Lutsk Jerusalem

It is quite common to come across a group of tourists from Lithuania or Poland in the old Luchesk. The history of the city had long Polish and Lithuanian periods. Almost half of the visitors are attracted first of all by the medieval castle and the old town, full of sights and monuments of different eras. However, an average Lutsk resident (not to mention residents of Volyn region) almost does not know that, for example, under the Catholic Church there is a multilevel dungeon, which in any European city even in the neighboring Poland would become a tourist highlight.

Lutsk was called another Rome or even Jerusalem for the number of churches and temples. Lutsk Jerusalem – this is the name of the tour made by Serhii Hodlevsky, historian, head of the Cultural Heritage Department at Lutsk City Council. He explained that Lutsk was once a multicultural city where dozens of languages were spoken. In the Old Town there are Orthodox churches, Armenian church, German church, Jewish synagogue, and even kenasa of Karaites – nation that has almost disappeared from the earth.

“An average citizen probably does not really care about the difference between Dominicans, Franciscans, and Trinitarians even though there were monasteries of these Catholic orders in Lutsk. However, he should know that not every town had a department, so to speak, of the Dominican Order,” said Hodlevsky. “Dominican monks were philosophers, scribes, and theologians. They were among the founders of Jesuit College, which later grew into the academy. This provided the city with culture and education.”

Hodlevsky’s tour Lutsk Jerusalem became the step in the project that is supposed to make the city more attractive for tourists. The project has the name “Tour Guides on Vacation.” Well-known people – ethnologists, historian, and even musicians, writers, journalists, and politicians who have something to say about Lutsk will tell Lutsk citizens about its history and present. Tours are free. The next tour will be given by Maria Filoniuk, fellow researcher of the Modern History Department at Volyn Regional Ethnographic Museum. Filoniuk is a granddaughter of Mykola Kudelia – prisoner of Lutsk prison, who survived the mass shooting of June 23, 1941. After that Petro Tronevych, well-known ethnographer, researcher of the history of Lutsk and Lutsk Castle suggests to take a trip around the medieval Lutsk, capital of Galicia-Volhynia Principality, city-fortress, where European Congress of Monarchs took place.

The project was organized by the people working at public utility company “Center of Tourist Information and Services” together with the Department of International Cooperation and Tourism of Lutsk City Council.