Kalinkavichy District offers plenty to explore, from prehistoric history to protected landscapes. In Yurovichi, a reconstructed settlement and an active men’s monastery take centre stage; museums in Ozarichi and Kalinkovichy offer other cultural highlights. When planning your stay, you can choose to focus on cultural history, religious history or the landscape.
Prehistory and Architectural History in Yurovichi
The open-air museum “Prehistoric Human Settlement” in Yurovichi opened on September 15, 2021, in Kalinkovichskiy Rayon. Its outdoor exhibition reconstructs a settlement of Cro-Magnon people. The museum is located at a prehistoric human settlement site, which it describes as the oldest in Belarus. Thus, a reconstructed image of the settlement meets the significance the museum attributes to the site.
Another focal point in Yurovichi is the former Jesuit college complex. It has the status of a second-category historical and cultural value and is included in the state list of immovable historical and cultural values of Belarus. Together with the prehistoric human settlement site and the 10th–12th-century hillfort, the complex is part of the tourist route “Golden Ring of the Homyel Region.” The route brings together three distinct historical reference points without reducing them to a single theme: the college complex, the prehistoric settlement site and the hillfort.
Monastery and Religious History
The Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Yurovichi is currently active. Services are currently held in the house church dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. If you are interested in attending a service, check current access arrangements and the service location before your visit.
Religious tradition also includes the 17th-century Icon of the Merciful Mother of God of Yurovichi. It is the cathedral’s most important relic. The monastery, the place of worship and the icon are distinct aspects of the religious heritage: the information about the icon concerns its significance to the cathedral, while current services are held in the monastery’s house church.
Museums and Remembrance
In Ozarichi, the Museum in Memory of the Victims of the Ozarichi Death Camp is located in the village council building, opposite the memorial across the street. Its location makes it easy to find your way between the two sites. At the museum, photographs of prisoners, dioramas, maps and artefacts from the camp present its history from different perspectives.
The Kalinkovichy Local History Museum welcomed its first visitors in 1994. Its main exhibition is spread across four halls and includes more than 200 objects. Kalinkovichy is also home to the Cathedral dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan: the brick church, built in 1993, has five domes. The museum information gives an impression of the main exhibition’s size and layout, while the cathedral can be identified by its year of construction, material and dome design.
Landscape Reserve and Festival
Strelsky Landscape Reserve includes, among other areas in Kalinkovichskiy Rayon, parts of Yurovichi Selsoviet, land managed by the Yurovichi forestry enterprise, and the waters of Lakes Borovnoe, Buyach, Lisenok, Litvin, Obod, Trostyanoye, Ples, Gribnoye and Bernetovo. It protects a natural landscape that represents almost all the landscape complexes of Belarusian Polesie. Its features include valuable geomorphological formations and great biological diversity. Nature conservation is the focus here, while the prehistoric exhibition in Yurovichi offers a cultural-history focus.
The folk humour festival “Autyuki” offers a different kind of programme. Its history in Kalinkovichskiy Rayon began in 1995. The 2025 edition programme included themed courtyards, sports games, a children’s area, horseback riding and a handicraft market. These programme details apply to the 2025 edition and may change from one edition to the next. If you are planning to attend, it is therefore advisable to check the dates and programme for the relevant edition.
Discover more destinations: Slobodka, Svetlahorsk District, Žytkavicki rajon.
See the overview of the wider region: Homyel Region.
