Historical and Cultural Complex Castle Museum Radomysl

The historical and cultural complex "Radomysl Castle" is called the eastern outpost of Europe.

The Papyrus, built in 1612 by the monks of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra as a fortified paper mill for printing holy books, is the easternmost of the defense-type structures preserved in Ukraine. Here in the Middle Ages Europe ended. Further, beyond Kiev and to the south, a wild field began, from where the developed part of Ukraine was subjected to constant raids by nomads.

With this in mind, the monks chose the site for the construction of the “papier” with great care. Taken into account the features of the landscape, which was supposed to contribute to defense during attacks. Such a place was found in Radomyshl on a rock, surrounded on all sides by water - between two waterfalls on the banks of the Myka River.
The founder of the first paper mill in Central Ukraine (“cigarettes”) was the famous religious and public figure of that time, the educator, the archimandrite of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Yelisey Pletenetsky (1550-1624). By that time, such factories existed in Ukraine only in Ostrog and Lviv, but they served mainly Catholic printing. The “Papyrus” in Radomyshl for the first time provided the needs of Orthodox printing.

It immediately became an important factor in the development of Orthodox book publishing in Central Ukraine. It was on the paper of the Radomyshl’s “father’s paper” in 1616 that the first book in Kiev, The Hourglass, was printed.

Under the “cigarette” it was impossible to undermine, since the granite rock on which it was built went deep into the land for kilometers. The building’s special architecture was also used for defensive purposes, which provided for thick walls 1.5 meters thick with loopholes and three extensions to increase the firing angles. It was not easy to break through such walls even with heavy guns. From the attackers defended themselves with shots from the "govovnitsy" (serf guns), rifles, as well as arrows. In Europe, such castles are quite rare, and in Ukraine it is the only defensive structure of its kind.

Of great importance for the effective defense of the “cigarette” was the source that beat from the rock. Being inside the building, he could provide the defenders with drinking water for an unlimited time. This source has been preserved today, it is located in the Concert Hall of the castle.
For decades, no stranger was able to capture the “cigarette” and destroy it. This was done during the war of liberation under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. Radomyshl was depopulated, and there was simply no one to defend the “paper mill”. It was destroyed and stood abandoned for several centuries.

People remember this place from the end of the 19th century. The building was rebuilt from red brick by an engineer Pekarsky, and since 1902, the former "cigarette-holder" began to serve as a mill for the surrounding areas.

Soviet power used the building as a mill almost until the collapse of the USSR. In 1989, the mill produced the last batch of flour and was abandoned. In the next two decades, it collapsed and turned into a spontaneous urban dump. The surrounding area was swampy and neglected.

In 2007, Olga Bogomolets, a well-known doctor, philanthropist, and public figure, took up the restoration of the “cigarette”. In place of a dilapidated mill, turned into a landfill, she created a historical and cultural complex with the world's only museum of Ukrainian home icon.

During the restoration work, which lasted more than 4 years, the building was cleaned of 60 tons of garbage and restored, the surrounding area was drained, raised above the level of the Myka River and converted into a landscape park. Repair and restoration work was carried out in compliance with ancient building technologies, the interiors of the 17th-19th centuries were recreated in the castle.

Today Radomysl Castle accepts excursions and guests, it hosts ceremonies, cultural events, festivals, concerts, and the museum of Ukrainian home icon has more than 5000 exhibits of the 17th-20th centuries. from all regions of Ukraine.

Radomysl Castle, as a unique historical and cultural object on the ancient trade route between Kiev and Western Europe, became a participant and diploma winner of the famous Council of Europe project Via Regia - Council of Europe Cultural Path.