Turiysk Territorial Community

History

The history of the Turiysk community goes back to the 1st millennium AD as Eastern Slavic tribes lived on its territory and their traces have been preserved in the topographical names of the villages: Duliby, Turychany, Turopyn. In the 6th-7th centuries settlements arose on the territory of these villages along the Turia River which eventually grew into towns.

The first written mention of Turiysk dates back to 1097 and can be found in the Nestorian Chronicle, “The Tale of Bygone Years”.

According to one version, the name of the river and the village come from the name of Prince Tur, who founded a settlement here. In historical documents, the village is called Tureysk, Turzhysk, Tureysko, Toriysk, Turask, and Turiysk. According to legend, all the names, as well as the name of the river Turia, come from the fact that in ancient times there were impassable forests in this area inhabited by a great number of bison (“tur” means a bison in Ukrainian).

There are 10 rivers and 29 lakes on the territory of the Turiysk community. In particular, a group of 12 lakes of the Ozeriany necklace are located on the territory of the Ozeriany General Zoological Reserve spanning the area of 2,736 hectares. The reserve was assigned its status in 1991.

According to the data of SaveEkoBot, the level of air cleanliness in the territory of the Turiysk settlement community is “green”. 25% or 21.7 thousand hectares of the territory is covered with forests (45% – coniferous forests, 55% – deciduous forests), which gives an opportunity to develop tourism business in the community.

In the summer of 1900, the newly built railway station was already in full operation. The railway station was not located in Turiysk itself, but somewhat further away, on the other side of the Turia River. However, Turiysk was developed around the railway station further on.

The Turiysk territorial community was formed on March 2, 2017. Oleksiy Bezsmertnyi, who then had been the head of the Turiysk Settlement Council since 2002, was elected as the community head.

On July 26, 2001, the settlement of Turiysk was included in the List of Historical Population Centers of Ukraine.

The landmark of the Turiysk community is the historical and cultural complex “Vovchak – Volyn Sich” – a center of patriotic education and training of young people. For the Turiysk area, as well as for the region as a whole, this is very important in terms of general and local history. Patriotic camps, exhibitions of folk craftsmen, insurgent song festivals are held here, and the Eighth International Festival of Ukrainian Folklore “Berehynia” was also held here.

The patriotic national films “Red” and “The Path of Generations” were filmed on the territory of the tract. An appropriate material and exhibition base was created here, including exhibits of the russian-Ukrainian war. A wooden church in honor of All Saints of the Ukrainian Land was built and consecrated here. Also, there is a museum-hideout, a dugout with a line of defense, and a manor house.

Vovchak, as an “open-air museum”, has become a component of the regional tourist route. Thousands of tourists visit the tract every year, because it is in this place that the patriotic spirit, Ukrainian lifestyle and cultural intangible heritage are harmoniously combined.

Economy and Welfare

The Turiysk community is an agricultural area with a great cultural heritage and significant tourist potential.

About 700 business entities operate on the territory of the Turiysk community, of which 76 entities work in the field of agricultural production with crop production as their leading specialization.

The structure of agriculture includes the cultivation of grain crops (75%), the cultivation of cattle and poultry (20%) and other (5%).

The largest agricultural producers are as follows:

• Perlyna Turii Enterprise (more than 5 thousand hectares of land under cultivation, milk production – 908 tons per month, cattle meat production – 25 tons per month),
• AMILA Enterprise (more than 3 thousand hectares of land under cultivation, milk production – 280 tons per month, meat production – 30 tons per month)
• Slava Enterprise (more than 1.5 thousand hectares of land under cultivation, milk production – 255 tons per month).

In the community there are Agrotechnika production facilities, namely a compound feed plant with the possibility of processing oil crops and an elevator complex with its own railway track. Production exceeds 60 types of compound feed.

In addition, the structure of the economic sector of the Turiysk community expanded in 2022 due to the relocation of the business – the sewing enterprise “Varno” (from the city of Kramatorsk). The company specializes in tailoring men’s shirts which are directly supplied to a foreign customer in the Republic of Lithuania.

The tourism sector of the economy is now developing in the community.

The most famous representatives in this field are Ecopark Amila belonging to the Amila group of diversified enterprises engaged in woodworking and agricultural activities, ecotourism and recreation and developing in the food and trade spheres.

The companies have organized the provision of tourist services around such tourist sites as: the water area of local lakes, hiking tourist routes through the nature reserve, a museum of retro equipment, a deer farm, and gastronomic delicacies of the region.

Straw weaving has been widespread in the territory of the Volyn region since ancient times, as an ancient craft and medicine. Even in the 1930s and 1940s, you could find straw caskets, barrels for grain storage, spiders that hung on the ceiling, and Didukhs (straw sheaf-amulets bound with ears) brought by the owners and installed on Christmas Eve in the special corner.

The straw art museum “Straw Miracle” is the first and only one in Ukraine, which was opened in the then school of the village of Kupychiv, Turiysk District, Volyn Region on June 30, 2008.

Also, there is a studio “Polissia Gold” at the Solovychi Lyceum in the Turiysk community, which was created by a local craftswoman.

The field of education works effectively in the Turiysk community, for which the largest part of funds is allocated from the local budget. There are 14 institutions of general secondary education, 19 institutions of preschool education, as well as 3 institutions of out-of-school education, such as a sports school for children and youth, a house of children’s creativity and a music school, on the territory of the community. 

An inclusive resource center provides services to children with special educational needs. Specialists of various profiles work with children. They are tasked with helping each child integrate into society.

Cultural institutions of the community play a leading role in preserving the national heritage, folk traditions, customs and crafts. The network of cultural institutions of the Turiysk community consists of 29 club institutions and 16 library institutions.

Our community has a developed medical infrastructure that provides access to medical services for all residents. In particular, the community has 1 planned treatment hospital, 1 primary health care center (PHCC), 3 general family medicine clinics, 9 paramedical and midwifery stations and 11 temporary medical centers.

Community and War

From the first days of the Russian aggression, preparations for the defense of the territory and the construction of engineering structures began in the Turiysk community. Many residents of the community joined the ranks of the territorial defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The community organizes regular trips to military personnel serving in various front-line areas. Through the joint efforts of local government employees, community residents and businesses, funds are collected to provide the necessary assistance to compatriots in the military. The collected funds are used to purchase drones and military equipment, repair cars and meet other needs of servicemen.

On the initiative of the Turiysk Settlement Council, work is constantly being carried out on the weaving of camouflage nets. Also, together with volunteers, trench candles are made in the educational institutions of the community.

There is a volunteer sewing workshop in the community which sews unloading vests, thermal underwear, pillows and other things for military personnel.

Thanks to the coordinated cooperation of the authorities, residents, and volunteers, the potential of the community is aimed at supporting internally displaced persons, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and people in need of assistance.

Most of the residents of the community are constantly participating in the collection of products and necessary things for the frontline cities and villages of Ukraine which were liberated from the occupation. The community constantly organizes charity events and fairs where funds are collected to support the military.

Also, unemployed people are involved in the production of camouflage nets, sewing and repair of military ammunition, gathering of firewood for the families of military personnel.

People of the Community

– capital investment was made in the improvement of social infrastructure objects with a total cost of more than UAH 8 million;

– overhaul of Lutska Street in the settlement of Turiysk was carried out, for which more than UAH 6 million were raised;

– with the assistance of the U-LEAD with Europe program, the was granted computer equipment, software, furniture for the Administrative Services Center of the Settlement Council.

Before the war, the village authorities established international cooperation with Sadowie Commune, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, the Republic of Poland.

During 2023, the head of the village together with his team succeeded in renewing international relations with the Krasnystaw City Council and the Krasnik Commune, Lublin Voivodeship, the Republic of Poland.

Also, German-Ukrainian partnership relations with the German municipality of Bad Nenndorf were launched in 2023.

Development Strategy

The development strategy of the Turiysk settlement territorial community for the period until 2027 was created by the joint efforts of the working group created in the community for the preparation of the Turiysk community development strategy, which included the executive director of the Volyn regional branch of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, scientists of the Lutsk National Technical University, and with the organizational and methodological support of experts of the U-LEAD with Europe training program “Steps for Specialists. Preparation of the Territorial Community Development Strategy”.

The Turiysk settlement territorial community is a natural jewel of Volyn, an agricultural, economically developed area of happy and wealthy people who draw energy for development from their land.

Strategic goal 1. Increasing the competitiveness of the economy and deepening the specialization of the community

– formation of investment attractiveness of the community;

– creation of a tourist product of the community and development of the sphere of creative industries;

– development of agricultural production, support of small and medium-sized businesses.

Strategic goal 2. Development of human capital, increasing the level of comfort and safety of life of community residents

– preservation and development of human capital;

– a comfortable and safe environment;

– effective government, active community.

Strategic goal 3. Sustainable development of the territory

– improvement of community infrastructure;

– rational nature management and eco-safety of the community;

– territorial development planning.

List of Sources

• – Website of the Turiysk settlement territorial community ( turiyska-gromada.gov.ua );
• – Development straWtegy of Turiysk Settlement Territorial Community for the period until 2027 ( turiyska-gromada.gov.ua );
• – Facebook page of the Turiysk Settlement Council (facebook.com );
• – Facebook page of Ecopark Amila LLC (facebook.com) .
• – Ozerianyy reserve on the territory of the Turiysk communitywikipedia.org