The open-air museum of folk architecture and life «Shevchenko’s Hai» is the pride of the city of Lviv and is very popular with both guests of the city and Lviv citizens themselves.
In a picturesque place on 50 hectares there is a large architectural and landscape ensemble. In the XVIII century this area, which is also called Kaiserwald, belonged to the family Lonshan de Berier, who came from Switzerland. In the XIX and XX centuries, a kind of wild park was formed in the upper part — a place of rest for Lviv citizens.
In the early 60’s the idea to create a landscape park «Shevchenko’s hai», which included Shevchenko Memorial Complex and ethnographic museum of folk architecture and life. It is built on the principle of ethnographic districts of Western Ukraine. It includes Polesie, Volyn, Lvivshchina, Boykivshchina, Lemkivshchina, Hutsulshchina and Transcarpathia.
Now in «Shevchenko’s hai» there are more than 120 monuments of folk architecture. Many buildings can be seen not only from the outside, but also from the inside.
St. Nicholas Church of 1763 from the village of Krivki, Turkivka district stands out for its beauty. Nowadays the church is active and services are held in it.
There are six churches in total in this open-air museum.
It is also worth mentioning a garden (farmstead) from the village of Verbovets, Kosovsky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, built in the Hutsul style.
On the territory of the museum there are two exhibition halls, where you can see items of folk art. In addition to all this, there is a small menagerie.
In «Shevchenko’s hai» is beautiful at any time of the year — in winter, when there is snow and hoarfrost silvers the trees, on a summer day, when the sun’s rays break through the crowns, or in the fall, when the leaves of trees blaze with all colors. Walking along narrow paths past old peasant huts, water and windmills, wooden churches and chapels, you feel the beauty and richness of folk architecture.
The museum is open every day except Monday from 10 am to 6 pm.