1576–2026
Ostroh Academy
Founded by the Prince in 1576 — the first institution of higher learning in Eastern Europe. The seedbed of the Ukrainian scholarly and theological thought that made the Ostroh Bible possible.
A 2026 Initiative
Academy
Prince
Bible
Year of the Ostroh Bible
Three anniversaries. One memory. One people.
May 29 — Opening of the programmeOpening
29–30 May 2026
Ostroh Academy
A two‑day ceremonial conference
One hundred and thirty participants — scholars, public officials, and church leaders. Plenary sessions, breakouts, walking tours of Ostroh (the castle, the museums, the academy). The culmination is a formal forum in Kyiv in early December.
—
- Participants
- 130
- Host
- Ostroh Academy
- Culmination
- December, Kyiv
Three anniversaries
What we remember in 2026
1526–2026
Prince Konstantin‑Vasyl Ostroh
Defender of his lands against Muscovite expansion and a patron of the Ukrainian cultural renaissance. Founder of the academy. Initiator of the first complete Slavonic translation of Scripture.
1581–2026
The Ostroh Bible
The first complete printed edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic. For Ukrainians, what the King James Bible became for the English‑speaking world: a book that shaped culture, language, and national identity.
Programme
Seven strands, May through December
Delivered together with Ostroh Academy, Christian churches, and educational institutions across Ukraine.
Conference
A two‑day conference with 130 participants — plenary and breakout sessions — followed by a final forum in Kyiv this December.
Exhibition
Two versions of the exhibition on the history of the Ostroh Bible, presented in 33 cities across Ukraine — universities and public spaces. Up to two weeks in each city.
Documentary
A thirty‑minute film featuring leading Ukrainian historians, culturologists, and church leaders on the Ostroh Bible’s place in Ukrainian cultural life.
Journals & print
A catalogue paper for the exhibition and a popular‑scholarly journal on the Bible, the academy, and Ukraine’s early modern period. Souvenirs in the Ostroh Renaissance style.
Media
Daily historical posts and short pieces on the Ukrainian early modern period, the Ostroh princes, and the printing tradition.
Cycling pilgrimages
Summer routes from cities across Ukraine to Ostroh — the old spiritual capital of the region.
Church events
Pocket‑sized versions of the exhibition in parishes, conferences, ceremonial services, Alpha courses, and Bible study groups.
Purpose
To strengthen Ukrainian identity by returning to the foundational artifacts of our culture — the Ostroh Bible and Ostroh Academy.
The example of the Ostroh princes — defenders of their land and patrons of learning — will inspire new generations of Ukrainians.