Travel Guide Kolomyia (Коломия)

60,000 inhabitants. Located 60 km south of Ivano-Frankivsk, on the Prut River, Kolomyia is located in a plain at the foot of the Carpathians. The proximity of the mountains attracts many tourists in winter for skiing and in summer for hiking. Founded in 1240, Kolomyia was integrated into Polish territory in the 14th century, before passing into Soviet hands in 1939. The city is quite authentic and deserves a detour if you are in the region. It is remarkable for the presence of the only museum of Houtou folklore. This Carpathian people, who are so little known to us in the West, constitute the deepest foundation of Ukrainian national identity. Hutsul folklore is now famous throughout Ukraine: dancers dressed in colourful clothes playing the tremita (horn-shaped instrument) and walking with a toporets (small axe). It was the very great Ukrainian director of Armenian origin, Paradzhanov, who introduced this people to his famous film The Horses of Fire (1964) by telling the story of the despair of a young Hutsul shepherd after the death of his beloved from a rival family. This film, whose editing is quite extraordinary, represents the most beautiful cinematographic adaptation of Carpathian folklore.