Pirogovo Open-Air Museum - uVisitRussia
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Pirogovo Open-Air Museum

Situated around 12 km south of Kiev, the Pirogovo open-air museum is one of the best in Ukraine. Numerous villages are scattered around the large grounds, each representing a different region of the country. Visitors are free to wander in and around windmills, peasant huts, churches and barns.

Pirogovo is a historical place on the territory of Golosievo district of Kiev, that takes its name after the village that has been here since 17th century. On this territory the museum of folk architecture and mode of life is placed under the open sky. Here the monuments of material culture from all over Ukraine are represented. Pirogovo is the unique museum, the historical place in Ukraine, that gives you an opportunity to see the architecture and mode of life of all the regions in Ukraine starting from 17th up to 20th century. There is no reliable information about the origin of the name of this area, though there is an obvious connection with pies and buns (“pirogi” in Ukrainian). The idea of creating the Museum of folk architecture and mode of life belongs to The Hero of Ukraine Mr.Tronko. The works and the process of collecting pieces began in 1969, and in 1976 the museum was opened. Today the Museum got the status of State Museum and is subjected to the Institute of Art, folkloristics and ethnology of the Ukrainian National Academy of Science. The territory of the Museum is more than 150 hectare and it contains more than 300 exhibit pieces collected from all over Ukraine. The central place in the exhibition belongs to the group of windmills that are situated on the hill. The territory of the Museum is divided into sections; each of one represents the folk architecture and mode of life of one of the Ukrainian regions. The samples of peasants’ buildings, the building of village Council, and wooden churches contain the elements of folk utensils, which give us the idea of the way of life in Ukrainian villages and small towns at that period of time. In the Museum you can buy items made by contemporary masters of folk art, often made on the spot with help of instruments similar to those demonstrated in the museum.