On Oleksandriiskyi Boulevard in Bila Tserkva stands the Old Post Office ensemble, a rare postal station for Ukraine from the first half of the 19th century that has preserved its original layout. The complex of several Classicist buildings was erected in 1825–1833 at the expense of the Branicki family along the Moscow — Bila Tserkva — Odesa postal route. It is a architectural monument of national significance.
Station on the Odesa Route
The ensemble covers about one and a half hectares and consists of two parts. The first contained the station building, hotel, and coachman's quarters — together they form a cour d'honneur, a front courtyard open to the street. The second part housed the utility services: the carriage house, smithy, and stable. The architect is unknown, but the design was custom. In 1844, the complex suffered from a fire, and in 1848 it was restored.
What Has Survived
The main building is the station house: a single-storey center, flanked by two-storey sections with four-column Tuscan porticoes. A post office branch still operates here today. The hotel is single-storey, with porticoes on the main facade and a corridor layout. The coachman's quarters, where drivers lived, is a low building with a four-column portico above the entrance and an enfilade of rooms.
The carriage courtyard is even simpler: on the facade are two wide arched entrances for carriages, and in the depth are the carriage house and a rubble stone smithy. The L-shaped brick stable now serves as a warehouse.
Shevchenko at the Postal Station
In 1846, Taras Shevchenko, who was then working in the Archeographic Commission, stayed at the postal station hotel. He described his arrival in Bila Tserkva in his novella "A Walk with Pleasure and Not Without Morality".
Today, the structures of the ensemble are in need of restoration. In 2020, local journalists reported that part of the complex was put up for sale, and the community was concerned about the fate of the monument.
How to Get There
Address: 47 Oleksandriiskyi Boulevard, Bila Tserkva. From the city center, it is a few minutes on foot or by marshrutka along the boulevard. This is on the way to Oleksandria Park, so it is convenient to view the post office before a walk in the park.
Tip
The buildings can be viewed from the outside from the boulevard, and you can enter the post office branch in the station building during working hours. 19th-century postal stations have barely survived, making this one a true rarity.
