Museums
Is visiting museums one of the highlights of every vacation for you? Do you delight in learning something new, understanding something old, experiencing what is common and what is different among peoples around the world? The Carpathians offer a variety of museums – some large, some small, some open-air, some indoors, some internationally famous and some more modest – dedicated to collecting, presenting, preserving, and studying their diverse subjects.
Museum buffs may especially enjoy picturesque Kolomyia, a city known for its colorful historical museums, cultural monuments, pysankas (traditional painted eggs), and pretty Austrian architecture.
Many offer more than just exhibits. You might enjoy stopping by a museum gift shop, kiosk, or postcard rack to purchase souvenirs, but the ultimate souvenirs may be hands-on activities, such as trying on folk costumes for a photo op or taking a class in a skill you’ll keep forever like egg painting and cooking. Whatever museums you choose to visit, you’re sure to find them fascinating.
MUSEUMS
Pysanka Museum
Address: проспект В’ячеслава Чорновола, 43Б, Коломия
GPS: 48°31’42.6”N 25°02’21.2”E
Tel: +380343347513
Email: pysanka@hutsul.museum Website: https://pysanka.museum
Hours: 10 am - 6 pm (Tue - Sun) English Material: Yes
Part of the National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttya Folk Art, this museum is famous for having the world’s biggest collection of pysankas, or decorated eggs. About 12,000 items have been collected from many regions of Ukraine and various countries of the world, such as Poland, Czech Republic, Canada, USA, and India. The museum has a pysanka-making school and sponsors an all-Ukrainian art festival called “Pysanka”. The museum building in Kolomyia, with its striking Easteregg center, is recognized as a modern Ukrainian landmark.
National Museum of Folk Art
Email: info@hutsul.museum Website: https://hutsul.museum/
Hours: 10 am - 6 pm (Tue - Sun) English Material: Yes
About 50,000 exhibits dating from the Neolithic-Eneolithic Tripillia culture (5200 to 3500 BC) until today are gathered at the museum in Kolomyia. Different types of folk art, such as items of everyday use like musical instruments and clothing as well as metal, wooden and leather objects are also on display
Museum of History of The City
Email: 2020arsak@ukr.net
Hours: 10 am - 6 pm (Tue - Sun) English Material: No
This museum in Kolomyia has exhibits of the first chronicles about the city as well as other chronicles, photos, and items of everyday use. There are 18 exhibit rooms at the museum where visitors can learn about the city’s past, to include information about the Habsburgs, Germans, periods of selfgovernance, its economy and trade, and the history of its Jewish community.
Museum of the Hutsul Region
Hours: 9 am - 5 pm (Tue - Sun) English Material: No
The museum is located in Verkhovyna village in three rooms of a two-storied wooden house. Various items of folk art and everyday use, such as pictures by local painters, are gathered there. Visitors can view Hutsul wedding and festive clothes, pots, beverage bottles, embroidered napkins and towels, wooden boxes, baskets, vases and the like. The museum offers a master-class in carpet making and opportunities for visitors to feel they are real Hutsuls.
Museum & Gallery of Hutsul Traditions and Ceremonies
Address: вулиця Ю. Соломійчука, 5/2 селище, Верховина
GPS: 48°09'22.8"N 24°49'35.7"E
Tel: +380976727900
Email: polanky@ukr.net
Website: https://www.facebook.com/museygaleria/
Hours: 9 am - 11:30 pm (recommend booking ahead)
English Material: No
A private museum in Verkhovyna dedicated to the conservation of Hutsul traditions and ceremonies. Visitors can take photos in Hutsul clothes, participate in master-classes of Hutsul cuisine, taste dishes from the stove, and be warmed by the fire.
Museum of Hutsul Musical Instruments & Roman Kumlyk
Hours: 10 am - 4 pm
English Material: No
This museum in Verkhovyna focuses on the Ukrainian folk and philharmonic musician Roman Kumlyk who inspired future generations. It has an impressive collection of musical instruments. You may be treated to folk songs played by by staff. In addition, you’ll find traditional Hutsul clothes and working tools.
Museum of Traditional Symbols of the Hutsul Region
Address: вулиця Грушевського, 73B, Микуличин (behind shop)
GPS: 48°23'59.5"N 24°35'59.2"E
Exhibits of Ukrainian ancient and modern sacred symbols inform visitors of ancient Ukrainian beliefs. Nowadays these symbols exist as ornaments in traditional folk fine arts such as carving, embroidery, weaving, and pysanka (decorated Easter eggs). This ethnological museum in Mykulychyn quite possibly displays the oldest preserved Hutsuls’ artifacts from mountainous Carpathian villages. Visitors can have the opportunity to participate in ethno-cultural master classes such as Hutsul dances, pysanka, and embroidery making as well as watch colorful performances such as traditional weddings and Christmas caroling. Located across the street from a brewery.
Carpathian in Miniatures Park Museum
Address: вулиця Михайла Грушевського, Яремче
Hours: 10 am - 8 pm (Tue - Sun)
12 pm - 8 pm (Mon)
English Material: Yes
Park-museum "Carpathians In Miniatures" in Yaremche is an ecological museum under the open sky. Famous objects of cultural heritage, architectural monuments, and interesting natural sites of the Carpathian region are exhibited here as models in a scale of 1:25.
Museum of Ecology and Ethnography
Founded in Yaremche during Soviet times as a museum commemorating the struggle over Germany in WWII, it now focuses on Hutsul history.