Shevchenkivskyi Hai Open-Air Museum

Better known as the Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, the Shevchenkivskiy Hai Open Air Museum outside of Lviv is one of the largest open air museums in Europe. Set near Shevchenko Park northeast of the city, it is comprised of more than 100 buildings from the past three centuries, including six wooden churches. Most notable is the Church of St Nicholas from the Kryvka village, which features a 17th century iconostasis and is considered an architectural gem of great cultural importance.The museum attempts to recreate the traditional atmosphere of villages from different regions around western Ukraine, including Bukovyna, the Transcarpathians and the lands of the Boykos, Hutsuls and Lemkos – eight different regions are represented altogether. It includes more than 20,000 objects, from furniture and clothing to ceramics and jewelry to a collection of 130 painted Easter eggs known as pysanky. On weekends, visitors can enjoy demonstrations of blacksmithing, baking, pottery, doll making and woodcarving.