The former building of Luhansk City Council and Administration, erected in the 1880s. It housed the Museum of History and Culture with 50 thousand exhibits and a library with the collection of 12 thousand books.
Luhansk is the easternmost regional centre in Ukraine. Its history begins in the times of the Zaporizhian Sich. The year 1795, when the local community decided to build a foundry and a cannon factory near the Luhan River, is regarded as the city’s founding year.
The Luhansk Museum of History and Culture’s main exhibition, ‘Old Luhansk,’ includes items from this factory as well as late 19th- and early 20th-century household items, pre-revolutionary city documents, and photographs. It’s intriguing that the structure predates the museum in its history. The building was erected in the 1880s. Until 1919, the conference hall of the City Council and the administration were on the first floor. The ground floor was rented out to a shop and a printing house. A fire brigade was situated in the yard, and there was a fire station on the roof.
Since the 1920s, a construction technical school has operated here. After World War II, the building was finally given to a museum, first to the museum of local history and then to the museum honouring the Soviet politician and military officer, Kliment Voroshilov. During the Soviet era, Luhansk was repeatedly renamed Voroshylovhrad in his honour. In 1990, the Museum of History and Culture of Luhansk opened here.
Along with the main exhibition, the museum featured artefacts from the first mayor of Luhansk, as well as prominent representatives of the local intelligentsia, including doctors, educators, and philanthropists. A library with a collection of more than 12 thousand books was especially valuable. In particular, its book set contained the Encyclopedia Britannica, which was presented to Marshal Voroshilov by Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain.
Over 50,000 items have made up the museum’s collection as of late. The facade of its nearly 150-year-old building remained unchanged (except for the fire tower on the roof) until 2014 when Russian armed formations invaded the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east. The Russian projectile flew into the museum’s window in July 2014. Both the exterior and interior were severely damaged as a result.
The Luhansk Museum of History and Culture resumed its work only in 2016, when the city was already under Russian occupation. It remains unclear how the restoration of this architectural monument was accomplished. Nobody also knows if the museum will survive the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which Russia attempts to destroy both Ukrainian history and culture by all means possible.
The site that once held memories may now turn into a memory itself.
A striking example of Belgian architectural heritage in Lysychansk (late 19th century), one of the best schools in Ukraine.
Former building of the Chemists’ Club’s cinema, constructed in the middle of the 20th century. Over time, it housed Luhansk Drama Theatre, which history began in the times of World War II. In 2014, the company was forced to relocate from Luhansk occupied by Russia.
The stone church of the beginning of the XX century is one of the symbols of the town of Popasna.