ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF THE TERNOPIL REGION: CURRENT STATE AND POSSIBILITIES OF THEIR USE IN TOURIST ACTIVITIES

The article analyzes the state of preservation and features of the geographical distribution of Roman Catholic sacred buildings across the territory of the Ternopil region. Our study aimed to analyze and assess the historical and geographical features of the development and current state of Roman Catholic churches of the Ternopil region in the context of inventorying and preserving historical and cultural heritage, as well as their use for the needs of tourism. The prerequisites for their construction were traced, the main of which is the presence of parishioners. According to census data from the beginning of the 20th century, believers of the Latin rite comprised about 36% of the population of the studied region. Among them were both ethnic Poles and the Catholic local population. The main milestones in the history of the spread of Roman Catholic Christianity in the region have been studied. A map has been constructed that reflects the religious and confessional structure of the region's population at the beginning of the 20th century. Geospatial differences in the spread of Roman Catholic sacral architecture in different regions of the region have been outlined, and the reason for the small number of Roman Catholic communities today has been explained. The main reason for the disappearance of Roman Catholic communities in the region was the forced eviction of ethnic Poles by the Soviet occupation regime to Poland from 1945 to 1947. An inventory of Roman Catholic sacral structures in the region has been conducted and corresponding map diagrams have been constructed. In the process of research, the official website of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, the Internet portal "Churches and Chapels of Ukraine", as well as their search using the Google Maps service, were used as a source base for compiling a list of shrines. It was established that within the Ternopil region, 285 Roman Catholic sacral structures have been preserved today, of which 175 are active and 110 are inactive. Among the active ones, a significant part has been repurposed as churches of the Orthodox or Greek Catholic denominations and only 90 are used by Roman Catholic communities. Among the inactive churches, we have identified 4 groups: closed inactive churches and chapels; inactive churches under repair; inactive churches and chapels that are collapsing; destroyed churches and chapels (in a state of ruin). Most Roman Catholic sacral structures are located in the central and southern parts of the region. There are 3 active sanctuaries in the study region. The largest number of active churches was found in the Pidvolochysk, Skalat, Terebovlia, Bilobozhnytsia and Borshchiv communities. The largest number of former church buildings, such as temples of the UGCC and OCU, are used in the Buchach, Monastyryska, and Zolotnyky communities. There are no Roman Catholic shrines in Borsuky, Vyshnivets, Kozliv, Kozova, Pochaiv and several other communities. Roman Catholic sacred buildings are one of those historical and cultural resources actively used for tourism in the Ternopil region. Probably the most visited church building in the region is the former Dominican church in Ternopil (now the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary). Many other churches in the Ternopil region are used for excursion and tourism activities. The most popular among tourists are the former and operating Roman Catholic churches in the cities of Ternopil, Chortkiv, Kremenets, Berezhany, Buchach, Zbarazh. In recent years, there has been a growing interest among tourists in visiting inactive and abandoned Roman Catholic churches. Five premises of former churches are used for secular purposes: in the town of Lanivtsi and the village of Hadynkivtsi of the Kopychyntsi community, they have been rebuilt into houses of culture, in the village of Kobzarivka (Ternopil urban communities) a village museum has been equipped, in the village of Shumlyany there is a village library. In the village of Ostriv near Ternopil, internally displaced persons currently live on the premises of the former church. In recent years, work has begun on the restoration of several churches, and for the renovation of individual inactive Roman Catholic churches, local authorities, and the public are looking for financial and other resources. Promising directions for the use and development of Roman Catholic religious buildings in the Ternopil region are their involvement in educational and nostalgic excursion and tourism activities and increasing funding for restoration work. Keywords: church, religious buildings, Roman Catholic community, Ternopil region, tourism, tourist attraction.