Attractions of Shevchenkove

The only building in the village of Shevchenkove, which has been preserved in its original form from the Taras times, is the house of the deacon Ruban, where little Taras Shevchenko studied literacy for two years.

The schoolhouse was located in the then center of the village of Kerelivka, next to the church, 400 meters west of the Shevchenko family estate. It was divided by a porch into two halves - residential and educational. All the children studied together at a large long table in two groups.

In 1909, the Kerelivka school partially burned down, but the part of the house where the students studied remained. Until 1956, it remained residential. In 1961, a glass pavilion was built over it to protect it from the weather. In 1998, a number of restoration and reconstruction works were carried out.

Now the Dyak's House is one of the objects of the National Reserve "Taras Shevchenko's Homeland", visits must be arranged at the Taras Shevchenko Literary and Memorial Museum.

National Reserve "Taras Shevchenko Homeland" unites three ancient villages in which the childhood years of the future poet and artist were spent – ​​Moryntsi, where he was born, Shevchenkove, where he grew up and studied, and Budyshche, where he began his creative work. In total, there are 40 objects and monuments of the cultural heritage of Ukraine on the territory of the reserve.

The reserve was created in 1992 on the basis of the Taras Shevchenko Literary and Memorial Museum in Shevchenkove - the former Kerelivka. It was here that the estate of Taras's parents - Hryhoriy and Kateryna Shevchenko - was located, in which he spent his childhood, and which he repeatedly described in his works. The parental home was restored according to Shevchenko's drawings, the grave of his mother has been preserved in the garden, and a bronze sculpture of 13-year-old Taras has been installed. The original Deacon House, where little Taras learned to read and write, is of significant historical value.

In Moryntsy, the Taras Shevchenko Manor-Museum was created to mark the 175th anniversary of the poet's birth. The Moryntsy museum complex includes two reconstructed peasant huts: the hut of Yakym Boiko - Taras's maternal grandfather, and the neighboring hut Kopiya, in which the Shevchenko family lived for a year and a half. The estate has a monument to the poet's mother, Kateryna, with a little boy in her arms, and in the center of the village there is a sculpture of a kobzar with a bandura. Another landmark is the Chumak's House, which has been preserved since the 19th century and has been transformed into an ethnographic museum.

In the village of Budyshche, the summer house of the landowner Pavlo Enhelhardt, who owned the surrounding lands in the first half of the 19th century, has been preserved. Young Taras Shevchenko spent one summer in this estate as a kozachok (a boy on errands). Three old oak trees still stand in the park, in the hollow of one of which Taras hid his drawings. An old wooden windmill at the entrance to the village has also been preserved from Shevchenko's time. And at the crossroads between Moryntsy, Shevchenkov and Budyshche there is a sculpture "I was thirteen" - a young Taras with a lamb.

The Taras ShevchenkoLiterary and Memorial Museum in Shevchenkove, formerly Kerelivka, was founded in 1939 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Kobzar's birth. It was created on the site of the estate of the family of Hryhorii and Kateryna Shevchenko, purchased by them in 1816. Taras spent his childhood there, which he repeatedly described in his works.

In 1914, the estate was bought by Kyiv cultural figures, and in 1935, construction of the museum began. Later, in the courtyard, his father's house was recreated in real size according to Shevchenko's drawings and a bronze sculpture of 13-year-old Taras was installed. The grave of his mother has been preserved in the garden.

The five spacious halls of the museum tell about the life and work of the poet, artist and thinker. His personal belongings, first editions of books, documents, portraits and photographs are presented. You can see a table and a bench from the poet's parents' house, furniture from the estate of the local landowner Engelhardt, a wedding towel from Kateryna's sister, and gifts from relatives.

Since 1992, the literary and memorial museum has been part of the historical and cultural reserve "Taras Shevchenko's Homeland", which united the villages of the poet's childhood.