A Day Off in the Donetsk Region. Tourist Locations

The Donetsk region is pockmarked, as if with scars, by mine workings and open quarries, dotted with factory workshops and steaming chimneys, saturated with chemical waste and emissions. It might seem that in this industrial land not a single living spot or green corner has been left for rest. And yet the region does have natural monuments and creations of human hands where you can set off on a day off or a holiday to spend your time interestingly and to good purpose.

Donetsk region. The "Bilenke" section of the "Kramatorsk" regional landscape park

In the summer period, holidaymakers are awaited in Yurivka, Urzuf and Melekino on the coast of the Sea of Azov, which washes the region from the south. And in every season travellers set off on hikes to wonderful places with mountains, forests, rivers and lakes, and on excursions to museums and parks with entertainment complexes.

Lyman district. The Blue Lakes

The Velykoanadol Forest. Forest Park 

The Velykoanadol forest spreads like a green sea amid the waterless steppe in the south of the Donetsk region. Europe's largest man-made forest massif saturates the air of the industrial centres with healing energy.

Forest Park — a resort in the very heart of the Velykoanadol forest, laid out in the middle of the 19th century in the steppe. The complex is located on the banks of two ponds formed in the bed of the Kashlahach River.

On the gently sloping left bank rises a stone crag with a grotto and an observation deck.

The unique landscape design is created using natural stone.

The free arrangement of boulders on the alpine meadows creates an aesthetic pleasure and a sense of space and the boundlessness of the world.

On the territory of the Forest Park there are a comfortable five-storey hotel, seven cottages, and buildings with conference halls, restaurants, and medical and entertainment centres.

Among the thujas and pines are hidden sculptural images of animals, inhabitants of the Velykoanadol forest.

Holidaymakers can visit Ukraine's only forest museum, housed in the building of a former meteorological observatory.

The pioneer of afforestation V. E. Graff organised scientific observations of nature, opening a weather station in 1853.

Sviatohirsk 

Sviatohirsk is rightly called the pearl of Donbas. For here you can see monuments of history and architecture, churches and monasteries, mountains, a river and a national nature park.

Sviatohirsk. The Holy Dormition Lavra

The town is located on the territory of the "Sviati Hory" National Nature Park, which includes natural monuments and reserves. The forest massifs, the river and the chalk mountains stimulated the construction of holiday centres and children's camps. The Siverskyi Donets — is the main blue thoroughfare of Donbas and a supplier of fresh water. The beach and entertainment establishments are set up on the left bank of the winding river, opposite the Holy Dormition Lavra.

The churches, the hotel, the refectory and the Lavra museum — are buildings of the 19th century with the status of monuments of history and architecture.

In Sviatohirsk everyone will find something for themselves: some will be strengthened in spirit, some will enjoy the wonderful scenery, and for some a hike with a climb up the mountain will be beneficial.

Druzhkivka and Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka 

Parks are of different kinds. Often it is not only a green zone with entertainment attractions but also an educational centre. In Druzhkivka the park of stone sculptures became an exhibition ground for fifty sculptural images of real and imagined heroes. In this open-air museum, the exhibits are bas-relief images of characters from ancient legends and famous historical figures.

In Druzhkivka an ice arena for public skating has been opened, and hockey players train on the rink and sports competitions are held.

The most ancient stone forest on the Eurasian continent is located half a kilometre from the settlement of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka.

In spring the Donetsk steppe is abundant with wildflowers. In the picturesque gullies near Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, during quarrying, trunks and fragments of trees were discovered whose age is 160-250 million years.

Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka. Petrified araucarias

The Druzhkivka wonders of the Carboniferous period lie at the bottom of a small ravine that resembles a canyon with exposed layers of stone massifs.

The "Kleban-Byk" Regional Park

The "Kleban-Byk" regional park with an area of 2090 hectares, created in the Kostiantynivka district in 2000 to preserve and rationally use unique natural complexes, flora and fauna.

The picturesque banks are covered with ravine forests alternating with oak groves.

The Kleban-Byk reservoir has a shoreline length of 24 kilometres. Anglers can boast of catches of silver carp, crucian carp, carp and grass carp. Fishing is free; only vehicle entry is charged. In the park, swans, ducks and about 100 species of small birds nest.

The pits of worked-out quarries adjoin the central section on the eastern side.

The "Kleban-Byk" Regional Park. A worked-out quarry

In the bedrock of the ancient landscape you can see petrified plants, insects and molluscs.

Oleksandro-Kalynove 

More and more small settlements and villages in Ukraine are joining the sites of green tourism. On the western side of the "Kleban-Byk" regional park lies the village of Oleksandro-Kalynove in the Kostiantynivka district. The initiator of preserving cultural heritage and folk traditions, Andrii Taraban, and his like-minded friends created on a wasteland a distinctive skansen, where exhibits connected with the village's history are gathered.

Oleksandro-Kalynove. The "Dovkillia" Museum

The abandoned hut of the 18th-19th century, with whitewashed walls and an earthen floor, was restored by the villagers and decorated in the style of a Ukrainian dwelling of that time. Gradually the cob house filled with interior items and objects of peasant life. Since the museum was created by enthusiasts and operates on a voluntary basis, visitors need to arrange a visit in advance by phone, +380 99 0732590.

Prelesne 

The rural-tourism routes of the Donetsk region include the village of Prelesne in the Sloviansk district, known for the 19th-century Bantysh palace located in it and the museum of folk architecture, everyday life and children's art. The museum is recognised as one of the seven wonders of the Sloviansk district and is the only one of its kind in Eastern Ukraine.

In the 18th-19th centuries, windmills were widespread on the territory of present-day Donetsk region; they towered among the steppes on the hills, cutting the sky and playing with the wind.

Three stone sculptures, left by nomads in the 9th-12th centuries, were found by researchers on the territory of Prelesne.

A distinctive stone park is laid out on the glade beside the museum.

Having visited the open-air museum in Prelesne, you can learn what the settlements in the Donetsk steppes were like before industrialists erected factories and mines here. The name of the village suggests that there was something enchanting and captivating here. In this picturesque area there survives a garden-and-architecture monument of the 19th century.

The founder of the estate is Vasyl Vasylovych Bantysh (1740-1812). This noble nest has all the features of aristocracy. Branches and flowers of wondrous plants entwine an oval that once bore the depiction of the family coat of arms.

Around the estate a park was laid out, in which 120 species of trees and shrubs grew. Now this green oasis has the status of a monument of landscape-gardening art.

Komyshuvakha 

Another Bantysh estate can be seen in Komyshuvakha on the shore of a picturesque lake, fifteen kilometres from Kramatorsk.

In this unique place, the beauty of natural landscapes, a recreation spot for townspeople, the region's history, an architectural monument, tales of astonishing fates, incredible legends and even mysticism have come together. The house was built in the 1850s of layered sandstone. Local residents call the mansion "the haunted house". For many years a phantom has wandered through the house, descending to the lake, looking for a little bridge and vanishing. Now, on the territory of the Visitor Centre of the "Kramatorsk" regional landscape park, you can enjoy the natural beauty, visit a mini-zoo and go boating.

Kramatorsk

Kramatorsk — an industrial centre of Ukraine, in which the city's industrial landscapes alternate with protective green zones, parks and public gardens. The oldest of them, the Bernatsky Garden, has recently received a second life.

For the further development of sport and the awakening of team spirit among the townspeople, new courts for beach volleyball and basketball and a football field have been opened. Various attractions, modern children's playgrounds and a dance floor have added to the list of entertainment sites.

By the railway station, in the Bird Park, about 500 individual birds, animals and fish await guests.

On the north-eastern side the town is bordered by virgin steppes with outcrops of bedrock, which have created stone compositions.

Kramatorsk. Hrekova Hora

The chalk cliffs and slopes belong to the "Bilenke" section of the "Kramatorsk" regional landscape park. Townspeople have taken a liking to this corner of nature for flying kites and sledging in winter. From the summits a panorama of the town opens up.

 The "Bilenke" section of the "Kramatorsk" regional landscape park

The Bilokuzmynivka Chalk Cliffs 

In the Donetsk region, where the towns have merged into a continuous industrial agglomerate and the distance between them is about 5-10 kilometres, Mother Nature has given this industrial region a geological monument — the Bilokuzmynivka chalk cliffs.

For Donbas, with its harsh slag heaps, the white hills with smooth summits in the forest-steppe — are a unique natural creation. The rock layers are like the sails of a ship half-sunk in a stone abyss. To some the cliff will seem a ruined castle with towers as tall as a nine-storey building. The cliffs, whose age is about 90 million years, are used by climbers for training.

The Blue Lakes 

Several lakes in the Lyman district, former quarries filled with spring water, and natural water bodies are called the Blue Lakes for the blueness of their water surface.

Masses of pine forests frame the lakes.

Fishing, sandy beaches, clean air and natural coolness in the hot summer have served to popularise this recreation zone.