In the north–eastern part of Lviv, in the picturesque Shevchenko Grove, covering 59 hectars, found its location an interesting museum, the Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life. The exposition of the Museum was inaugurated for visitors in 1972.
Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life is an open-air museum containing 120 monuments of folk architecture including six wooden churches. Hardly any museum in the world can boast so many religious buildings. The open-air museum is located on a 50-hectare land plot in the picturesque part of the city - Shevchenkivsky Hay (Shevchenko Park). Unbelievably beautiful wooden houses and churches of the past ages create a genuine atmosphere of Ukrainian villages from different regions of the country - the lands of Boykos, Lemkos, Hutsuls, as well as Bukovyna and the Transcarpathian Region. In dwelling and utility houses you will find items of everyday use and farm implements. The churches, chapels and belfries have an authentic look.
The oldest monument to be found in the open-air museum is a house from the Carpathian village of Lybokhora dating back to 1749. The exposition includes wooden churches from the village of Kryvka (1763) of Turka District and the village of Tysovets (1863) of Skole District in Lviv Region, remarkable for the uniqueness of their shape. The church from Kryvka is a folk architecture masterpiece of European importance.
Folklore-ethnographic ensembles stage their performances on the museum's territory. The annual folklore festival called From the Folk Source (Z Narodnoyi Krynytsi) enjoys great popularity among the visitors. Liturgies are performed at churches, and especially impressive among them are the divine services at the Lord's Wisdom Church (the church from the village of Kryvka) held at Christmas and Easter.
The task of the museum is to collect, study and widely present to view the most typical features of rural architecture of the Western Ukraine. It is called upon to give a comprehensive idea of the life and traditions of various strata of the Ukrainian population from the end of the 18th century beginning of the 20th century .
The territory of the Museum is divided into 8 exposition sectors – "Boikivshchyna”,"Lemkivshchyna ”, " Gutsulshchyna ”, "Bukovyna ”, " Podillya ”, "Polissya ”, "Lvivshchyna ”, "Volyn” which are to represented ethnographical and historico – geographical zones of the Western Ukraine .
Today the museum exhibits 124 monuments of folk western region of Ukraine.
Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life