"The Old Village is the first rural museum of architecture and life in Zakarpattia. On its territory, the village of ancient Verkhovyna has been recreated from Kolochava exhibits that introduce the 300-year history of the local inhabitants' life. The skansen presents cultural monuments of different times and different segments of the population, both by social status (poor, middle class) and by type of activity (shepherds, woodcutters, millers, seamstresses).

Today, the Old Village Museum comprises almost two dozen buildings and outbuildings.

In the hut of a poor peasant  recreates the difficult living conditions of Kolochava residents in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A large family and pets lived in a small room without a floor, with one bed, small windows and no light. The house was built in 1856 and moved to the Skansen in its original form.

Parochial school conveys the atmosphere of children's education from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Schoolchildren of that time learnt to read from church books and wrote on small boards with slates. Pupils of different ages studied in the same class, and the deacon-teacher could severely punish disobedience with caning.

 In the 20s of the twentieth century, every tenth inhabitant of the village of Kolochava was Jewish. The Jewish complex in the skansen reflects the life of this part of the population. У Jewish bars "Wolf's Tavern" Everyone could drink a deca (one hundred grams) of vodka and have a snack. When a man ran out of money, he would start taking "on faith" (in debt). All debtors were recorded in a debt book, which was kept on the counter of the Jewish innkeeper. The room of the Jew indicates that he belonged to the richest stratum of the village population and had a well-furnished household. The Jew rented out his room to visiting guests.

To "lilacs"(Jewish prayer house), Jewish men would gather every Saturday for prayer. Here they would light candles in a seven-candle candlestick and, taking Jewish prayer books written in Hebrew, begin to pray.

A woodcutter's hut contains numerous logging tools and recreates the living conditions of a woodcutter. Wood harvesting was one of the most widespread, but also the most difficult, jobs in the region. This is evidenced by the collection of axes, clappers, knives, pins, saws, barts, and beaks on display.

Almost all the time he spent in the meadow with his sheep, the shepherd was unable to take good care of his home. Shepherd's hut It is squat and has small windows. However, it has everything you need to work with milk: a putina, a batala, wooden buckets, gels, a stirrer, a boiler for making vurda, etc. Under the roof of the shepherd's hut, there is a trembita, which is still indispensable for every shepherd.

The shepherd's summer cottage is also located nearby. salash (hut), which stood in a meadow. The shepherd lived there for most of the year.

The word "shuster" is completely incomprehensible to tourists, but in Kolochava everyone knew that this man "shredded" shoes. У shuster house presents an interesting collection of different types of shoes worn by the villagers a hundred years ago. Shuster also made cheres - belts that men used to gird themselves. Cheres warmed the back well and protected against hernia, and money was also hidden in it.

Sabov is a cutter and a seamstress in one. У sabbatical hut (seamstress) There is a whole collection of different sewing machines, scissors of different types and sizes. This building really belonged to Mytro Dats, a Kolochava tailor who used to sew up almost the entire village.

There was a gendarmerie station in the village under every government. The scan presents Hungarian gendarmerie station, where several policemen, representatives of the ruling state, were sitting and keeping order in the village. All those found guilty were immediately thrown into prison, which was located right under the gendarmerie. A young woman who had offended the authorities is currently serving her sentence there.

Forge - a blacksmith's workplace, without which no village could do without. The Kolochava smithy is ready to work at any time. Huge blowers supply air to the furnace from both sides, and a variety of hammers and mallets help to forge any iron thing.

The range of carpenter's products was very wide, and different tools were used to make them - different types of saws, planes and joists, a measuring compass, hammers, etc. All of them are available in The house and the carpenter's workshop. The most eye-catching feature is the century-old woodworking machine, which is still in operation.

Weaving was one of the most widespread economic activities and has a long history. Women and girls used to make cloth in every village house. That is why krosna was a must-have in every Verkhovyna house. You can learn more about the process of fabric making and try to work on a krosna yourself at of the weaver's building.

"Byrov" (village head) is the first person in the village. Therefore, the birov house is significantly different from the others. Spacious and bright, made of large logs, it has a floor inside and is furnished much more richly.

In March, Kolochava's Old Village Museum and Storytelling Centre is buried in purple flowers. Every spring, a unique natural phenomenon is observed here - a rare plant, the Heifel Saffron, blooms en masse. Usually, the first flowers in the Crocus Valley appear at the end of March and bloom en masse until the end of April. The Heifeli saffron is on the verge of extinction. It is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. In Kolochava, the flower is closely monitored and protected.

The Stare Selo museum complex was recognised as the best in the Traditions and Customs of My Small Homeland category at the All-Ukrainian competition of public museums held in December 2009 and won first place.

Information note:

The museum is open every day, without breaks and weekends, from 08:00 to 18:00 in the warm season, and from 9:30 to 16:30 in the winter

📍 Kolochava village, Mizhhiria district  

📞 067 215-09-85, 067 238 09 85

🌎 http://kolochava.com/