Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Because this is an Orthodox place of worship, men aren't allowed to wear hats or
shorts, and women must cover their head, knees and hands (no trousers, shorts or skirts
above the knee, but six-inch heels seem to be fine). This applies to the churches
and
the
grounds. Trouser-clad women can borrow a wraparound skirt from the excursion bureau.
The souvenir stalls on the way up to the monastery do a roaring trade in headscarves. No
photography is allowed anywhere once through the gates, but a snap of the views from
the monastery ramparts is possibly worth a ticking-off from a monk.
Tourists almost always visit Pochayiv as a day trip, either from Ternopil, Kremenets,
Dubno or even, if they have a car, from Lviv. Little white
marshrutky
shuttle back and
forth almost constantly to and from Kremenets (7uah, 30 minutes), from where you can
pick up services on the main Lutsk-Ternopil or Rivne-Ternopil routes. They drop off and
then wait to fill up at the bottom of the hill below the monastery.
WORTH A TRIP
PIDKAMIN
Known today primarily for its striking natural hilltop standing stone, the village of
Pidkamin was once most celebrated for its huge fortified monastery. This was
founded at the same time as Pochayiv by monks hightailing it from Kyiv before the
Mongols hit town in 1240, and was later beefed up to protect the icon of the
Blessed Virgin. The icon was spirited away to Wrocław at the end of WWII when
most of the region's Polish population was sent packing. The crumbling remains of
the monastery rise just a short amble from the 17m-high rock from which Pidkam-
in, meaning 'under the rock', takes its name. This was a significant place of pagan
ceremony, but the graves circling its base probably belong to 17th-century Cos-
sacks.
tp://pidkamin.ridne.net
)
in late July, which attracts acts and audiences from across the
Ukrainian-speaking provinces.
As the village is in a different region to Pochayiv, there are virtually no 'cross-bor-
der' buses between the two. Regular services run from Brody 22km away, which
has good connections to Lviv.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Kremenets
03546 / POP 22,000
