You're reading: Yanukovych’s palace becomes tourist hot spot for Ukrainians

The EuroMaidan Revolution left Ukraine with one new and extremely popular tourist attraction. Thousands of Ukrainians and foreigners come every week to the unremarkable village of Novi Petrivtsi north of Kyiv. Here stands Mezhyhirya, a hilariously luxurious mansion and 140-hectare estate that belonged to former President Viktor Yanukovych.

Since Feb. 22, when Yanukovych fled the country, his residence has been open to everyone. Since then Mezhyhirya, a former state-owned mansion privatized and redesigned by Yanukovych, welcomes thousands of tourists every week, who head to the place to see with their own eyes how the former president rolled in luxury.

Some visitors arrange their trips on their own while others purchase tours to Mezhyhirya from travel agencies. Rising demand to visit Yanukovych’s residence prompted the agencies to organize regular tours for reasonable prices starting from early March.

Smile Tour, one of such travel agencies located in Zhytomyr, offers weekend trips to Mezhyhirya every Saturday starting from April 12 for Hr 120. Oleksandr Oleskiychuk, the agency’s director, considers Mezhyhirya to be a promising tourist destination.

“On average some 30 people take the tour to Mezhyhirya weekly and the interest grows,” he said.

Olha Yemets, a schoolgirl from Zhytomyr, was one of the group that visited Mezhyhirya with the Smile agency on May 4.

“When my sister and my classmates saw pictures from the residence they also wanted to go there,” she said.

Yemets was impressed “with the size and magnificence of the estate” yet she regrets that the four hours she spent there were not sufficient to see everything, and she is now collecting money for her next Mezhyhirya trip.

While it is often called a “museum of corruption,” it is also a place where one can walk and admire beautiful landscapes, cycle or ride a Segway. Yet many want to see Honka, the huge five-story house where Yanukovych lived.

Petro Oliynyk, a tour guide in Mezhyhirya, says many people want to see how Yanukovych lived despite the fact that the one-hour guided tour to Yanukovych’s former house costs Hr 200.

“People are impressed with the abundance of lavish things in the house. Many visitors say that its excessiveness even turns into ugliness,” the guide said.

To tourists who want more impresions, travel agencies offer a joint tour that includes Mezhyhirya and the Kyiv center. Tamara Huryeva, a pensioner from Poltava chose to see both Kyiv and Yanukovych’s palace in one trip that cost her Hr 230.

“Visiting only Mezhyhirya is boring for me and so-called Honka did not impress me. I saw even better houses of ordinary Ukrainians in the Zakarpattya region,” the woman says.

Instead Huryeva feels lucky to attend “Kodeks Mezhyhirya” (Mezhyhirya’s Code), an exhibition of personal items from the homes of Yanukovych and Viktor Pshonka, former Ukrainian General Prosecutor, which are currently exhibited at the National Museum of Arts of Ukraine. Her only regret is that she did not visit Maidan Nezalezhnosti, a square where EuroMaidan revolution took place.

“After the relaxing trip to Mezhyhirya I was not able to bring myself to the place where peaceful protesters were shot dead by snipers,” she adds.

Huryeva is already planning another trip with the Poltava InGreen travel agency to Kyiv.

“My next trip will be devoted to EuroMaidan only. I want to put flowers on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, pray and pay tribute to those slain heroes,” Huryeva said.

Inna Kuzyura, an executive director of the Association of Domestic and Inbound Tourism of Ukraine, thinks that Mezhyhirya is a very promising tourist attraction.

“In the future Mezhyhirya could become ​a​ real tourist pearl, yet Ukraine has to provide the proper marketing strategy, interesting guided tours and necessary infrastructure,” Kuzyura said.

Despite the growing popularity of Mezhyhirya, travel agencies still have nothing to offer foreigners. Meanwhile, the lack of knowledge of local languages and absence of tour guides make it difficult for potential tourists from abroad to come to Mezhyhirya.

Pierre Heumann, a journalist of the Swiss weekly Weltwoche had to arrange his trip to the presidential residence on his own.

“I was impressed not only by the sheer size of the residence, but also by the fact that Yanukovych apart from his real house had a second one where he invited journalists in order to show how “modest” his life style is,” Heumann said, adding that for foreign tourists there is a need for well-thought out excursions which would explain facts and figures from Yanukovych life.

Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]