
settlement was first mentioned in the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle of
1240. On the site of this ancient settlement only the ruins of an old
monastery have survived. Prince Danylo Halytsky stopped off here in
1240, on his way back from
Hungary
. Over the years this village has been visited by M. Shashkevych, Ya Holovatsky,
F. Zarevych, and I. Franko. Markets in every Halician cities, even in
Krakow
and Zakopane, were frequented by Boiko tradesmen from Syniovydne,
selling their vegetables and wooden articles. Behind Verkhnie Syniovydne
is a steep riverbank with red-coloured rocks where, at this point, the
waters of two mountainous rivers – the Opir and Stryi – flow into
one. Legend has it that in this place Oleksa Dovbush (a Ukrainian
‘Robin Hood’, leader of the anti-feudal and anti-Polish movement)
was wounded, and his blood stained the riverbank.
Skole
The Skole area is famous for its scenic Carpathian
views and Alpine ski resorts. Today, there are cable
cars and ski lifts in operation for the winter sports visitors. A wide
variety of private houses and hostels offering accommodation, together
with hotels, have made the Skole area an attractive leisure destination
Many thousands of visitors come here each year, and are offered
hospitable accommodation ranging from the functional but comfortable to
the luxurious, delicious food, and a great variety of activities and
entertainment – horse drawn sleigh rides, especially romantic at
night, saunas, swimming and therapeutic pools, billiards, paragliding,
to name but a few. In other words, there is something to suit every
taste and every budget!
Slavske
The urban settlement of Slavske is one of
Ukraine
’s finest Alpine ski resorts. The natural setting of the Beskides and
Gorganes mountainous ridges has created a unique local micro-climate,
with stable wind-free weather and abundant snowfalls in winter. The snow
surrounding Slavske usually remains until April.
Slavske is also the perfect choice for holidays and
leisure activities in the summer months. When returning home, visitors
can take back, apart from their new-found vigour and energy, bunches
of dried mushrooms and baskets of bilberries, raspberries or
blackberries.
Stryi
The city adopted the name of the river on whose banks
it stretches, and, interestingly, the letter combination ‘Str’
stood for ‘running water’ in pre-ancient times. From as far as the
pre-historic period, Slavic tribes have settled on the banks of the
River Stryi. The river could supply them with food, and also protection
when the need arose. Under Prince Osmomysl’s rule, a defensive system
was created to protect the trade route from raids. A castle was built in
the 16th c and served as a defence structure until the 18th
c. Throughout the Middle Ages, Stryi was an important trade centre, and
this provided an impetus for the development of crafts. Guilds of
Furriers, Potters, Weavers, and Shoemakers appeared in the city.
Following the partition of
Poland
, Stryi, together with the whole of Halychyna, fell under
Austro-Hungarian rule. In 1872/1875, a railway was constructed in Stryi,
giving a tremendous boost to the further development of the city.
North
of Lviv
Kulykiv-
The
Royal
Town
of Zhovkva- Krekhiv- Sokal- Tartakiv- Belz-
Rawa
Ruska
West
of Lviv
Stradch- Yaniv- Yavoriv- Horodok- Sudova Vyshnia- Mostyska- Dobromyl-
Khyriv- Stara Sil- Stary Sambir- Sambir
-Rudky
East
of Lviv
Busk
-Olesko castle-
Brody- Pidkamin- Pidgirtsy
Castle-
Plisnesk-
Zolochiv
Castle-
Pomoryany-
Swirzh
Castle-
The Holy Assumption Univ Lavra-
Bibrka-
Zvenygorod- Stare Selo
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