Kyiv, Ukraine Temple
After lunch, we walked down the street to catch the bus to Pyrohiv (Pirogovo), originally a village south of Kiev. It is now home to 370 acres of an outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine. It is known for its windmills, thatched roof houses, and big painted eggs all over the the fields. Founded in 1969, the museum contains over 300 pieces of folk architecture brought here from all parts of Ukraine and carefully reassembled. The picturesque hill with several windmills is the museum centerpiece and the entire territory of the museum is divided into sectors, each representing the folk architecture and life of a specific Ukrainian region.
The oldest church is Naddnipryanska, built in 1742. In the museum you can also find more than 40,000 items of household and traditional culture such as costumes, old textiles, embroidery, carpets, ceramics, metal handicrafts, woodwork and glass-ware as well as musical instruments, paintings and housewares. Commoner's homes and old wooden village churches contain authentic items that represent the everyday lifestyle of Ukrainian villagers and townsfolk. Local volunteers and modern Ukrainian artisans sell their wares and dress in old-style clothes and demonstrate the use of authentic everyday items to visitors.
We arrived there just a couple of hours before it closed so there weren't many costumed volunteers or demonstrations but we enjoyed just wandering through the plantation and looking at all of the great buildings.
I love these hand-painted eggs. Each one is so different, pretty, and unique.
After touring Pyrohiv, we headed back to the apartment to relax and go to bed early for our next big day touring Kyiv.
