Колочава

The Kolochava community lies in the upper valley of the Kolochavka River in the heart of the Ukrainian Carpathians, between the Volovets and Synevyr passes. The village was founded in the first half of the 15th century and is believed to be named after the river. More than 66% of the territory is nature conservation land, so visitors find mountain meadows, spruce forests and clear streams all around. Kolochava is called the 'village of ten museums': it has the Old Village open-air museum with some twenty authentic farmsteads, a narrow-gauge railway museum with a steam locomotive and wagons, a museum of the legendary outlaw Mykola Shuhai, Czech and Soviet school museums, the Arpad Line museum, a UPA hideout and more. Other sights include a wooden church, memorials and a bust of the writer Ivan Olbracht, who made the village famous in Europe. The community is known for riplyanka, a dish of mashed potatoes and cornmeal, celebrated at a festival every June. Dozens of green-tourism guesthouses, trout farms and weaving and cheese-making workshops await guests.