Hanski Palace, Verkhivnia
The Hanski palace of 1800 with Balzac's study.
In 1780 Jan Hanski bought Verkhivnia and passed it to his son Waclaw, who created a manor and park ensemble here. According to Ukrinform, the Empire-style estate was built over 20 years under the direction of the French architect Blerio, and the palace was completed in 1800; the ESU dates it to the late 18th – early 19th century. After his marriage in 1819 Waclaw gave the estate to his wife Eveline. Honoré de Balzac first came here in September 1847 and, according to the ESU, spent 1848–1850 in the palace, finishing “The Human Comedy”; in March 1850 he married Eveline in St Barbara's Church in Berdychiv. Since 1921 the palace has housed an agricultural school (in 1933 the agricultural schools were merged into a technical college), today a branch of the Zhytomyr Agrotechnical College. The museum room opened in April 1959; today the first floor holds the writer's drawing room, study and bedroom, with the desk at which he worked.
The museum is open Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00; on Saturday it is sometimes open, but you need to call in advance; closed Sunday (museum website, as of 01.10.2026). The palace needs emergency stabilisation works: the ceiling structure needs repair, and part of the stucco is crumbling (Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration, 20.08.2026). Easy to combine with Berdychiv.