There are at least a dozen well-known open-air museums in Ukraine, although it is difficult to state an exact number due to challenges in classifying and identifying certain sites or outdoor exhibitions as skansens. 

Most open-air museums are ethnographic and architectural in nature. They recreate the folk architecture and everyday life of various ethnographic regions of Ukraine on different scales: from a single region—such as the cultural and artistic centre Poliska Khata in the village of Horodske in Zhytomyr Region, or the private Slobozhanshchyna household museum Ukrainian Khata in the village of Nyzhnia Ozeriana near Kharkiv—to the whole of Ukraine, as represented by the National Museum of Folk Architecture of Ukraine on the outskirts of Kyiv, in the area of Pyrohiv. 

  1. The National Museum of Folk Architecture of Ukraine, covering 133.5 hectares in Pyrohiv (Kyiv), is the largest skansen in Europe. This architectural and landscape complex displays around 300 monuments of folk architecture from the 16th to the 20th centuries, as well as tens of thousands of items of material and folk culture from all historical and ethnographic regions of Ukraine. We have written about it here: https://explain-ukraine.com/posts/100-which-open-air-museum-is-the-largest-in-ukraine
    Museum website: https://www.pyrohiv.com/

  2. The Museum of Folk Architecture in Lviv named after Klymentii Sheptytskyi, known as Shevchenkivskyi Hai (Shevchenko Grove), preserves and promotes the traditional culture, folk architecture, and everyday life of western regions of Ukraine—Boikivshchyna, Lemkivshchyna, Hutsulshchyna, Bukovyna, Pokuttia, Podillia, Zakarpattia, and Halychyna. This museum was the first in Ukraine to apply the ethnographic principle to an open-air exhibition. On an area of over 36 hectares, more than a hundred wooden farmsteads with residential and farm buildings dating from the mid-18th century are presented. Its collection of sacred structures (churches, bell towers, and chapels) is considered unique and the largest in Europe. The museum’s collections contain nearly 22,000 items of folk everyday life and art. Regular cultural events complement visitors’ understanding of the everyday and spiritual life of the inhabitants of western Ukrainian lands.
    Museum website: https://lvivskansen.org/

  3. The Museum of Folk Architecture of the Middle Dnipro Region is the first open-air museum in Ukraine and is located on the outskirts of the ancient town of Pereiaslav in Kyiv Region. On an area of about 25 hectares, a traditional Ukrainian village of the Middle Dnipro Region from the late 19th to the early 20th century has been recreated, with characteristic buildings and a carefully reconstructed cultural and natural landscape. Hundreds of monuments of folk architecture are exhibited here, including valuable wooden churches, bell towers, residential and farm buildings, as well as tens of thousands of household items, tools, and works by folk craftsmen. The museum also presents archaeological sites and reconstructions covering the period from the Late Paleolithic to the era of Kyivan Rus. Thirteen thematic museums on the territory of the skansen further enrich the understanding of the region’s history, traditional culture, everyday life, customs, and crafts.
    Museum website: https://www.niez.com.ua/museums/about-museum/681-muzei-narodnoi-arkhitektury-ta-pobutu-serednoi-naddniprianshchyny.html

  4. The Chernivtsi Regional Museum of Folk Architecture represents the traditional culture and architecture of historical Bukovyna on an area of 9 hectares. The exhibition is organized according to the ethnographic principle: the museum grounds recreate complexes from the Khotyn region, Western Dniester area, and other regions, each demonstrating specific settlement layouts and residential and farm architecture. The skansen features traditional peasant farmsteads, mills, an inn, workshops, and sacred buildings, while the interiors display authentic household items, tools, and works of folk art. The museum provides a comprehensive picture of the material culture, economic activities, customs, and worldview of Bukovyna’s population as a multicultural region of Ukraine. Museum website: https://www.skansen.cv.ua/index.php/en/

  5. The historical and cultural complex “Zaporizhian Sich” on the territory of the National Reserve “Khortytsia,” the largest island on the Dnipro River and administratively part of the city of Zaporizhzhia, is not a skansen in the classical sense. It is a reconstruction of Cossack capitals (siches) of the 16th–18th centuries, which in a generalized form recreates the image of a Cossack capital as the political, military, and spiritual center of the Zaporizhian Sich—a fortified settlement with a central Kish, a suburb, and defensive structures (rampart, moat, and palisade). The complex includes a central square with the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, barracks (kureni), the house of the Kish Otaman, a military chancellery, craft workshops, and exhibition spaces dedicated to Cossack culture. More information about the complex can be found on the Khortytsia Reserve website: https://hortica.zp.ua

  6. “Mamayeva Sloboda” is an open-air museum in Kyiv dedicated to the Cossack era and the traditional Ukrainian way of life of the 17th–18th centuries. On an area of over 9 hectares, a Cossack settlement has been recreated with nearly a hundred structures—residential and farm buildings, craft workshops, mills, and a wooden Cossack Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. The museum operates on the principle of “living history,” combining architecture, everyday life, crafts, and ritual culture of Cossack Ukraine.
    Museum website: https://mamayeva-sloboda.kyiv.ua/

  7. The Transcarpathian Museum of Folk Architecture and Life (Uzhhorod Skansen) is an open-air museum in Uzhhorod that represents the folk culture, architecture, and everyday life of Transcarpathia from the mid-18th century to the 1930s. Its exhibition includes examples of traditional residential and farm buildings of various ethnographic groups and national minorities of the region, including Ukrainians, Romanians, and Hungarians, as well as everyday items and works of folk art collected during long-term scientific expeditions. Exhibitions and thematic guided tours are held regularly. By visiting this museum, you can gain a deeper understanding of the everyday life of this multicultural region. The museum presents itself as the smallest skansen in Ukraine (with an area of 5.5 hectares), while at the same time being one of the oldest open-air museums.
    Museum website: https://www.uzhhorod-skansen.com/en


A virtual tour of seven of the most famous open-air museums can be taken here:
https://authenticukraine.com.ua/en/open-air-museums
 
We sincerely recommend visiting at least some of these skansens to see and experience the diversity of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.