Berdychiv is a small city that is located 181km from Kyiv. The city itself does not have many historical sites to visit, except one, and a very important one. The centerpiece of this city is Berdychiv Castle, which nowadays is a Roman-Catholic church.
The castle walls started to appear back in the 16th century and its owner was the Tyshkevich family. However in the 17th century one of the family members – Ian Tyshkevich gave his castle as a gift to the Catholic church (by the way the castle wasn’t finished yet). However the castle was home to the Catholic church for only a short while. After a few years the war between Ukrainians and Polish started and the castle was badly ruined. After that the Catholic church tried to come back, but met a big resistance.
It was not just the resistance of the locals that stopped the Catholic church from coming back to Berdychiv castle. The descendents of Ian Tyshkevich legally fought the church to get their castle back. In 1717 the process was won by the monks, which started renovation of walls and construction of a cathedral.
Another big renovation had to be done after the Second World War, when Berdychiv castle/monastery was partly destroyed.
Nowaday Berdychiv castle is an important place for many Christians. Every year people from all over Ukraine come to visit this monastery. There are many pilgrim’s journeys to Berdychiv monastery, one of them even goes through my home town of Polonne. So in the middle of July people will join a 4 day walk, during which they are singing, praying, having fun.
From Kyiv or Lviv
Although Berdychiv is not a huge city, it is an important railway connection for many trains from Kyiv and Lviv. So the best way to get to Berdychiv will be by a train.
It is also possible to take a direct bus from Kyiv bus station. The drive will take around 3 hours.
From Zhytomyr
The easiest way to get to Berdychiv from Zhytomyr is by direct bus from Zhytomyr bus station. Such a drive will take around an hour.
On the way to Berdychiv you can stop at the famous Fisherman’s House in Staryi Solotvyn that located just 20 minutes drive away from the city.
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