Rakhiv. I Wish You to Be Better, to Grow and Prosper

My first acquaintance with Rakhiv, forgive me for being honest, left no pleasant impressions. There were many situations I did not like. Contemplating the rubbish overflowing the mountain Tysa brought no pleasure. The trading kiosks fastened onto one of the town's main shrines, the Church of St John of Nepomuk, look highly unattractive. It is sad to look at the disfigured facades of the constructivist-style buildings erected during the Czechoslovak period. Do the cluttered Burkut Park and the unsanitary state of the mineral-water spring of the same name awaken any aesthetic pleasure? My notes from three years ago provoked a storm of disagreement from the town's residents, which is understandable. But three years have passed, I am in Rakhiv again, and I want to see the town's favourable sides and change my opinion of the highest mountain town in Ukraine.

 

Yasinia. Don't Just Pass Through

People come to the Zakarpattia village of Yasinia to enjoy the emerald beauty of the Carpathian expanse and to climb the peaks of the Chornohora range. Since 1894, trains have been arriving at Yasinia station carrying those eager to feel the mountains and see this enchanting land from the height of the mountain summits. Before World War II, Czechs and Germans came here to hunt and to visit. European journalists prepared reports about the authenticity of this multinational settlement, while foreign artists discovered little-known picturesque landscapes.

 

The village of Yasinia, Zakarpattia Oblast

Prosiana. The Biggest, the First and the Unusual

Prosiana — a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region that emerged at the end of the 19th century. Today, in this village — which 30–40 years ago was promising and looked no worse than a town — there are more downsides than upsides. My walk through this settlement, «golden» in the past, took me about 3 hours, and here is what I managed to learn and see. 

Vovkiv. Market Square, the Wooden Church and Museum

Every town or village has its own experience of preserving historical sites and architectural monuments, which together make up Ukraine's cultural landscape and keep alive the memory of particular events or figures. The village of Vovkiv lies 20 km south of Lviv, in the floodplain of the Zubra River. It is first mentioned in 1398 and has a centuries-old history.

 

The Ivanivka Village Council: Ivanivka, Vesele, Prohres

There are quite a few villages in Ukraine named in honour of the bearers of one of the most widespread names. Thanks to the enterprising and hard-working pioneers with the name Ivan, settlements and farmsteads named in memory of their founders appeared on the uninhabited lands in all the regions of our state. The village of Ivanivka in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region is the centre of a village council to which small settlements are subordinated: Vesele, Vovche, Yevhenivka, Lysyche, Lozuvatske, Novotoretske, Prohres, Svyrydonivka, and Serhiivka.

Ivanivka and the Ivanivka village council. Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region.

Khutoro-Chaplyne. Villages of the Synelnykove Area

In the morning, on the way to the suburban train, there was a good omen, one that foretells luck. A rainbow band began from the dark clouds, curling into an arc, then became double and astonished me with its illusion of light for several minutes.

 

Avdiivka. Your home is where your heart is

The home of each of us is not only walls and a roof, it is a place of permanent residence, a quiet harbour, the native hearth where a person feels protected. Our home is the family nest, the domestic fire, the reliable rear in which the history of a family and even of whole generations is made. We say "My home is my castle", meaning the settled way of life and family traditions, a father's admonition and a mother's blessing. We hurry home after work, study and holidays, knowing that within our own walls we are loved and understood. The residents of front-line Avdiivka have a special attitude to their home, one suffered through and lived out in losses and partings.

 

Avdiivka, 15 Vorobiov Street. A long-suffering building

Ocheretyne. A Junction Station and Its Settlement

The Ocheretyne junction freight-and-passenger station lies at the intersection of the Pokrovsk-Yasynuvata and Ocheretyne-Horlivka lines, in the settlement of the same name in the Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region.

 

Ocheretyne railway station. Donetsk Railway

Kramatorsk. What Draws Tourists to an Industrial Centre?

Why do trips to not very popular tourist places attract travellers more and more? In little-known corners there are as yet no artificially created spectacular attractions, no distracting stage sets to tangle the tourist in their nets. In Kramatorsk, connoisseurs of architecture will find much of interest in the town's cultural heritage of the interwar period and in the post-war "Stalin-era" blocks, and will see some historical monuments that appeared with the industrial rise of this administrative centre of Donetsk region.

 

Kramatorsk. Donetsk region

Dachne. How Do You Live in a Village Where All Is Closed?

"My dear and guiltless land!

For what does the Lord punish you,

Punish you so hard?"

T. H. Shevchenko. Hosea. Ch. XIV.

Travelling around the corners of our country, meeting people, getting to know the history and the notable sights of towns and villages, you always see something moving that surprises and astonishes you. The Ukrainian people are famed for their industriousness and hospitality, for their rich traditions and centuries-old history. The nature of Ukraine has been sung by writers and painters. But most of our villages frighten you with their empty streets and abandoned houses. The infrastructure in the small settlements has been destroyed, there are no pharmacy points and no shops, the schools and kindergartens are closed. How unlike Ukrainian villages are to the European hamlets with their chalet-style villas.

The village of Dachne of the Mezhova district of Dnipropetrovsk region lies on the bank of the Vovcha river.

 

Zaporizke, Slavne, Ukrainka. A Photo-Journey in Mezhova

I shall begin my journey through the villages of Mezhova district from a road sign on the boundary of the district centre of Dnipropetrovsk region.

 

A road sign on the T-04-28 road in Mezhova district

Drohobych Astonishes. Lavish Villas, Palaces, Townhouses

Drohobych, the second-largest city in the Lviv region, increasingly attracts travellers. The Market Square and the ascent of the Town Hall clock tower, an excursion to the saltworks and the museums, and a look at the architecture of the wooden churches, one of which is entered in the UNESCO register of monuments, together with other sacred buildings, all form part of the one-day tourist routes. The streets of the homeland of Drohobych sausages and the capital of oil-rich Galicia are full of secrets and legends.

 Ivan Franko Street, 24. The I. Ya. Franko Pedagogical University

Izium and Its Highlights

Izium is one of the oldest towns in Slobozhanshchyna and the third-largest in the Kharkiv region. The town's official date of birth is considered to be 1681, but the settlement arose much earlier. The town's coat of arms and flag depict bunches of grapes, and one version of the toponym's origin is linked to dried kishmish berries. But it is not vineyards, but expanses of pine forest, that frame Izium, the Oskil Reservoir and the blue ribbon of the Siverskyi Donets.

Izium. Kharkiv region. A view from Mount Kremenets

Kramatorsk. Street Art, or a Street of Murals

Since October 2019, huge pictures have adorned the walls of buildings in Kramatorsk, executed so masterfully that they are indistinguishable from photographs. Dull pre-war buildings on Marata Street and two buildings on Akademichna Street were chosen for the street art. The large-scale wall paintings were created by professional artists, true wizards, invited to Ukraine from various countries.

Melitopol. The Cherry Capital at the Crossroads of Roads

Where do you find the biggest sweet cherries with their glossy cheeks, the earliest strawberries, plums and apricots with an inimitable taste and aroma? Melitopol delights all of Ukraine with an abundance of tasty and wholesome fruit. In June the "ChereshnEve" festival is traditionally held, where Melitopol's calling card is presented in the most unexpected guise — as a liqueur, a painting, an unusual dish.

Ivano-Frankivsk. The Tourists' Choice Award

Every day tourists arrive in Ivano-Frankivsk from every region to set off on a hike into the Carpathians. If a traveller has 2-3 hours to spare, it is worth taking a stroll through this cultural and economic centre of Ukraine. One of the finest regional cities of our country has preserved the architecture of the Austrian and Polish periods; in Frankivsk, as it is lovingly called, there are many parks, museums and landmarks. And, of course, creative cafes, caramel workshops and souvenir shops.

Ivano-Frankivsk. The Market Square. The Town Hall

Druzhkivka. Sketches on a Walk

Druzhkivka is part of the Kramatorsk agglomeration. It occupies an advantageous geographical position in the centre of the Donbas and is linked by a network of roads and railways to the largest industrial cities. What does one of the oldest cities of the Donetsk region, a giant of machine-building and metallurgy, look like today?

Druzhkivka. Donetsk region. The road sign

Drohobych. Touristic and Hospitable

During my first trip to Drohobych I was struck by the number of historical monuments, by the beauty and the special medieval atmosphere, and I noted with regret that this amazing Precarpathian city was little known to tourists. In the nearby resort towns of Truskavets and Morshyn the excursion guides do not even mention Drohobych. I never forgot the city in the Lviv region, and after some time an inner signpost led me back there again.

Drohobych. The Market Square and Truskavetska Street

Vasylkivka-2. From Partyzanska to Pryvokzalna

In the first publication about Vasylkivka the talk was of its southern part, the so-called "lower part", where the buildings with columns and the great number of goats at pasture stuck in my memory. What does the north of Vasylkivka look like? What else can one see in this urban-type settlement in the Dnipro region, which arose from a Cossack winter camp in 1707?

Vasylkivka, Dnipropetrovsk region. The Holy Ascension Church

Pinsk — the Cultural Capital of Belarus?

In 2019 the city of Pinsk was declared the cultural capital of Belarus — a district centre of the Brest region with a population of 138 thousand people. How is the cultural heritage, the language and the distinctive traditions preserved; how do the streets and landmarks of the unofficial capital of Polissia look through the eyes of a woman from neighbouring Ukraine? How does a guest feel in one of the largest cities of the blue-eyed republic, and what is there of interest here for the tourist?

Pinsk. The railway station