Polissya Region Exposition at Pyrohiv
Log cottages amid an oak grove, a 17th-century chapel, churches standing on oak posts and Ukraine’s oldest cottage of 1587 — wooden Polissya on the flatland section of the museum.
Polissya at Pyrohiv: Timber Architecture of the Forest Land
Polissya is a historic-ethnographic region stretching from west to east across the northern districts of the Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. In ancient times these lands were inhabited by the Siveriany, Drevliany and Volyniany tribes, and the flat landscape of forests, lakes and marshes shaped the traditional occupations of the local people: alongside farming and cattle-breeding — fishing, hunting, and gathering berries, mushrooms and wild honey.
The Polissya exposition occupies a flatland section of the museum beside an oak grove and a ravine, and comprises 45 architectural structures united into homesteads and grouped by building type. It also features a complex of sacred buildings — a chapel and two churches that crown the sector with the silhouettes of wooden temples.
Wood has always been the principal building material of Polissya. The variety of roof coverings is striking: split boards, shingles, dranka boards, sod, bast, marsh grass, straw, flax and hemp hurd. Archaic features long survived in the interiors — smoke and semi-smoke heating, tiny horizontal-slit windows, and lighting by a svitets torch-holder.
Among the sector’s monuments are unique specimens: the 1587 cottage, the oldest dated dwelling in Ukraine; a groat-milling stamping mill, the only known structure of its kind in the country; and an enclosed homestead court — a closed complex of dwelling and farm buildings under one roof. The church from Kisorichi hosts the ‘Church Antiquities of the Late 18th — Early 20th Century’ icon exhibition.
Polissya Sector Map
Sector map. The numbers on the map correspond to the monument list below.
Architectural Monuments of the Sector
Each building was relocated from a Polissya village and furnished with authentic everyday objects of the forest land.
1930s
1. Groat-Milling Stamping Mill from Arkhipivka
The only known structure of its kind in Ukraine for processing buckwheat and making groats. A two-chamber building with an octagonal section where a wheel eight metres in diameter turned under the weight of a pair of horses — the animals ‘stamped’ on the sloped wheel, driving a complex system of gears.
Late 19th C.
2. Cottage from Mamekyne
A two-chamber cottage of massive pine logs with entryway walls woven from wicker. Outside it is ‘rudzhena’ — coated with red clay — and whitewashed inside. Heating is semi-smoke: fumes escaped through a clay flue into the entryway. The shrine niche holds pottery from the famed Chernihiv centres of Verba and Osmaky.
19th C.
3. Cottage from Bekhy
A cottage from the ancestral seat of the Bekhy, minor gentry who had held lands here since the 10th century. Three-chambered, built of pine and oak slabs with a small pillared fore-pantry. The shingle roof is topped with windows of twelve panes outlined in soot and white clay.
17th C.
4. Chapel from Klesiv
Legend has it that shepherds built it on a hill where a spring broke through beneath an old birch. The oldest and simplest type of sacred building: a small church without an altar where children were baptised and the dead mourned. The older part has a pyramidal roof on a central post; the doors run on wooden runners.
Built 1789
5. Church of the Resurrection from Kisorichi
A unique monument of the ancient Polissya type built with archaic techniques: the log shell rests on oak posts sunk into the ground around its perimeter. Built in 1789. When discovered it housed a tractor stand and stored fertiliser; the crosses and domes were reconstructed after the manner of old wooden churches. It now hosts the ‘Church Antiquities’ icon exhibition.
1880s
6. Cottage from Blazhove
The home of a beekeeper’s family who practised wild-hive beekeeping. A two-chamber, semi-smoke dwelling built of pine beams in a ‘simple lock’ joint, its ceiling insulated with sand following an old tradition. Stone hand querns stand in the living room: ‘Mortar and querns are a black lot,’ folk wisdom said.
19th C.
7. Cottage from Mulchytsi
A specimen of the ‘long cottage’ widespread in Polissya: living quarters and farm rooms in one row beneath a single roof. Unwhitewashed, with a smoke stove resembling a sledge on runner-shaped benches. It was lit by a svitets torch-holder whose embers were never allowed to die — quenching them was thought to forebode misfortune.
19th C.
8. Smithy from Zaliuttya
A craft building for hot forging where village blacksmiths worked. A single-chamber log cell with a small canopy before the door; its roof is layered with split boards. Work was done with the door wide open: turning bog ore into iron demanded the highest possible temperature.
Built 1876
9. Cottage from Polytsi
Carved dedications adorn its walls: the name of an evangelist, a cross and the build date of 1876; another cross is cut into the ceiling beam. Built of hand-hewn alder slabs and roofed with reeds, its gable is decorated with a horned crescent. The smoke stove kept hens and potatoes warm beneath it.
Built 1587
10. Cottage from Samary
The museum’s oldest dated dwelling and, today, the oldest known specimen of traditional housing not only in Ukraine but beyond: according to a date found in its interior, it was raised in 1587, while these lands belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Single-chamber without an entryway; its archaic door runs on a wooden runner, and a clay flue in the front wall vented the smoke.
19th C.
11. Enclosed Homestead Court from Solovii
A complex of twelve dwelling and farm rooms joined in a single perimeter roof: the cottage, pantry, storehouse, workshop, sheds and stable. Such courts stood apart, deep in the forest: the enclosed space made it easier to tend livestock and protect it from predators. The cottage dates to 1851.
Built 1763
12. St. Nicholas Church from Horodyshche
Raised at the expense of the village community in 1763, as attested by an authentic inscription on the altar wall. Originally three-part and three-log, with an iconostasis transitional from rococo to classicism, it later underwent the synodal alterations of the late 19th century that changed its original appearance.
Visitor Tips for the Sector
Best Photo Angles
The Church of the Resurrection from Kisorichi on its rise is the sector’s dominant landmark, especially picturesque amid autumn foliage. The chapel from Klesiv looks fine in morning light from the oak grove side.
Getting There from the Entrance
The sector occupies the flatland area beside the oak grove and ravine: from the main entrance, follow the signs past the Podillya sector. A tour of all 12 monuments takes about 40–60 minutes.
Must-See Highlights
Find the 1587 cottage — Ukraine’s oldest surviving dwelling, step inside the groat-milling mill with its eight-metre wheel, and visit the icon exhibition in the church from Kisorichi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can visitors enter the buildings of the Polissya sector?
Yes, in the warm season most buildings are open: inside you will see authentic stoves, hand querns, Polissya pottery and household items. The church from Kisorichi hosts the ‘Church Antiquities’ icon exhibition featuring over 250 objects.
How does the Polissya sector differ from the others?
It is the most wooden sector of the museum: every structure is a log shell of pine, alder and oak left uncoated. It preserves the oldest dated dwelling in Ukraine — the 1587 cottage — as well as the country’s only groat-milling stamping mill.
Is a separate ticket required for the Polissya sector?
No, like all the museum’s expositions, the Polissya sector is included in the standard admission ticket.