Central Dnieper Region (Naddnipryanshchyna) Exposition
Whitewashed cottages under thatched roofs buried in flowers, a 1742 Cossack church on the hill above the pond, a village square with its council house and school — a living street of a Dnieper-region village from the 17th to 20th centuries.
The Heart of the Dnieper Region: Architectural Heritage
The Central Dnieper exposition occupies a typical local landscape of hills and a valley, where a small ravine divides it into Left-Bank and Right-Bank parts. It gathers monuments of traditional culture from the 17th to 20th centuries of the forest-steppe Kyiv, Cherkasy and western Poltava regions.
Every homestead features whitewashed cottages under thatched roofs buried in flowers and orchards. The village street leads to the square — the heart of the village with its Cossack church, priest’s house, parish school and village council. All community affairs were settled in these buildings.
Folk construction here combines post-and-wattle and log-frame wall systems using local materials: timber from mixed forests, willow wattle, reed, straw and rich clay deposits. Right-Bank roofs are crowned by a high decorative ridge (“didukh”), Left-Bank ones by a lower ridge without tassels.
The interiors display authentic household items collected during ethnographic expeditions of the 1960s–70s: hewn benches, tables under icons with embroidered cloths, dowry chests, painted stoves and carved icon shelves.
Sector Map: Central Dnieper Region
Sector map: ravine, pond and cobbled road. The numbers on the map correspond to the monument list below.
Architectural Monuments of the Sector
Each homestead was relocated from its historical village and furnished with authentic everyday objects of the Dnieper countryside.
Early 20th C.
1. Windmill from Sasynivka
A post windmill from the early 20th century with four sails. Its two-storey body with a gallery stands on an oak trestle base, rotating toward the wind around a massive oak post deeply driven into the ground.
1920s–30s
2. Windmill from Borovytsia
A six-sailed post windmill with a low log trestle. The timber-framed body is clad together with the gallery housing the stairs to the upper floor, where grindstones sit above a flour chest, topped by a keel-shaped board roof.
Late 19th – Early 20th C.
3. Cottage from Nemorozh
A reconstruction of a land-poor peasant’s dwelling from the turn of the 20th century. This modest cottage without outbuildings honestly portrays the life of the poorer part of the Dnieper village — a contrast to the wealthy homesteads of the sector.
19th C.
4. Cottage from Taboriv
A three-chamber cottage; the pantry lintel bears carved dates of 1833 and 1861. Walls are log-built from split pine with extended joist ends, the hewn ceiling beam carved with solar motifs, and the thatched roof crowned by a high decorative ridge.
19th C.
5. Cottage from Yasnoziria-1
A homestead with the so-called deep clean yard: a vegetable-and-beehive cellar, an orchard and an apiary, with the working yard — barn, cowshed and pigsty — closer to the street. A model of a prosperous right-bank Dnieper farmstead.
Late 19th C.
6. Cottage from Shevchenkove
This building was moved from Taras Shevchenko’s homeland. The cottage belonged to the poet’s grand-nephew Tymony Shevchenko (1870–1954), a miller, whose family lived here until 1973 — a living memory of the great poet’s lineage.
Built 1875
7. Cottage from Khreshchatyk
A three-chamber dwelling built in 1875 from massive split pine logs and beams. The whitewashed log walls support a roof with projecting gable canopies, thatched in paired sheaves with a high decorative ridge.
19th C.
8. Cottage from Yasnoziria-2
A homestead with an open-type yard, where the land between the dwelling and outbuildings lies in the open air. Together with the neighbouring Yasnoziria-1 it demonstrates two planning types of wealthy Cherkasy farms.
Built 1742
10. St. Paraskeva Church from Zarubyntsi
A three-log, three-domed church built in 1742 in Ukrainian baroque style without a single metal nail. Its foundress was Ursula-Francisca Radziwill, the last of the Wisniowiecki line, and an antique carved iconostasis fills the eastern nave.
Built 1903
11. School from Lotasheve
A parish school built in 1903: a post-construction on a stone foundation with two porches under separate roofs, large windows and whitewashed walls. Such schools beside churches formed the educational heart of the village.
19th C.
12. Cottage from Stari Babany
A specimen of frame construction: wattle walls on posts filled with clay-and-stray, whitewashed inside and out. The entryway holds a large wicker-clay chimney, and the cottage features a vanky — a small partitioned room with its own stove.
18th C.
13. Cottage from Ryzhavka
A traditional log dwelling of the 18th century with an advanced layout — two rooms divided by an entryway. The lost right half was reconstructed mirroring the left one, making it one of the oldest residential exhibits in the sector.
Late 19th – Early 20th C.
14. Priest’s House from Myzynivka
A multi-room residence of village clergy from the turn of the 20th century. Together with the church, school and council building it recreates the administrative and spiritual centre of the village square where all community matters were settled.
Late 19th C.
15. Tavern from Babanka
A village tavern from the late 19th century: whitewashed board-on-post walls and a hipped thatched roof. Taverns stood by roads or the village square, serving as the hub of rural trade and news.
Late 19th C.
16. Cottage from Solonytsia
A left-bank dwelling type: clay-walled on oak posts with a thickened base, whitewashed with a tall red-clay plinth. The pantry is log-built from pine, while the entryway is plank wattle-work.
Late 19th C.
17. Cottage from Bziv
A three-chamber cottage of hewn pine planks with short joist extensions, clad and whitewashed. The open framework of the entryway and pantry clearly displays the timber-building technology of the Kyiv region.
Built 1600
18. St. Michael’s Church from Dorohinka
An outstanding monument of 17th-century monumental timber architecture, dated by researcher P. Yurchenko to the year 1600. Built of pine logs with multi-recessed domes, it is a rare specimen of the oldest church-building in the Dnieper region.
18th C.
19. Cottage from Mala Karatul
A traditional 18th-century dwelling with two rooms divided by an entryway. The whitewashed walls are ringed by a tall clay plinth with red edging, the roof thatched in rye sheaves and pierced by two tall chimneys.
Visitor Tips for the Sector
Best Photo Angles
St. Paraskeva Church on the hill above the pond is the sector’s dominant landmark, especially picturesque in morning light. The windmills on the rise photograph beautifully against the evening sky.
Getting There from the Entrance
The sector starts right at the museum’s main entrance: to the right of the lane is the Right-Bank part with the square, to the left behind the ravine are the Left-Bank homesteads and windmills. A full round takes about 40 minutes.
Must-See Highlights
Visit St. Paraskeva Church of 1742 with its carved iconostasis, and find the cottage from Shevchenkove — an ancestral home of Taras Shevchenko’s descendants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can visitors enter the cottages?
Yes, in the warm season most homesteads are open: inside you will see authentic stoves, carved ceiling beams, weaving looms and everyday objects of the Dnieper village.
How long does a visit take?
A leisurely tour of all 18 monuments — from windmills to two churches and the square — takes about 40–50 minutes.
Is a separate ticket required?
No, the Central Dnieper sector is included in the standard Pyrohiv museum admission ticket, like all regional expositions.