Buchach

Buchach is where the sculptor Johann Georg Pinsel worked in the middle of the eighteenth century, and the town hall of 1751, a tall tiered building with a tower, carries his figures on its facades, weathered but unmistakable in their twisting energy. More of his work is in the parish church. Pinsel was almost forgotten until the later twentieth century and is now regarded as one of the great Central European Baroque sculptors. A castle ruin stands on the hill above.

Background

The town's name appears in Polish as Buczacz, in Yiddish as Betshotsh and in German as Butschatsch. It lies on the Strypa, a tributary of the Dniester, in the historic region of Halychyna (Galicia), 135 kilometres south-east of Lviv. The earliest recorded mention dates to 1260. In the late 14th century the nobleman Michał Awdaniec became owner of the town, and on July 28, 1379 he built a castle and founded a Roman Catholic parish church. In the 17th and 18th centuries the town belonged to the Potocki family, and Mikołaj Bazyli Potocki built the town hall with its 35-meter tower and the late Baroque Church of Assumption of Mary (1761-1763).

Source: Wikipedia, "Buchach"

The main sights

• The town hall - a 1751 tiered building with Pinsel's sculpture on its facades.
• The parish church - further Pinsel figures inside.
• The castle ruin - walls and towers on the hill above the Strypa.
• The Basilian monastery - the eighteenth-century complex on the opposite slope.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The town hall has been under restoration for years and access varies. Churches keep service hours.

Good to know

The town hall sculpture is badly weathered and much of it has been moved to museums for protection. Restoration work has closed parts of the building for long periods. The town is run down.

Nearby

Ternopil is north, and the Dniester canyon is south.

Key facts