The Rylskyi family estate museum stands in the village of Romanivka in the Kvitneva community of Zhytomyr Raion, on the right bank of the Unava River. This is where the poet Maksym Rylskyi (1895–1964) spent his childhood and youth, and his father Tadei Rylskyi taught and defended the local peasants for over thirty years. The museum operates as a branch of the Zhytomyr Regional Museum of Local Lore.
Romanivka is easy to confuse with Romaniv — these are different settlements. Until the end of the 19th century, Romanivka also had the status of a town and was called Romaniv, but now it is a small village.
The Rylskyi Family in Romanivka
In 1844, Romanivka was purchased by Teodor Rylskyi, and later the estate was inherited by his son Rozeslav. In 1870, Tadei Rozeslavovych Rylskyi settled in his father’s estate and lived there for 32 years. He was an honorary justice of the peace, often acted as an advocate for the peasants, and never once took legal action against his fellow villagers. In 1878, Tadei Rylskyi married Melania Chupryna, a peasant woman from Romanivka, and opened a school in his house.
He was a good agronomist: together with the peasants, he supplied bread as far as Königsberg without intermediaries and helped the community buy land cheaply from a neighboring landowner. Neighboring landlords wrote complaints about him to the governor because of his “too friendly” relations with the peasants. Tadei Rylskyi died in 1902. He was buried in the cemetery on land he himself had donated to the community — once part of the family park.
The work of the father was continued by his sons: the eldest Ivan, later a translator, and the middle son Bohdan taught at his school. The youngest, Maksym, also grew up in Romanivka. In the early 1920s, he too taught at his father’s school and later became one of the most famous Ukrainian poets and translators.
The estate was visited by historian Volodymyr Antonovych, composer Mykola Lysenko, ethnographer Mykhailo Shcherbakivskyi, and in 1909, Volodymyr Vynnychenko was a guest here.
What’s in the Museum
The exhibition occupies four rooms in the house that belonged to the Rylskyi family. Later, a village school operated here, where Maksym Rylskyi taught from 1921 to 1923. A museum room at the school was opened in 1965, and when the school moved to a new building, the house was transformed into a literary-memorial museum. It was opened to visitors in 1991, restored in 1994, and in 1995, the poet’s centenary was celebrated here.
The rooms contain materials about the poet’s parents and family, items connected with his life in Romanivka, documents, books, photographs, and personal belongings that tell about his creativity, public activity, and hobbies. The museum conducts tours for schoolchildren and students, and creative meetings take place in the assembly hall.
In the center of the village, near the museum, a bust of Maksym Rylskyi was installed in 1970, created by sculptor O. Kovalov and architect A. Ihnashchenko.
Romanivka Spring
Every year, when the lilacs bloom, the literary and artistic festival “Romanivka Spring” takes place in Romanivka. The first readings were organized in 1977, and the following year the poet’s son Bohdan Rylskyi joined. Writers such as Lina Kostenko, Pavlo Movchan, Dmytro Pavlychko, and others came to the festival.
Nearby
On the northeastern outskirts of Romanivka, in the Porichchia tract, archaeologists have studied a settlement of the Late Trypillian culture (about 3100–2500 BCE), and many burial mounds have been preserved around the village.
How to Get There
Romanivka is located 3 km north of the Cherniavka railway stop in the east of Zhytomyr Raion. Museum address: 2 Muzeinyi Lane. According to the museum, it is open from 10:00 to 18:00, except on Sundays and Mondays, and on the last Saturday of the month, admission is free for families. It is advisable to check the schedule before your trip. Other places nearby can be found in the article about Zhytomyr Raion.
