On the southern outskirts of Sumy, in the suburb of Basy, stands the neo-Gothic palace of Countess Paraskieva Shterycheva with an octagonal five-tiered tower. The main house of the estate was built in 1810, and at the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in the style of English neo-Gothic. Researchers call this estate the most artistically perfect of all those preserved in Slobozhanshchyna. It is a national architectural monument.
Countess’s Palace
At the end of the 18th century, the estate belonged to the landowners Donets-Zakharzhevskyi. Paraskieva Shterycheva, daughter of a Sumy colonel, received Basy after the division of her father’s property with her brothers. After her husband’s death, she sold part of his estate in Katerynoslav region and moved to Basy. According to the project of architect Oleksandr Palitsyn, a stone two-storey house was built here.
Scholz’s Neo-Gothic
In the 1890s, Sumy architect Karl Scholz rebuilt the main house in the style of English neo-Gothic. An octagonal five-tiered tower adjoins the eastern side: the fourth tier is topped with decorative machicolations with a circular observation deck, and the upper one has machicolations with merlon battlements, like in a medieval castle. Inside there was a ceremonial vestibule. Around it are residential and utility buildings and a park.
Insurance Fire and War
After 1903, the estate was owned by landowner B. Zolotnytskyi, who, according to reports, set fire to the house in 1905 to collect insurance. Later the estate was bought by S. Shteiner, a representative of the insurance company “Russia” in Sumy, who repaired it and owned it until 1917. The interior suffered most during the fire in 1942, under German occupation.
Later the palace housed the cardiology department of the district hospital, and now the estate complex belongs to the Medical Institute of Sumy State University; since 2013, a university sanatorium-preventorium has operated here.
How to Get There
The estate is in Basy, on the southern outskirts of Sumy; city transport runs here from the center.
What to Consider
The palace houses an institution, so view it from the outside. Sumy regularly suffers drone and missile strikes — check the security situation before your trip.
