Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore.

The Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore was opened on 1 May 1940 in a building on 7 Halytska Street. At that time, the museum’s exposition included sections on history, folk art, nature, and a book collection. 

In 1957, the City Hall (designed by architect Treli) was transferred to the museum. After renovation, a new exhibition was opened on 26 April 1959.

Today, the Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore is a significant scientific and cultural centre of the Carpathian region. There are expositions of the departments of nature, history, folk art, iconography, and exhibition halls. The museum also has the following departments: funds, scientific and educational, scientific and methodological, and 7 museums as branches located in the districts of the region.

The museum is visited by over 150,000 people annually, with more than 2,000 excursions and about 60 exhibitions organised. 

As a research centre, the museum holds 2-3 scientific conferences annually.

Department of Nature

The exposition of the Natural History Department, which consists of eight sections, provides a physical and geographical description of the region, schematic maps (geological, tectonic, paleontological), geological profiles, stratigraphic columns, samples of rocks and minerals of different eras (sandstones, marls, limestones, dolomites, mudstones, siltstones, clays, gravels, conglomerates).

The palaeontological collection of the Department of Nature is relatively large (over 2000 specimens). The exposition features fossils and prints of various animals that lived in ancient geological times: sponges, corals, polyps, brachiopods, mollusks, sea urchins, and fish. There are also fossilised bones of large mammals: whale, mammoth, rhinoceros, primitive bison, giant deer and others.

The showcases display samples of minerals: iron ore, cainite, carnallite, sylvite, calcite, phosphorite, gypsum, sulphur, oil, lignite, ozokerite, peat, and others.

The relief features of the region are revealed with the help of a gypsometric map and various photographs.

A schematic map “Hydrological network of rivers and reservoirs of the region” and photographs of lakes, ponds, waterfalls introduce visitors to the peculiarities of the water network of our region. 

More than 30 per cent of the region’s territory is covered by forests. The exposition features samples of trunks of various tree species, including berry yew and Carpathian cedar pine, which are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

The fauna of the region is very diverse. The exhibition includes stuffed fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Particular attention is drawn to those species listed in the Red Book: black stork, grey crane, golden eagle, vulture, white-tailed eagle, owl, and wood grouse.

Department of Archeology

The materials of the Archaeology Department’s exhibition reveal the history of modern Ivano-Frankivsk region from the Paleolithic to the 10th century AD. 

Here you can find samples of ceramic ware from one of the oldest Neolithic cultures in Europe – the Linear-Band Ceramics culture, discovered by researchers in the Transnistrian area. Unique are the remains of charred wheat grains found at a settlement in the village of Nezvysske, Horodenka district, which testify to the cultivation of grain in the region. This is confirmed by the findings of stone sickles and axes, horn hoes from the Neolithic period.

The museum also displays a rare treasure trove of flint plates found in Ivano-Frankivsk, which consists of a large number of plates and nuclei. 

The collections of terracotta anthropomorphic and zoomorphic plastics are also interesting. These are clay figurines and sculptures depicting a sacred being in the form of a human and an animal.

In the Bronze Age, the Carpathian region was inhabited by numerous tribes of different cultures: Corded Ceramics, Komarivtsi, Noa, and Thracian Halstat. The exposition contains typical ceramics of these cultures.

The museum’s collection of bronze items and stone moulds is unique. The collection of battle axes is one of the richest in Ukraine. The military equipment is complemented by masterfully crafted bronze spearheads and a sword. A rare exhibit is a spearhead made of silicon.

The exposition is decorated with a complete set of bronze jewellery – spiral and plate bracelets, a hairpin, a hryvnia (a massive neck ornament), and hairbands from the village of Novoselivka, Horodenkivskyi district, Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Department of History

The exposition of the History Department covers the period from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century and introduces visitors to the history of the emergence and development of the Galicia-Volyn state. 

Among the museum’s archaeological collection, the finds discovered during the excavations of the chronicle’s Galician grave are considered unique: battle axes, a sword, a knife, and a fragment of a gilded wooden shield.

The Galician principality reached its greatest development during the reign of Prince Yaroslav (1152-1187), who was nicknamed “Osmomysl”, or “wise prince”, for his intelligence and wise policy. The museum houses a unique exhibit of the Galicia-Volhynia state – a stone sarcophagus (coffin) in which Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl was buried. The sarcophagus was discovered by the famous archaeologist Yaroslav Pasternak in 1936 while clearing the foundations of one of the largest sacred buildings of that time – the Assumption Cathedral (the territory of the modern village of Krylos).

The showcases feature archaeological finds from princely Halych: unique bronze icons, crosses-encolpions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, crucible moulds, and ceramic tiles from the Assumption Cathedral. Fragments of fabrics embroidered with gold thread and a silver hryvnia are valuable.

Davniy Halych was a significant craft and trade centre. This is evidenced by the products of Galician craftsmen found during archaeological excavations. Blacksmith’s products are exhibited in the windows: sickles, knives, shovel hilts, battle axes, horseshoes, scissors, arrowheads, buckles, spurs, women’s jewellery of the XI-XII centuries: necklaces, corals, fragments of glass bracelets, bone and horn products, bronze and silver jewellery. Along with the development of crafts, domestic trade was also developing. The trade items included grain, honey, wax, fur, weapons, and women’s jewellery. The connection between Galician merchants and Arab countries is evidenced by a treasure trove of Arab coins (dirhams) found in 1948 in the village of Krylos, Halychyna district, in a clay jug. 

In the exhibition halls of the History Department, you can see Western European and Cossack weapons, attributes of the Hetman’s power, pipes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and other memorabilia that highlight the events of the Cossack era.

Numerous old prints introduce visitors to the development of book printing. There were two printing houses in our region: Stratyn and Krylos printing houses, owned by Fedir and Gideon Balaban. 

One of the exhibition halls highlights the history of the foundation and development of the city of Stanislaviv (Ivano-Frankivsk). Visitors can see a model of the mid-eighteenth-century Stanislaviv fortress, the symbolic key of the city. Stanislaviv, tools, household items of the 1930s and other interesting exhibits. 

The exposition also presents the theme of the Opryshky Movement. The showcases contain weapons of the opryshky (Austrian and Hutsul pistols, a Hutsul rifle, Hutsul jewellery, a tobivka (bag), a cheres (belt), copies and originals of documents.

Numerous documentary and material materials cover the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the First World War and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic. 

The history of the liberation movement is covered by the documentary permanent exhibition “From the History of the Unconquered”.

Department of folk art

The exposition of the department represents: Boikivshchyna, Hutsulshchyna, Opillya and Pokuttia.

 The best examples of wood carving and burning, artistic metalworking, leather goods, ceramics, embroidery, weaving and Easter eggs are on display.

Of particular interest to visitors are the works of the carvers of the Shkriblyak and Korpaniuk families, V. Kabin, V. Huz, Y. Toniuk, M. Hrepyniak, and the master of artistic wood burning I. Hrymaliuk. 

Hutsul ceramics: vases, plates, fruit bowls, clappers, five-candle holders, small sculptures, represented by the works of leading masters of pottery – P. Tsvilyk, N. Verbivska, Y. Iliuk, V. Dzhuraniuk, Y. Uhryniuk, Y. Zarytska, Y. Zarytskyi. 

Metal and leather products are of particular interest: hatchets, kelefs, scales, flints, pipes, zgardas, metal decorated bags, cheresy, tobivky, tashky, belts, leather purses, jewellery boxes, pendants, and stilts. These are the works of famous masters M. V. Vintoniak, M. Y. Prashchuk, M.U. Knyshuk, A. Kisylichuk.

The department exhibits interior fabrics: carpets, tapestries, spindles, curtains created by famous masters of artistic weaving – H. V. Vasylashchuk, P. P. Boruk, O. F. Turetska.

A significant place in the exposition is occupied by collections of clothes, pysankas, gerdans, wickerwork, and sylianok.

The interior of the “Hutsul house” is also worthy of the visitor’s attention.

Department “Urban life of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries”

Getting into the first hall of this department, the visitor will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of luxury of the Jablonowski Palace, which was located in Burshtyn. Here you can find furniture inlaid with precious woods and carved details of the Baroque style.

In the following halls, you can see no less exquisite carved furniture (cabinets, chests of drawers, desks), as well as writing and dining utensils.

Department of Sacred Art

The Hall of Sacred Art presents visitors with a collection of ancient icons, sculptures, and ritual religious items of the XVIII-XX centuries. Many of the exhibits have come a long way, as they were subjected to devastating interventions during the Soviet era, when everything spiritual was banned and the cult of atheism reigned supreme. Thanks to the painstaking work of the museum’s restoration department, these works of art and religious items have been given a new lease on life. For more than two decades, the museum has been running the project “Let’s Save Treasures Together!”, which aims to involve the public in the preservation and restoration of museum works. The results of the work are presented in the museum’s exposition.

However, Russia’s military aggression has made adjustments to the museum’s work, and the most valuable sacred collection was hidden by the staff in the storerooms to protect it from possible damage and destruction. The Hall of Sacred Art was closed until 28 July 2022. On this day, the Ivano-Frankivsk Museum of Local Lore opened the art project “GOD IS BETWEEN US! LET’S WIN TOGETHER!”. This exhibition combined some sacred works, children’s drawings, and artworks by contemporary artists.