More and more, small towns and villages in Ukraine are joining the green-tourism scene. It is all the more gratifying when a settlement that in 2014 lay in the combat zone, and is now 30 kilometres from the line of demarcation, is included in the itineraries of travellers and sightseers. The village of Oleksandro-Kalynove in the Kostiantynivka district of Donetsk region is a participant in the all-Ukrainian contest 'Incredible Villages of Ukraine'.
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| Oleksandro-Kalynove. Donetsk region. Signpost on the H-20 highway |
So what will the tourist find surprising, and what is the appeal of a village set on the banks of the Bychok River and its tributary the Kalynivka?
Location No. 1. The 'Dovkillia' village history museum.
Far from every town, let alone a village — where the number of residents is smaller and living conditions harder than in the cities — has its own museum. Andrii Taraman, an initiator of preserving cultural heritage and folk traditions, and his like-minded friends created on a wasteland a kind of open-air museum, gathering exhibits connected with the village's history.
The exhibition began with a 'Universal' tractor from the 1930s, on which Ivan Bahlai ploughed the land. Before the war the machine operator took the iron horse apart for spare parts and buried it in a shelterbelt. After the fighting ended, the steppe giant was dug up, and for a long time it remained the only breadwinner in the nearest villages.
The farming theme is continued by a collection of agricultural machinery.
In times past, when there was no electricity and the power of wind and water served as the engine, stone millstones were used in flour milling. A large gallery presents the main elements of the mills, made of sandstone.
The villagers restored an abandoned cottage of the 18th-19th century, with whitewashed walls and an earthen floor, and furnished it in the style of a Ukrainian dwelling of that time. Gradually the cob house filled with interior items and objects of peasant life.
Part of the display was placed in the neighbouring school building.
A crane-well and hand-made animal figures adorned the grounds of the open-air museum.
The village landmark is guarded by a Cuman warrior — a symbol of the nomads' dominance over the steppe.
The museum was created by enthusiasts and works on a voluntary basis; sightseers need to arrange a visit in advance by phone, +380 99 0732590.
Location No. 2. A tour of the village.
Oleksandro-Kalynove was founded in the middle of the 18th century. The centre of the village is the school, the village council, the house of culture, the post office and the shops.
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| Tankistiv Street. Village council, post office, shop |
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| School |
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| House of culture |
A signpost at the junction of Tankistiv and Shkilna streets gives the distances and directions to the nearest villages and the district centre.
The square has children's playgrounds. The war memorial — with the mass grave of soldiers of the 259th Rifle Division who fell liberating the village in September 1943, and a monument to fellow-villager soldiers — lost its heavy IS-3 tank in 2014 during the fighting.
In 2018 the Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs was consecrated.
Before the new church was built, the congregation occupied a landowner's house of pre-revolutionary construction. The nationalised red-brick mansion was given to a school, and later to a kindergarten, and after it closed, to the church.
Location No. 3. The Kleban-Byk Regional Landscape Park.
Oleksandro-Kalynove borders the central section of the Kleban-Byk Regional Landscape Park. The unique landscape, the outcrops of rock, the green framing of the reservoir's mirror surface with ravine forests — all this creates a picturesque scene and excellent conditions for rest, tourism and fishing.
Location No. 4. The observation platform of the Kleban-Byk RLP.
You can admire the views of the hilly terrain of the regional park from the observation platform, located on the other side of the H-20 highway, along which Oleksandro-Kalynove stretches. Beside the plantings of Crimean pine, a car park, gazebos and rest areas have been created. Travellers are presented with an absolutely unusual display of local curiosities — fragments of petrified trees 300 million years old, found in worked-out quarries.
The sculptures of Jurassic-period animals bear a fantastic resemblance to the members of the fauna that strolled in these parts millions of years ago.
From the stone of local quarries, artists created sculptural compositions on the theme of fairy tales and legends.
You can read more about the Kleban-Byk RLP here, and about the Druzhkivka petrified trees here. You can get to Oleksandro-Kalynove from Kostiantynivka along the H-20 highway in the direction of Donetsk. From the roundabout to the signpost — 3 km.
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| Signpost on the H-20 highway |
Coordinates of the 'Dovkillia' museum: 48°25'28"N 37°39'51"E
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