The purpose of the article is to highlight the activities of the employees of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve «Pereyaslav» in recreating the interior of a Ukrainian hut of the second half of the 19th – mid-20th centuries and presenting various types of towels, in particular homespun ones. The exhibits are located in the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of the Middle Dnieper Region (Pereyaslav) in the huts of a middle-class peasant, a poor man, an oilman, a weaver, and a cooper. The features of the interior space of Ukrainian peasant housing are revealed and it is emphasized that Pereyaslav homespun towels occupied an important place in the interior, primarily performing the function of amulets.

It is noted that homespun towels had not only a domestic and aesthetic purpose, but also performed an ethno-protective function. In folk rituals, they were an inseparable part of sacred actions – from the birth of a child and a wedding to the funeral of the deceased. It is indicated that the ornamentation of towels of the Pereyaslav region is characterized by a clear three-part composition, which includes a lower platband, a main ornamental motif and an upper platband.

Analysis of ornamental motifs and individual elements testifies to their deep historical roots, connected with natural phenomena and ancient ideas about the structure of the universe. Examining homespun towels in the expositions of huts, their richness, complexity and harmonious construction of compositions were noted, which testifies to the high skill of local weavers of the Pereyaslav region of the 19th–20th centuries. Towels with geometric and floral-geometric ornaments are especially distinguished.

It was established that the majority of peasants used homespun towels made on a loom. Most of these products had a two-tone design with a predominance of red and were decorated with floral ornamental motifs.

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