As part of the ‘Therapy through Travel’ project, servicemen from the rehabilitation center NextStep Ukraine, together with their family members, embarked on an educational trip to Olesko Castle and the village of Havarechchyna.
This journey combined historical heritage, authentic art, and heartfelt communication. ‘Such trips are not about changing location, but about changing state. Through touching tradition, nature, and history, people seem to break out of the closed circle of anxieties. Sometimes, just a few hours are enough for faces to relax and gazes to become brighter. For our military personnel, it’s a space where they can feel life beyond the war,‘ noted Roman Khimyak, Director of the Department of Sports, Youth and Tourism of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
The first stop was Olesko Castle — a magnificent fortress with over seven centuries of history. According to legends, King Jan III Sobieski was born here. The architecture of the castle combines defensive features with elements of the Renaissance and Baroque, and the museum halls preserve unique collections of paintings, sculptures, and iconography from the 17th-18th centuries.
A special part of the journey was a master class in Havarechchyna, where the tradition of making Havaretsk black-smoked pottery has been preserved for over five centuries. Its distinctive color is achieved by an ancient firing technology without access to oxygen. It’s not just a craft — it’s a cultural code passed down from generation to generation.
Potter Ivan Lukovsky, a renowned master and bearer of the tradition, conducted an engaging demonstration of the pottery-making process for the participants, explaining the uniqueness of the Havaretsk technique and the craft’s history. Afterwards, everyone interested had the opportunity to sit at the potter’s wheel and personally create a clay product.
The Lviv National Art Gallery named after B. G. Voznytsky contributed to organizing the trip. All journeys for the defenders are free and funded under the regional target tourism development program.