State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Knyazhyi Belz"

The small town of Belz in the Lviv region is one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It was the capital of a principality, then the administrative center of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first mention of it is found in the Tale of Bygone Years. The town has a rich history, as it dates back to the 10th and 11th centuries. According to the government's decision, in 2001, the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Princely Belz" was established here according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1678.

In 2007-2011, the museum was managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine. On December 25, 2011, it was transferred to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. The Reserve is a research and cultural and educational institution that ensures the identification, research, preservation, popularization and use of the cultural heritage of Belz and the environment.

The territory of the Conservation Area consists of four separate protected areas: 1) the Zamochok tract, a former princely vegetable garden with a suburban area; 2) the town center, where a number of seventeenth-century architectural monuments and valuable historical buildings are located; 3) the Christian cemetery with the church of St. Paraskeva of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries; 4) the Jewish cemetery of the seventeenth and twentieth centuries and the remains of the seventeenth-century defensive rampart.

In February 2010, the State Museum in Belz became a collective member of the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (UNC ICOMOS).

According to the Technical Documentation on land management for establishing the boundaries of the land plot of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Belga, the Reserve is assigned land plots with a total area of 36.5161 hectares on the territory of the Belga City Council of Sokal District in accordance with the description of the boundaries of the territory of this Reserve, agreed in accordance with the established procedure. On the territory of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Belz there are:

1. An archaeological monument of national importance: The settlement of the chronicle city of Belza, X-XIII centuries, Okh.№130025-N;

2. Architectural monument of national importance - Complex of the Church of St. Paraskeva of XVIII-XIX centuries Okh.1423 (Church of St. Paraskeva (wooden) and bell tower of St. Paraskeva (wooden), XIX century);

3. An architectural monument of national significance - the ensemble of the Dominican sisters' monastery of the seventeenth century - seventeenth century Och. No. 490 (the Church of St. Nicholas, 1653, and the monastery premises, 1743). From an earlier period, the ruins of a church dating back to the 16th century have been preserved on the territory of the monastery. But the cells of the Dominican monastery have been beautifully restored, and now the town hall of Belz is located here. In the halls of the town hall, there is a historical and local history museum of the Princely Belz Reserve, where archaeological finds are kept;

4. An architectural monument of national significance - the Chapel Tower, 1606, state registration no. No. 491 (historians debate whether it was a chapel or a city arsenal);

5. Architectural monument of local significance - Complex of sacred buildings of the Zamochok tract, 1911-1938, Okh.No. 2954-Lv (Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Nicholas Church), 1911, bell tower (St. Mary's Tower), 1933, open altar of St. Valentine, 1935, gate, 1935, walls with the Way of the Cross and chapels, 1938);

6. Monument of architecture, archeology, monumental art of local significance - Complex of the Dominicans Monastery of XVI-XX cc. Okh.№2955-Lv (monastery walls of XVIII century, ruins of the church of the Dominicans monastery, XVI century (archeological monument), cell building with a tower (Town Hall), XVII century - XX century (archeological monument).XX centuries (monument of architecture, monumental art), mural painting in the Town Hall, XVII-XVIII centuries (monument of monumental art), bell tower, XVII-XVIII centuries);

7. A historical monument of local significance - the site of the nineteenth-century Jewish religious center;

8. An architectural monument of national importance - the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of 1683-1695 in Uhnov, Okh. №492;

9. An architectural monument of national importance - St. Mark's Church of 1693-1726 in the village of Waryazhi, Okh. №495.

Archaeological research on the territory of the Conservation Area opens new pages of the history of the millennial Belz. In particular, during the latest comprehensive research on the territory of the architectural monument of national importance, the Ensemble of the Monastery of the Ss. A number of archaeological finds have been discovered on the territory of the national architectural monument of the Monastery of the Dominicans:

a) wooden buildings of the 14th-16th centuries;

b) the remains of the walls of the former complex of the monastery of SS. Dominican women;

c) a large number of ceramics finds of the 14th-19th centuries.

In 2009, archaeological research was conducted on the territory of the former monastery with the church of St. Nicholas. A cemetery, an ancient Russian settlement of the 10th-13th centuries, and a significant amount of ceramics were found. The site is dated to the Bronze Age. In 2011-2012, archaeological research was conducted on the territory of the local historical monument The Site of the Jewish Religious Center. The foundations and wooden structures of the Jewish ritual bath, the mikvah, were investigated.

An exhibition hall was organized in the premises of the 1606 chapel tower, an architectural monument of national significance, where exhibitions are constantly held: "Belz - the Princely Capital" with an exhibition of works by a local artist; "Belz through the Eyes of Artists" - works by participants of the international plein air, an exhibition of works by students of the Lviv National Academy of Arts and the Lviv State College of Decorative and Applied Arts named after Trush, as well as students of the Belz School of Arts.

The Conservation Area acts as a state customer for restoration works, which allows to coordinate the processes of scientific research, design and restoration in compliance with scientific methods and regulatory and legislative requirements for the preservation of our cultural heritage. As of today, the wooden church of St. Paraskeva (XVIII century) has been brought out of the emergency state. The wooden bell tower of St. Paraskeva Church was also restored. Repair and restoration work was carried out on the Chapel Tower of 1606. A wooden gallery was arranged in the interior of the Tower to replace the lost wooden ceiling of the nineteenth century, which made it possible to use the Tower as an exhibition hall.

A historical and local history museum of the Conservation Area was opened in the restored halls of the City Hall. Rare seventeenth-century frescoes (paintings of the former Dominican monastery) were restored on the Town Hall tower. The most significant event for the Conservation Area is the strengthening of the foundations of the 17th-century St. Nicholas Church, an integral part of the Ensemble of the Dominican Monastery, carried out by specialists of the Ukrainian-French joint venture Osnova-Solsif. The roofs of St. Nicholas Church have been brought out of disrepair and covered. This work will protect the monument from destruction and allow for further repair and restoration work.

In order to popularize cultural heritage, the State Historical and Cultural Reserve has developed internal local history tourist routes:

1. The Uhniv-Belz-Varyazh tourist local history route is about 30 km long and covers the monuments of Uhniv, Belz, and Varyazh, which are under the jurisdiction of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Belz.

2. Tourist local history route in the city of Belz - lasting more than three hours.

3. Tourist local history route in the city of Uhnovo.

The city of Bełż is included in the routes developed by travel agencies in Lviv, Tomaszów, and Zamosc.

A minibus from Lviv to Belz runs from Lviv to Varyazh. In Belz itself, excursion tours to the historical sites of Uhnovia-Belz-Varyazh are organized.