Local History Museum "Boikivshchyna" in Rozhnyativ

Boikivshchyna is an area of the central Ukrainian Carpathians that covers a number of oblasts. It is home to an ethnographic group of people called the Boyky. This name was first mentioned in ancient documents in the 17th and 18th centuries. Medieval chronicles also mention entire villages inhabited by Boyky. These villages are located in the mountains and valleys, and have their own customs and peculiarities. The Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko describes Boykivshchyna perfectly in his historical novel The Rising Hawk.

The museum was opened in 2004 during the celebration of the Second International Festival "Boikivska Vatra-2004" in Rozhniativ district.

The Boykivshchyna Local History Museum is located in the village of Rozhniativ. It occupies an old mansion built in the early 20th century by Ukrainian Count Dumka. In Soviet times, the building housed a court, and later a museum of artist, local historian and public figure Volodymyr Kharchenko.

More than 400 rare items can tell about the evolution of this land, from the 2nd century to the present day. The museum presents folk and sacred art. Some of the paintings by Kharchenko are also kept here.

The exhibits are divided into 3 thematic rooms. The first one clearly shows the history of the region. The second is entirely dedicated to the Boikos. It demonstrates Boyko folk art, objects of religious interior and everyday life. Also in the museum you can see a fragment of the iconostasis of St. Basil, which survived the devastation and destruction of the Rozhnyativ church in the 70s. The third room displays a stunning collection of jugs made by boykas. There are more than 90 of them here.