The Zhiduvka River is a small left tributary of the Styr River in Lutsk. It is about 4 km long and a basin area of 9.5 km². The river originates west of Lvivska Street, flows parallel to the streets of Bohenko and Mamsurov, then crosses Potebni Street and flows into the Styr. In general, the river is completely canalized, with a weak current. It can dry up in the summer and freeze in the winter during severe frosts.
The Zhiduvka River flows into the Styr River near the «Hnidavske Boloto», a local zoological nature reserve located on the Styr River’s left bank between the village of Rovantsi, the neighborhood of Hnidava, and the central part of Lutsk. The reserve was established to preserve a portion of the Styr River’s swampy left-bank floodplain. It is a haven for waterfowl and a home to a variety of rare plants.
References of the Zhiduvka River can be found in documents dating back over 400 years. At that time, it flowed outside of Lutsk in the village of Hnidava. In 1592, servants of the Lutsk deputy, who adjudicated land disputes, beat and robbed the owner of Hnidava, Pan Semen Krunevitch, his subordinates, and Pinsk traders carrying salt from Drogobych while crossing the Zhiduvka River. It is significant that the same story mentions perhaps the first known Lutsk brewer, Vasko Cheńka, who also got beating.
Currently, the Dubovyi Gai (Oak Grove) botanical nature reserve of local significance, with an area of 1 ha, is located on the banks of the Zhiduvka River. The main purpose of the reserve is to protect and preserve oak plantationsin the city’s residential areaand provide a recreational space for city residents. In 2020, a park area was arranged: paths were paved, street furniture, trash cans, lighting, and a playground were installed, and the condition of the river was improved. As a result, the city acquired an accessible and high-quality park where you can immerse yourself in nature and hide from the city noise.
This section has been developed with the financial support of the European Union within the framework of the international grant project «Promotion and protection of the natural heritage of urban rivers and coastal areas of Rzeszów and Lutsk» of the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020 of the European Neighbourhood Instrument. The contents of this section are the sole responsibility of the Executive Committee of Lutsk City Council and do not reflect the views of the European Union.
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We invite you to visit the main tourist site of Lutsk – a medieval castle of the XIV century. It won first place in the category “castles” of the All-Ukrainian competition “Seven Wonders of Ukraine: castles, palaces, fortresses”.
Mision of the museum is to create museum institution of the highest level that changes past, reflects present and creates future to develop the nation spirituality and promote Ukrainian art in the world. Here you can see the largest painting in the world – “Cosmogony”, covering an area of over 2000 square meters.
The Chortoryiski princes Tower is the only one of the 8 towers of the Lutsk Lower (Okolnyi) Castle that has survived to this day. The Museum space «Okolnyi Castle» is a modern historical part of the defensive structure of Lutsk from the 14th – 17th centuries. The Upper Lutsk Castle was rebuilt from wooden fortifications to stone ones between the late 14th and 15th centuries. The first line of defensive of the Upper Castle, the Okolnyi Castle, began its transformation in the early 16th century, when wooden towers were gradually replaced with stone structures.
In addition to the above-ground city, Lutsk has an extensive network of underground tunnels. The two levels of the underground city housed sacred objects, a refectory, a prison, and tombs. There are many legends about the unique two-level underground complex, the entrance to which is located beneath the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. Their height is particularly impressive, reaching almost 8 meters in some places.
Lutheran church (now Baptist) in Lutsk an architectural monument, located on Karaimska Street, 1 in the State Historical and Cultural Reserve “Old Lutsk”.
The Museum Space «Okolnyi Castle» is a new tourist attraction created on the basis of restored architectural monuments of national importance: the Chortoryiski princes tower with part of the defensive wall and the Jesuit Monastery with its dungeons.
