The Radomysl Castle Museum is located 86 km from Kyiv and is part of Via Regia route - is the name of the oldest and longest land route between the East and Europe, which stretched from Kyiv to the Atlantic coast. Already in the 13th century, a stable route with a length of 4,500 kilometers was formed, which passed through eight European countries: Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.
The water mill building on the Myka River was erected at the end of the 19th century on the foundations of a paper mill, founded in 1606 by Archimandrite Elisha Pletenetsky to supply the printing house of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra with paper. This was the first paper mill on the territory of Central Ukraine, built as a powerful defensive structure on a granite rock, which prevented any kind of digging. The source of drinking water, which came directly from the rock inside the building, was of great importance - the defenders could remain under siege for a long time. Most of the church and secular books were printed in the Lavra printing house on Radomyshl paper. It was made from flax, nettle and hemp, had a light gray color and was very durable; they transported it along the river directly to Kyiv. During the Cossack uprisings, the factory was destroyed.
The neo-Gothic style mill building, erected on the ruins, resembles a medieval castle in appearance. Until the 1960s, the mill performed its duties perfectly. Then it was abandoned for a long time. In 2007, Olga Bogomolets acquired an inconspicuous building at first glance. A doctor, collector, public figure and philanthropist decided to build a building to store her collection of icons. At that time there were already about 5,000 exhibits. The castle was built over four years from 2007 to 2011. Now here is the “Soul of Ukraine” - the largest museum of icons in Eastern Europe, dating from the 17th-21st centuries.
Inside the castle there is a refectory with an amazing medieval interior, where a 60-liter cauldron boils over an open fire, and food is cooked in a huge castle oven. They offer very tasty set lunches.
There is also a hotel with themed rooms. There are a lot of antiques in the rooms, old dishes sparkle on the shelves. The beauty of the old icons on the walls is mesmerizing.
Walking around the territory, it seemed that somewhere around the corner a monk would come out to meet you, dressed in a black robe with a rosary in his hands. We were still lucky to see one. A young guy dressed in a medieval costume was conducting a master class for children in an old basement room. Using ancient paper production technologies, kids diligently printed new sheets, and their parents happily filmed and photographed their favorite masters.
The castle is located in a beautiful landscaped park with rare plants and small lakes, in one of which Archimandrite Elisey Pletenetsky is thoughtfully reading a book, down on one knee.
Summertime
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