Zhmerynka is an important railway junction. It originated between the villages of Mala and Velyka Zhmerynka in 1865 during the construction of the Kyiv-Balta railway. At the beginning of the 20th century, Velyka Zhmerynka was bought by a Russian count of German origin Dmytro Heiden. He initiated the creation of a school of agricultural instructors in the city, a men's gymnasium, and built several beautiful stone houses. One of them on the corner of Shevchenko and Lytvynenko streets belonged to the count, it had a local history museum.
The greatest architectural attraction of Zhmerynka is its railway station, built in 1904 by architect Zynovii Zhuravskyi. Its style is Neo-Baroque, and the prototype is Munich railway station. According to the plan, the structure was supposed to resemble a giant ship that rushes at all sails in the direction of the Black Sea. That is why the main waiting room of the station has preserved a beautiful molding in the form of algae. Originally, there were massive oak doors four meters high and luxurious girandoles. Externally, the structure also remained without significant changes. There is a monument to Ostap Bender, who, according to the book, visited the city on Central Square in front of the railway station.
As you may see, 1904 was a landmark year in the history of Zhmerynka, because it was the year when the building of the Church of St. Alexius started and it was completed in 1910. In fact, the believers have been asking for the construction of the church since 1890, but that was without success. The Tsarist authorities gave permission for this only after Catholics promised to name it after Tsarevich Alexey and pray daily for his health. The temple was built in the neo-Gothic style, it had a high arrowy Tower. The Soviet government closed the church in 1937, having destroyed the tower and building a power plant inside. After the renewal of Ukraine's independence, the church returned its original spire, which is visible from almost all parts of the city.
This is one of the most beautiful buildings in Zhmerynka, built in the early twentieth century for count Heiden in the art nouveau style. The museum's collection includes 3,3 thousand exhibits (furniture, musical instruments, family documents, and personal belongings of famous residents of the city). Old photos of Zhmerynka, its railway station, and numerous temples are worth attention, but some do not exist anymore. In addition, there is a wonderful collection of works by the master of microminiatures Mykhailo Masliuk. The museum was opened in the spring of 1969, originally it was located in a different place. It was moved to the Heiden's House, where the reception of the first Mayor Karl Vronsky was also located in 2012.
The church appeared at the same time when the railway station did, in 1904, for the needs of the 9th and 10th rifle regiments of the tsarist army stationed in the city. It was built in a typical pseudo-Russian style by the St. Petersburg architect Fedor Verzhbytsky. In total, about sixty similar churches were built in the Russian Empire for the needs of the army. Since the church was located on the territory of a military unit, in Soviet times it was closed and the tower and dome were destroyed. But in 2005, the church was completely restored and a new iconostasis was built. All this was done at the expense of local benefactors. For the Orthodox believers of the city, this church is one of the most important.