The village of Yaropovychi is part of the Andrushivka urban hromada of Berdychiv Raion in Zhytomyr Oblast and lies in the upper reaches of the Irpin River, 20 km northeast of Andrushivka and 5 km from the Zhytomyr — Skvyra highway. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,117. The village's name is associated with Kyiv Prince Yaropolk Sviatoslavych, brother of Volodymyr the Great: in the 970s, he reportedly built a temporary fortification near the sources of the Irpin. South of the village, in the Zamok tract, the hillfort of the chronicled town of Yaropolch (9th–13th centuries) has been preserved—an archaeological landmark first mentioned in the chronicle under the year 1160.
History of the village
Until the mid-19th century, the greater part of Yaropovychi belonged to Tyt Trzetsiak. In 1859, he sold the estate to Syhiismund Kotyuzhynskyi, who built a sugar factory here in 1865. The venture did not succeed: Kotyuzhynskyi went bankrupt and transferred the manor and factory to creditors. During the revolutionary events, the factory burned down, and a school was set up in the manor, which operated until 2008 when a new building was erected in the village.
Architectural landmarks
Wooden Palace (old wooden school)
The most famous landmark of Yaropovychi is the 19th-century wooden manor house set in an old park with a pond; locals call it the "old wooden school." Built in the spirit of Ukrainian baroque, the building featured a number of technical innovations that were extremely progressive for their time:
- sewerage and plumbing;
- warm-air heating from a boiler in the basement that warmed the floor.
The house has survived almost in its original form; there are plans to set up a local history museum inside it.
Brick house
On the central street, an old brick house with buttresses has been preserved, which presumably had an industrial purpose. It adds a special historical flavor to Yaropovychi.
What makes Yaropovychi interesting
- The baroque wooden palace amidst an old park.
- The ramparts of the ancient Rus Yaropolch hillfort.
- The old brick house and traces of the sugar factory.
- Strolls through the surroundings, in particular the Yaropovychi Landscape Reserve near the southern outskirts of the village.
The wooden elements of the palace are striking in their beauty.
On the central street, there is a stone building with buttresses.
Yaropovychi has preserved part of its heritage from the Kyivan Rus era and the 19th century. The wooden palace, the old stone building, and the ramparts of the princely hillfort create a special atmosphere that attracts historians, architects, and tourists. The future local history museum will help preserve the history of the village.
Andrii Bondarenko.
