Today, local mineral waters are used for treatment – Naftusya, Mariya, Sofiya and Bronislava. The mineral water comes from the well to the central pump room located in the park.

In order not to harm your health, you should not organise self-treatment. The best option is a voucher to a sanatorium. Experts recommend the type of water and its daily volume. Usually, the therapeutic liquid is brought to the sanatorium and poured into its own pump rooms.

In Truskavets, your holiday will be eventful. You can visit a dolphinarium, landscape parks, museums, and explore architectural monuments, including the 1914 Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, wooden villas and boarding houses from the 19th century, and brick sanatoriums in the functionalist style of the first half of the 20th century.

Map of Truskavets attractions

A brief history of Truskavets

The first written mention of Truskavets dates back to 1427. However, people started settling here much earlier. This is confirmed by an accidental archaeological find in the form of a Roman battle coin dated to the fourth century AD by the famous Ukrainian scientist, collector and archaeologist Volodymyr Kobylnyk. It was found during the construction of a resort villa. The artefact is currently on display at the Boykivshchyna Museum in Sambir. The Romans fought against the Goths and carps on the site of today’s Truskavets.

Historians suggest that in the days of Kyivan Rus, there was a settlement on the site of Truskavets that was engaged in salt production. There is also every reason to believe that Truskavets was part of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. After the principality was occupied by the Kingdom of Poland, Truskavets was transferred to the ownership of Polish nobles. After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Truskavets became part of the Austrian monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, from 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Empire). It was during the Austrian rule that Truskavets became a balneological resort in 1827. In that year, the first health resort was built in Truskavets, with 8 baths for bathing in mineral waters.

The healing properties of Truskavets mineral springs have been known since ancient times. They were first described in 1578 by the royal physician Wojciech Ochko.

In 1721, Gabriel Żonczynski’s textbook Natural History states that Truskavets was a place of oil production at that time, and that the water from the springs was used by peasants to treat various diseases.

In 1836, Lviv scientist, pharmacist and chemist Theodore Torosevych performed the first chemical analysis of Naftusya mineral water. By the way, it was Theodore Torosevich who invented the kerosene lamp.

During the Austro-Hungarian period, Truskavets continued to develop rapidly as a balneological resort. The resort’s infrastructure was being actively built. New villas, hotels and boarding houses were built. A new hydropathic hospital and a bypass road were being built. In 1892, Truskavets was equipped with inhalation rooms for the Vashmut system. This innovation brought the status of Truskavets closer to the well-known European resorts of Richenhal and Wiesbaden.

Raymond Yarosh made a great contribution to the modernisation of Truskavets’ infrastructure. Since 1911, Truskavets has been managed by the union he headed. First and foremost, Raymond was engaged in the active electrification of the resort. Already at that time, electric lighting was available not only in resort facilities and private villas, but also in the streets and park.

A big impetus for the development of Truskavets was the introduction of a railway connection. It happened in 1909. In 1912, a new railway station was built to replace the small station in Truskavets. At that time, trains with holidaymakers from Lviv, Vienna, Krakow, Poznan, Prague, Warsaw and Berlin were constantly arriving in Truskavets.

In 1913, Truskavets was even awarded the Big Gold Medal for its rapid and successful development. In just a few seasons, Truskavets changed so rapidly that it was unrecognisable.

After the First World War and the defeat of the Ukrainian liberation struggle, Truskavets became part of Poland, where it remained from 1919 to 1939. During this period, the resort continued to develop rapidly. In the 1920s, Truskavets created a hydrogen sulphide bathing lake on Pomirky with beautiful beaches covered with golden sea sand. Courts and sports grounds were built on the shores of the lake.

The number of holidaymakers in Truskavets continued to grow rapidly. The annual number of tourists increased from 6,080 in 1923 to 17,000 in 1933.

On 17 August 1929, the Museum of Natural Sciences was consecrated and opened in Truskavets. Unfortunately, its richest collections were heavily looted in 1939 by the Soviet authorities. Only a small part of the exhibits has survived to this day, having been taken to Drohobych.

In Soviet times, the tourist infrastructure of Truskavets continued to be developed with all the features of Soviet service.

A new leap forward in Truskavets development began after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. Today, Truskavets welcomes hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers every year, providing a huge range of services. Truskavets can accommodate up to 350,000 holidaymakers at a time. It is therefore safe to say that Truskavets has become one of the largest centres of the tourism industry in Europe.

The origin of the name of Truskavets

Historians debate the origin of the city’s name. According to one version, the word “Truskavets” is a modified form of the Polish word truskawka, which means “strawberry”. However, strawberries were first brought to Europe from Chile by the French officer Fresnier in 1712. While the modern name of the city Truskavets appears in documents from the XV century.

The second version derives the name of the city from the Lithuanian word druska, which means salt. This hypothesis is quite plausible, as Prykarpattia is a well-known ancient centre of salt production, and in the XII-XV centuries, the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia maintained close ties with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The most famous mineral waters of Truskavets

The city of Truskavets has gained fame as a well-known European balneological resort primarily due to its local mineral waters. Mineral waters of various compositions are used here for treatment and rehabilitation of holidaymakers. There are various variations in composition, ranging from slightly mineralised with organic substances to highly mineralised brines.

The most famous mineral waters in Truskavets are Naftusya, Mariya, Sofiya, Bronislava and Yuzya.

We have described in detail the most famous springs of Truskavets, as well as the composition and medicinal properties of each of the mineral waters in the article “Mineral Waters of Truskavets“.

Museums of Truskavets

Getting to know Truskavets should start with a visit to its museums. Museums are the treasure troves where the most valuable artefacts of past generations and the memory of ancestors’ lives are kept. Truskavets has two excellent collections of antiquities for tourists to enjoy: “The Museum of the Truskavets Resort City, or as it is also known, the Museum of Truskavets History, and the Museum of the People’s Artist of Ukraine Mykhailo Bilas. It is worth telling you more about them.

The building of this museum is a historical monument, built at the dawn of the twentieth century in the Art Nouveau style combined with “historicism” and Moorish architecture. In those distant times, the Polish family of Rozwadowski decided to build the Sariusz Resort Villa, which began to receive holidaymakers in 1901.

In 1980, in order to preserve this masterpiece of architecture, the deputies of the Lviv Regional Council granted the status of an architectural monument to the former resort villa. In 1981 and in 2008, this status was confirmed by the relevant decisions of the Truskavets City Council.

Today, the former villa is home to a museum, which can significantly expand your knowledge and understanding of the history of Truskavets from its origins to the present day.

For more information about the museum, please follow the link or by phone: +38 (03247) 5 22 37.

This museum is located in the centre of Truskavets in the former old wooden villa “Hoplyana”. Its construction lasted from 1924 to 1928 and was designed by Ukrainian architect Jan Semkovych. It is a real architectural gem of the city, built in the Art Nouveau style with elements of the Zakopane architectural style, which was widespread in the Carpathian region at the time.

The museum features a huge number of textile works by Mykhailo Bilas. Among them, you can admire tapestries, carpets, spindles, bedspreads, embroidered napkins, carpets, pillows, multifaceted plot panels and applications, and decorative flowers.

In addition to Bilas works, the museum periodically hosts exhibitions of works by well-known and young artists, graphic artists, sculptors, masters of decorative and applied arts, etc. The museum is a true national pride of Ukraine, thanks to the richness of its works and the beauty of its building.

For more information about the museum, please follow the link.

Attractions in Truskavets

After visiting the museums, it is worth exploring the main sights of Truskavets, which are mute witnesses of the city’s past eras. The most interesting sights of the city are worth exploring in more detail.

To meet the religious needs of the Roman Catholic community, a chapel was built in Truskavets in 1858 according to the design of Adolf Kuhn. The construction was funded by money collected from holidaymakers. The chapel was consecrated in honour of St Kunegunda, who is considered the patron saint of salt mines and mines.

At the same time, the walls of the restaurant feature original wooden decorative elements that were dismantled from the facade during the restoration.

This original landmark is located in the very centre of the city opposite the city council.

Truskavets parks

The city of Truskavets is like a garden of Eden, filled with picturesque park areas. You can spend hours walking in them and enjoying the aesthetic perfection of these monuments of landscape art. Let us tell you about the most interesting things in the parks of Truskavets in more detail.

Although Adamivka Park is located in the very centre of Truskavets, it is an extremely peaceful place to relax. The incredible energy and nature of this place relieve stress, improve your health and fill you with good mood. You can get here absolutely free of charge to take a walk, breathe clean air and drink healing spring water.

A visit to Adamivka Park is a great way to improve your health with the help of herbal medicine and open-air ozone therapy. Located at an altitude of 350-400 m above sea level with a moderately hilly landscape and well-maintained paths, it is an ideal place for Nordic walking and strolls.

Thanks to rare plants from around the world, the air in the park is saturated with ozone, oxygen and wonderful aromas.

The Adamivka Park has a large number of terrenkurs, special paths for hiking in the mountainous terrain for the purpose of health improvement. Terrenkur walking is one of the most effective methods of sanatorium treatment. Its use in combination with the consumption of local healing mineral water has a positive effect on the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems.

In Adamivka Park, you can taste healing mineral water from six springs located here – Mariya (No. 1), Bronislava (No. 3), Sofiya (No. 2), Yuzya (No. 11), Ferdinandа (No. 7) and Edwardа (No. 6).

When visiting Adamivka Park, do not forget that it is a monument of landscape art that is under state protection. There are strict prohibitions on lighting fires, cutting branches from trees, flowers and plants, walking on lawns and flower beds, destroying bushes, trees and shrubs, unauthorised mowing and planting. In addition, it is forbidden to dig trenches and pits in the park, fill in water bodies, create dams, place billboards, shops, trade tents, etc.

It is worth noting that vehicles have been banned from driving through Adamivka Park since 1908. Instead, the park offers a horse-drawn taxi, which is very popular with children.

This masterpiece of landscape gardening art embodies the local folklore traditions of the region and tells about its traditional culture. The gazebo, mill, and dance floor above the lake, which are expertly made of roughly processed wood, vividly embody the traditions of Carpathian culture.

In recognition of the park’s unsurpassed landscape design and successful use of historical and ethnic motifs, Pidhiria Park in Truskavets was awarded the Big Gold Medal. The landscape design of this park has made very good use of the local hilly terrain. Local small waterfalls and decorative lakes, which flow from one to another and set in motion a water wheel, create a paradise atmosphere of complete relaxation in the park.

There are many different, including rare, trees in this park, but the vast majority of the park’s flora grows in the Carpathians, which gives this natural attraction a bright mountain character. The park’s plantations are extremely diverse, which makes every season picturesque and attractive in its own way.

There are many different locations on the territory of Pidhirya Park that are interesting for both children and adults.

Firstly, in addition to the picturesque flora, the park can introduce you to various representatives of the fauna. The fact is that there is a mini-zoo on the territory of Pidhirya Park. This location is extremely interesting for families with children. Here they will be able to admire peacocks, deer, roe deer, leopards and lynxes.

Secondly, the park has a comfortable children’s and sports ground, which is popular with children and teenagers.

Thirdly, there is an atmospheric ethnic cafe called Grazhda in Pidhirya Park. Here you can taste delicious Hutsul cuisine. The interior of the café is decorated in Hutsul style and is decorated with household items of ancient times.

Fourthly, the park is decorated with a large number of wooden and bronze sculptures, thematic exhibits and compositions. The authors of these works of art in Pidhirya Park are Roman Romanovych, Roman Petruk, Volodymyr Kushnir and Daria Grabar. The most famous sculptures in the park are Trembitari, Sundial, Vertep, Mavka and Chuhayster, Running Perun, and seven wooden statues installed in 2006 on the Ivan Franko Trail. Such an abundance of sculptures gives the impression of being in an open-air park museum.

Despite the huge number of interesting well-maintained locations, the entrance to Pidhirya Park is absolutely free for all visitors.

Since independence, this park has become one of Truskavets main attractions. It is a great place to relax your body and soul, enjoy the picturesque landscape and just relax in the midst of beautiful nature.

Families with children who come on holiday to Truskavets should definitely visit the Oscar Dolphinarium, which is the only such facility in Western Ukraine.

This dolphinarium opened its doors to visitors relatively recently – on 31 October 2015. However, in the short period of its existence, this entertainment and recreation complex with dolphins has become extremely popular among tourists who come here from all over Ukraine and even from abroad. Citizens of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Japan and many other countries often come here. Poles make up the largest percentage of foreign visitors to the dolphinarium.

The dolphinarium in Truskavets was built to the highest European standards. The conditions for dolphins and fur seals are as close to natural as possible.

The Oscar Dolphinarium is home to 6 dolphins (Black Sea bottlenose dolphins) and 2 fur seals. Both kids and adults are delighted with their cheerful performances. Animals in the dolphinarium feel no worse than in the wild. This is confirmed by the birth of a baby dolphin here in 2016.

In addition to enchanting performances of animals, the dolphinarium regularly holds dolphin therapy sessions, which are used for psychological rehabilitation, which has become very relevant these days in the context of a full-scale war with Russia. Highly qualified specialists work with dolphins, which allows us to achieve good results after the therapy.

In addition, the Oscar Dolphinarium has cosy cafes and the extremely popular EkZoterra animal exhibition (terrarium), which is worth telling you more about. It was opened in 2018 thanks to the efforts of the Oscar Dolphinarium and the Limpopo Zoo, located in the village of Medenichi. Here visitors can see as many as 25 species of exotic animals: Nile crocodile, imperial python, Madagascar iguanas, boars, turtles, parrots and cockatoos, lemurs, mongooses, common iguanas, etc.

Undoubtedly, the Oscar Dolphinarium in Truskavets has become one of the main tourist attractions of the city, where visitors can enjoy vivid impressions and a lot of positive emotions.

☎ Phone numbers for inquiries and bookings:

• +38 (050) 033 03 39;
• +38 (068) 857 45 67;
• +38 (073) 857 45 67.

The most interesting places near Truskavets

How to get to Truskavets?

Most tourists and holidaymakers come to Truskavets by train. The resort has regular train connections to such major Ukrainian cities as Lviv, Kyiv and Dnipro. However, it is worth remembering that this destination is very popular, so tickets should be booked in advance.

Another popular way to get to Truskavets is by bus. Buses from Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, etc. arrive at the local bus station every day.

Those travelling by car from Kyiv should take the Kyiv-Chop highway (M 06) through Lviv to the village of Pisochna, near which they should turn right onto the T 1402 highway. If you are travelling from Moldova, you should go through Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk, and from Poland – through Lviv via the already mentioned route on the Kyiv-Chop and T 1402 highways.

A fairly popular way to get to Truskavets is to use a transfer service provided by many carriers in the vicinity of Truskavets.

The closest airport to Truskavets is located in Lviv, but due to martial law, it is currently temporarily closed.

🧡 Whichever means of transport you use to get to Truskavets, a holiday here will be a real elixir of youth and positive mood, which fills you with young energy at any age!