Preservation of cultural monuments: a restored windmill from Kherson region is now working in Kyiv

For the second year in a row, the MHP-Community Charitable Foundation has opened a new important cultural landmark on International Museum Day: a restored windmill from Kherson region has been launched in Kyiv, UNN reports.

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The giant was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the village of Oleksandrivka.

"This is not just a museum piece. Today, the Kherson windmill has received a second life. 120 years ago it was built, it fulfilled its mission of making bread for people. And today it has been restored in the design in which it was conceived," comments Rostyslav Karandaiev, Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy.

Back in the seventies, the windmill was transported to the National Museum of Culture and Life of Ukraine, where it was planned to be assembled and restored. The idea was never realized. Today, it has become possible with the support of the MHP-Community Foundation.

"For MHP, supporting cultural projects is important because it is about preserving values, meanings, and traditions. Today, our military are fighting for the right of Ukrainians to live, to their own meanings, freedom and choice. Culture is an important factor in this struggle. That is why it is even more symbolic to open this mill today. This windmill is a symbol of the resilience of Ukrainian culture, which overcame the Soviet period and will win the war against Russian aggression," adds Yuriy Melnyk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MHP-Hromada.

The restoration work lasted a year. During this time, we were able to conduct a thorough study of the site, clear the area for the windmill, recreate the authentic working mechanism, and do a lot of other work for the windmill. The restoration of the building was one of the stages of the state program under the memorandum between MHP and the Ministry of Culture.

"The National Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life of Ukraine is a reflection of Ukraine in miniature. And the fact that it is in our territory that the Kherson region (a territory constantly encroached upon by the invader) is being revived gives hope for its restoration on a national scale. The windmill has a shape and mechanisms that are specific to the Kherson region. Its roof is unique because it has the shape of an inverted boat, because it comes from the sea, which is felt at the first glance at it," says Oksana Poviakel, Director General of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine (NMFALU).

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The restored windmill is over 100 years old. It was originally built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the village of Oleksandrivka in Kherson region. This outbuilding is an example of the folk architecture of the South of Ukraine, reflecting the typology and regional features of traditional mechanized windmill structures of nineteenth-century Ukraine.

By construction type, it is a tilt-top windmill with a rotating top and a fixed round body, tapered at the top, built of local limestone stone with lime mortar. The roof is of a complex and unique shape in the form of an inverted boat made of oak boards - this is the structure of windmills typical of marine areas. The windmill has four blades and is two-story. On the first floor there is a granary for storing grain and flour, and on the second floor there are millstones that are connected to a wheel on a shaft located in the roof space with a spindle and a "baklusha".

In 1973, during an expeditionary inspection of a tent windmill in the village of Oleksandrivka, Bilozerskyi district, Kherson region, architect Prybega L.V., engineer Tyutyunnyk A.M., and technician Marchuk V.A. found it in poor condition: the rotary frame needed 40% replacement, the roof (made of five circles) and the roofing (made of pine boards) had to be completely replaced, and the wings were almost completely preserved. The walls and foundations, made of local limestone with lime mortar, could not be transported. Therefore, it was decided to reconstruct the windmill in the Museum and use the mechanism, which was preserved in satisfactory condition.

For this purpose, the same expert group developed a project for the restoration of the windmill in 1974 according to the measurement drawings. These materials are stored in the archives of the National Museum of Architecture and Life of Ukraine.

At the same time, a limestone windmill frame was erected on the museum grounds.

It was only in 2023-2024, with the support of the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation, that the windmill was restored and completed.

The development of the restoration and reconstruction project was led by Oleg Volosovsky and Loft Bureau. The archival drawings of the museum's team of creators were studied, and a package of working documentation was developed: 3D models and visualizations, detailed drawings based on archival data.

Over the course of a year, the restoration and renovation work was completed: - A thorough study of the object's condition;

- topographic survey;

- Inspection of the foundations and the stone tower of the windmill;

- clearing the area around the windmill and the slope;

- build a security wall;

- strengthen the foundation according to the 1973 drawings by engineer A. Tiutiunnyk and technician V. Marchuk;

- to manufacture and install the oak roof and blades (for this purpose, three types of wood were harvested, assembled and installed);

- to recreate the authentic working mechanism thanks to the preserved drawings of one of the museum's creators, the famous Ukrainian architect Leonid Prybega; - to arrange the area around the windmill.

On May 18, the restored windmill officially started working and opened its doors to visitors.

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"MHP-Hromadas is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 12 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.