28.03.2024

Rural green tourism

The legal content of this statutory term is interpreted as a holiday in a Ukrainian village, and implies a whole range of tourist services, including hotel, gastronomic, sightseeing, entertainment and leisure components.

How it looks in practice can be seen by visiting the Falcon Farm, located in Ichnyansky district of the Chernihiv region, which received an environmental certificate of the 2nd level Green House and receives guests from almost all of Ukraine and Europe.

And the ataman of Ichnyanskaya Cossack Sich, a member of the union of local historians of Ukraine and the private businessman Nikolay Skull, is a charismatic, extraordinary person and very keen on his own business.

Spiritual Origins of the Falcon Farm

The owner of the agro-farm tells us that the idea of ​​creating a green tourist center came to him in the early 1990s. Returning from the army to his native village of Petrushevka, he became interested in local history and antiquity: he began to look for old and rare things that now make up the collection of a private museum, was interested in local history and famous countrymen. Thus, an idea appeared to share these interesting facts and findings with other people, inviting them to visit his small homeland, which is famous not only for its historical sites, but also for extremely picturesque landscapes.

“I sincerely thank the fate that I was lucky to be born in such a wonderful place where everything breathes with history and spirituality: these lands once belonged to the famous hetman Ivan Mazepa. And then there were the patrimonial estates of the glorious Ukrainian clans – Galaganov, Tarnavskys, Razumovskys, and the famous Gustynsky Monastery – the hereditary Cossack Nicholas Skull tells, so I decided to create here a kind of national spiritual hearth in the traditional Cossack style that would support our glorious traditions land and at the same time would be interesting to tourists. ”

First of all, the owner of the future farm undertook to tidy up the grandfather’s yard, inherited by him, then gradually added several neighboring estates to him, which he also arranged in the style of the Cossacks’ times – so gradually on the picturesque bank of the river Smog a whole tourist complex “Falcon Farm” “.

To date, the territory of the farm is already almost 5.5 hectares – it combines 9 estates, the interior of which corresponds to the Ukrainian traditions of the late XVIII – early XX centuries.

All the estates can simultaneously accommodate about 20 tourists, and there is also an ethnographic museum, a stable, a forge, a mini-zoo with pets and birds, a Cossack shooting range, a summer and winter tavern, a Cossack bath, an equipped water area with boats and catamarans, among them of which there is even a personally constructed real Cossack gull “Character”. The name of the farm Falcon also comes from the Cossack character: according to its owner, three birds sat on the Slavic family tree – a falcon, a raven and a pigeon …

Who wants to develop, is looking for ways, and who does not want is looking for reasons

Recalling how it all began, the owner of the farm says that he first turned to an economist he knew to make an estimate for creating a green tourism estate.

“When he counted about one and a half million hryvnias, we realized that it was just a cosmic sum, so we decided to do everything on our own,” recalls Nikolay Skull, “my family, our friends and relatives helped me a lot. Therefore, all that is now on the farm – made by our hands. True, the bank still had to take a loan: in general, they spent a hundred thousand hryvnia of their own funds. ”

The first five years, according to him, managed to sleep only a couple of hours a day, I had to master a bunch of different professions: a builder, landscape designer, museum specialist, lawyer … The whole economy has to be managed without help – Nikolay is helped by his family, hired workers in the farmstead there is no. It is not surprising that people at the Falcon’s Farm come not only to relax, but also to gain experience or get good advice.

“On my farm, seminars on green tourism and local history often take place, businessmen come and ask for advice, who want to stylishly equip their territory, or simply wish to create their own green manor,” says Nikolay Skull, “Here’s one tip: you need to know the history of your land to understand how to present it. And with regard to profits, about which entrepreneurs and journalists often ask, I can say one thing: “There is no non-profit business – there are people who mismanage. Anyone who wants to develop, is looking for ways, and who does not want is looking for reasons. ”

Falcon Farm is known all over the world.

For 12 years of existence of the Falcon Farm, representatives from almost all regions of Ukraine, Russia and Europe have visited the Cossack ataman Nikolai. He himself jokes that he didn’t have “only the Chukchi” … Tourists willingly go to the Ukrainian village not only for clean air and ecological products, but, above all, for original exotic and national color – there is enough of him on the farm.

At guests’ disposal are authentic estates, where traditional interiors are successfully combined with modern technical means and amenities, delicious dishes prepared according to ancient Cossack recipes, horseback riding, falcon or mushroom “quiet” hunting and fishing. And also master classes in folk crafts, Cossack fun and theatrical performances for all national calendar holidays.

But the greatest impression on the visitors of the Falcon Farm is made by its owners, who maintain long-standing Cossack traditions on their farm and fill it with real Cossack spirit. And at the request of the guests, they will also help them to feel like real Cossacks: practice archery, jump on horseback or straighten the sails on a Cossack gull. For those who lack cultural and aesthetic impressions, there is an opportunity to go on a journey through the Ichnyanschina Golden Ring.

The State Historical and Cultural Reserve Kachanivka is located on the bank of the River Smog, opposite to the farm. The State dendrological park Trostyanets, the Sokirintsy palace and park ensemble, the Gustynsky Holy Trinity Monastery and the former Cossack fortress Baturin with the palace ensemble the Kirill kyrlem ensemble, and the Kyryl Chapel are located nearby.

According to the owner of the farm, guests usually come for the weekend from Friday to Monday – the “weekend tour” turned out to be the most convenient form of admission – taking, feeding and entertaining tourists daily for a family is too expensive and troublesome. “Our business, as well as the whole country, needs another ten years to develop in order to get a client able to pay for such a holiday at European prices,” says the owner of the agriturismo, “but we charge for living on a farm of 120-250 hryvnia. It seems that our business and not in the red, but the development is not enough … “.

However, in spite of everything, the Cossack ataman has enough plans: “I have more of them than Napoleon,” Nikolai Skull jokes, “now on the farm we bring another estate to mind – the fisherman’s house. Then we want to organize a festival of kites, in the regional center we plan to organize sports competitions in honor of our fellow pilots of the Garam brothers, and in Kiev an exhibition with my photographs will soon open, where our local landscapes will be presented. And we are waiting for replenishment – soon I will become a grandfather – so, there will be someone to transfer the family business. ”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *