Museum of the native nature of the Carpathians, Zeleniv

In a picturesque corner of Bukovyna, where the path to the Carpathians lies and the turbulent Cheremosh flows into the fast-moving Prut, there is an ancient village of Zeleniv. Whichever way you approach Zeleniv, a beautiful stone house in the center of the village will attract your attention. It was built by the village community over 100 years ago for the local priest. In 1986, a village museum of native nature was opened here, which has no analogues in Bukovyna.

The Museum of the Native Nature of the Carpathians in Zeleniv, Chernivtsi Oblast, is part of the Vyzhnytsia National Park and is unique to Bukovyna. It will help you get to know the geographical features of the Carpathians, the local climate and nature.

Its expositions include about a thousand exhibits of flora and fauna of Zeleniv and the surrounding villages of the Kitsman district of Chernivtsi region. It is worth noting that most of the exhibits - stuffed animals, fish, and birds - were brought by local residents. The museum director prepared them for the exhibition with his own hands. The museum has nine departments that are beautifully and scientifically decorated. Four halls contain natural exhibits, photographs, and drawings. They tell us about the surprisingly generous, picturesque, and unique beauty of the nature of Zeleniv and the neighboring villages of Brusnytsia, Kliivtsi, Dibrova, Ostra, and Chortoria. All of these villages are part of the right-bank Pryprut region of the Kitsman district.

The museum has a section dedicated to geography and minerals. A geographical map of the relief is exhibited here: the terrain is hilly, some parts of the territory are located up to 400 meters above sea level and are densely dissected by a network of ravines, valleys, and swamps. The Climate and Phenology section shows four seasons, presenting the life of animals, insects, and plants in each period of time. For example, from the photographs of the Spring diorama, one can learn how starlings, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, orioles, hoopoes, kingfishers return from warm lands, and listen to their singing recorded in the forest on tape. We can get acquainted with samples of local cereals, vegetables and fruits while visiting the Summer diorama. There are also stuffed hares, wolves, insects, day and night butterflies. You can see birds preparing to fly to warmer climes in the Autumn diorama. The white snowy expanses of Bukovyna and the wintering of animals are recreated in the Winter diorama.

The Soils and Waters department is presented separately, where a map of soils is exhibited and information about the Brusnitsa, Cheremosh, and Prut rivers, which are located near Zeleniv, is told. Museum exhibits and photographs can also tell a lot about nature conservation in the village council. A separate stand features plants and animals listed in the Red Book. This is probably why the museum hosts numerous seminars and lectures for schoolchildren and students.

Not only in the museum, but also in the yard in front of the house, there are bushes and flowers that are common to our region, as well as exotic ones, such as spherical thuja, columnar juniper, decorative Pisarda plum, evergreen myrtle, tulip tree, sycamore, and others.

It will be interesting for both children and adults. And anyone who visits the cozy house of the Museum of Nature at least once will definitely come back here again. They will come back with a memory, with the idea that it is necessary to preserve the nature of their native land and use its generous wealth wisely.

The Museum of Nature of the Native Land is located in the center of the village of Zeleniv, which can be reached by buses Chernivtsi - Vyzhnytsia or Kitsman - Vyzhnytsia. If you are traveling by rail, you need to get off at the Luzhany station and then take suburban buses or passing transport to Zeleniv. The most convenient way is to use your own car, turning off the Ivano-Frankivsk-Chernivtsi road in the village of Berehomet and crossing the bridge over the Prut, then turn right again to the village you need. The village also has a wooden St. Michael's Church from the early 20th century. If you are in Zeleniv, visit it as well.

Museum opening hours: 9:00-17:00 daily, on weekends - by appointment. Cost of the tour: 10 UAH for children, 20 UAH for adults.

Zeleniv is a village located in the Kitsman district, Chernivtsi region. The distance to the regional center of Chernivtsi is 39 km. The population is 858 inhabitants. Zeleniv is a village located on the left bank of the Prut River on the way from Chernivtsi to Vyzhnytsia. In the village, on a hill, there is a wooden three-story St. Michael's Church of the Hutsul type, covered with tin. The church was built in 1901 by the craftsman Petro Kopelchuk according to the project of the architect Fadei Kosakovskyi.

In Zeleniv, there is a museum of native Carpathian nature, located behind the bridge on the road to the right, supported by local resident Liudmyla Vakariuk. This is a real diversity of Bukovyna's fauna. Here you can see more than a thousand exhibits, including animals, birds, reptiles, eagles, wild boars, badgers, and foxes, which are presented in full size. During the tour, visitors will learn about the geographical location of Bukovyna, minerals, and extremely interesting stories and facts about the life of birds and animals.

The museum has the bones of a real mammoth found in Zeleniv, huge stuffed eagles holding a hare, two wild boars, roes and several badgers in their claws. One of the rooms features an exposition of the four seasons and animals that have to make every effort to survive in each season. In addition to animals and birds, you can also see mushrooms that grow in the Bukovyna forests. The Museum of Native Nature is open every day. To arrange a tour, call 8 (236) 4-11-35 (morning and evening). If Ms. Liudmyla is not at the museum, you can call her with the help of local residents.

The village has the following institutions: a post office, a medical facility, an educational institution, a club, a library, and a museum of native Carpathian nature. The main population is Ukrainian. The villagers are engaged in farming and animal husbandry, entrepreneurial activities and work in various institutions. Local government Bilyanska village council.