The idea to create a museum in Perechyn originated in 2012, when a tourist information centre (TIC) was established in Perechyn with the support of the Centre for Public Initiatives. Antiques, household items, and furniture were collected in one of the rooms of the TIC. This room became the main basis for the creation of the future museum, and the collected items exhibited in it are part of the city's history.
On 18 April 2018, at the session of the Perechyn City Council, a decision was made to establish a local history museum in the city. From that moment on, research and search work began, as well as preparations for the construction of future exhibitions. Significant work was also carried out in terms of repairing the museum premises, as the institution was located in a building that was almost 100 years old at the time. At one time it was built for the needs of the local gendarmerie, approximately in 1916-1918. During the Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovakian periods, a gendarmerie station was located here. In 1939, with the arrival of the Hungarian authorities, it also became a border police exposition. In Soviet times, the police and the KGB (State Security Committee) were located here. Decades later, the building was empty and in disrepair. On 25 May 2019, the museum opened to its first visitors.
Of course, in order to preserve the historical significance of these premises, it was decided to preserve some interior elements: wooden windows and doors, a tiled stove ("kalga"), and tiles on the floor.
The very concept of creating museum exhibitions was to recreate the history of the city through the prism of the times and nationalities that lived here: Ukrainians, Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, Jews, Germans and Italians. The expositions also pay attention to the old names of the city's streets and their origins. The museum exposition is divided into 4 zones that recreate the history of the area.
The first room (zone) includes the expositions "Yaslyshche", "Potashnia", "Peasant's House" and "Perechyn Italians". "Yaslyshche" and "Potashnia" are tracts, ancient names of separate parts of the city. Perechyn's Potashnia district was named for the fact that charcoal was burned here, potash was made by evaporating a mixture of charcoal ash, and resin was produced.
The following exhibitions present the everyday life of Ukrainians, Italians, Germans, Hungarians, and Austrians who lived in Perechyn. At the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to the development of industry and the emergence of the railway, the population of Perechyn grew due to foreign specialists who were invited to work at the Bantlin factory and build railways and roads.
Part of the museum's exhibition is dedicated to the central street of the city, which Perechyn residents used to call Hradska. The main public buildings were concentrated here (the Roman Catholic Church of St. Augustine (1905), the former Jewish tavern of Herszko Grunwald, the bakery of Czech Andrej Hanak, the synagogue, the Church of St. Nicholas (1769), the first pharmacy in the city (1906), the Czech town hall (1928), the Bantlin factory (1893), and the old Austrian bridge (1902)).
All the exhibits in our museum were donated by the town's residents and are part of its history. A lot of information that sheds light on the town's past was found while working in the State Archives of the Zakarpattia Oblast (Berehove). A lot of material was also recorded from Perechyn old-timers.
Contacts of the Local History Museum in Perechyn:
Address: 7 Uzhanska St.
Phone: 0502655012
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/museumperechin
Email: museumperecin@ukr.net
