How To Spend A Day In Ivano-Frankivsk
Someone said that Ivano-Frankivsk is a walk city. And not only because of its central part, which is completely pedestrian. Maybe you won’t find a huge number of ancient buildings or monuments. But there are many parks and gardens here, as it used to be in ancient times. The city is located on a kind of an island – it is surrounded by two rivers. In good weather, you can see the Carpathian peaks in the distance. There are many cozy cafes on the streets.
You do not have to travel by public transport, for everything interesting is next to you! The streets are narrow, quiet, and comfortable. In the early 2000s, the large-scale reconstruction of historical monuments was carried out, so there are a lot of things to see.
The settlement appeared in 1662 on the order of the Polish Crown Hetman Stanislaw Potocki, who, without hesitating over the name for a long time, called the town Stanislaw. Soon, here settled Armenians and Jews, Potocki helped the city to acquire Magdeburg rights, and by the beginning of the next century, the town has become a major trade and craft center. Favorable geographic location also contributed to this.
We’ll tell about a few places that you miss visiting. But there are much more of those here.
Market Square
The oldest place in Ivano-Frankivsk is actually of the same age as the city. Stanislaw emerged as a fortress, and the square was its center. Even in terms of geography, the fortress had a form regular hexagon with the square in the centre. The city was founded with the period when the idea of the “ideal city” was actively used in European building (we have already mentioned one of those – Zhovkva in Lviv region,). Houses are mostly of two and three stores, each floor used to have different purpose. The ground floor served as a workshop or a store, the first was housing for the owner, and rooms on the second floor was rented by tenants. Fairs were held at the Market Square three times a year – in May, September, and November, and they lasted for about four weeks.
Town Hall
City Hall, which in ancient times was in the heart of the city, still stands in the center of Market Square. This is one of the few town halls in Ukraine, built in the style of functionalism, and the only secular building in Ukraine with a gilded dome. If you look at City Hall from above, you will notice that it is built in the shape of the Polish Order Virtuti Militari – Military Virtue, which was awarded for bravery. It was completely rebuilt and acquired the present look in the twentieth century, in the period between the World Wars. Today’s 49-meter Hall is the fourth building. By the way, it is the place where the yellow and blue flag was raised for the first time in 1990.
Now the building houses a museum with the collection of more than 110 thousand of units. There are archaeological sites, weapons, paintings, graphics, icons, samples of folk clothes, and decorative arts. There are dungeons under the City Hall, which once connected the fortress with its fortifications.
Potocki Palace
The Castle is one of the oldest buildings in the city, which appeared in 1682. A part of the fortress wall still partly remained till present days, and joined the ensemble of commercial buildings, thus creating a very interesting cityscape. It is a bit difficult to call ‘fortress’ what is behind the wall, as the building isn’t in the best condition. When the place became the property of Austrians, military hospital was arranged here, which later became the Ivano-Frankivsk garrison hospital. Andrew Potocki Palace, located on the territory of the former fortress is one of the few buildings well preserved to the present days. Stone brick castle and entrance gate were reconstructed in the early 2000s, too. The palace is surrounded by the remains of the fortification walls and bastions.
Museum of Art
It is located in a building that used to be the church of the Virgin Mary, built in the Renaissance epoch. It was given for the museum by the Soviet authorities, and since then the cathedral have remained the museum. Its funds equal to more than 15,000 samples of both fine and folk arts. Among the attractions, iconography, Baroque period sculpture, works of Western Ukrainian classics are represented. There was the bell tower next to the church, which was also destroyed by the Soviet authorities about in a year after the closing of the church. During the reconstruction of the square, it was rebuilt according to the old images.
Necropolis of Stanislav
Today it is Ivano-Frankivsk memorial park that received the status of monuments of national importance. In fact, it is a former city cemetery. The earliest burials date back to 1782. The cemetery was one of the most famous in Poland and the entire Europe. There even existed a workshop, where specially trained craftsmen created unique gravestones and taught others how to do it. At first, cemetery was located behind the city walls. However, with its development, especially after the walls of the fortress were demolished, the cemetery gradually appeared in the city centre! Once the cemetery looked like a real art gallery with an exhibition of sculptures in the open air, but with the time, some monument were destroyed or lost. The decision to close the cemetery and create a park here was made after the demolition that happened here in 1980s. No one was punished for broken crypts, destroyed coffins, and bones scattered around. Later, the surviving tombs were restored, and the chapel was built nearby. 143 graves of Sich Riflemen were symbolically recreated in the park.
Regional Philharmonic music
It is an interesting place both for architecture and art fans. Theatre of music art had a significant impact on history and culture. The opening of the Philharmonic took place in late 1891, and before that the competition for the best design was announced. The winner even received an honorary award from the residents – a gold ring. The theater under the direction of Sadovskyi performed here, and Solomiia Krushelnytska sang songs on its stage. Today, there are Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, and dance ensemble Gutsul. The building was reconstructed in 1929, and recently there was held a complex repair. It wasn’t returned to the primary look, but the halls, rooms, and stages have been saved completely.
There is also a monument to egg in Ivano-Frankivsk, the only one in Ukraine. There are picturesque squares named by Sheptytskyi and Mickiewicz, churches and cathedrals.
When visiting the city, you must be sure to go up to the observation deck of Legend Mall to see the Town Hall and Market Square from another angle. You just have to walk along the smallest street – Ivan Trush St., and along 100-metrivka – the second city center; you have to visit the dungeons; you can’t leave without trying the strudel. There are many interesting things in Ivano-Frankivsk. And local legends and information about famous locals can be found in coffee shops Govoryt Ivano-Frankivsk: everything is just written on the tables!