Slovianka. The Pearl of the Steppe Estate

As the May holidays draw near, and the summer vacations behind them, we think more and more about where to spend them. The pandemic has forced Ukrainians to reconsider their travel routes in favour of little-known destinations, giving up the popular resorts. Quarantine restrictions push travellers and holidaymakers to change their plans, to look for new uncharted corners and to draw fresh emotions from what they see. Having sat out several weeks or months in self-isolation, people long to break away from ordinary life, to relax in the lap of nature, to hurry nowhere and to make incredible discoveries.

The "Pearl of the Steppe" estate is exactly the place where you can spend your leisure not with a crowd of tourists galloping past the sights, but resting far from the rhythms of the urban bustle, with a blanket on the meadow and a fishing rod at the evening glow. We are off in search of inspiration, adrenaline and endorphins!

Slovianka, Dnipropetrovsk region. The "Pearl of the Steppe" estate

Dobropillia. The 'By the Stork' Nature Complex

Sometimes you walk along a country road, admiring the tidy homesteads and the front gardens in bloom, and suddenly you see something unusual for the Ukrainian backwoods. Where they remember the history of the village and its founders, where they value the labour of those who came before, the community has created, by its own efforts, historical displays and nature-protection areas. Local landmarks have become the calling cards of small settlements; people are proud of them, they cherish and nurture them, adorn and multiply them. And the old-timers put in their efforts not only for themselves -- a traveller too is curious to look in and learn something new about the cultural traditions of the village.

 

Dobropillia. The "By the Stork" nature-protection complex from the history of the Donetsk land

Zalukva. Halych beyond the Lukva

One of the many human passions urges us to see uncharted distances, getting to know not only the popular tourist landmarks but also that which is not found in advertising brochures and catalogues. From the top of Castle Hill in Halych the grace of the Subcarpathian village opens to the view, its outskirts merging with the forests, the mountains and the clouds of heaven.

Zalukva, Halych district, Ivano-Frankivsk region

Kokhavyne. The Monastery of Saint Gerard

Cases of neglect and destruction of monuments of sacred architecture are, sadly, encountered quite often. Sometimes the buildings are restored by parishioners of a different religious denomination, while preserving the original appearance of the church. That is what happened in the historic locality of Kokhavyne, in the settlement of Hnizdychiv in the Lviv region.

Hnizdychiv. Kokhavyne. Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. The former Ascension kostel. 1894.

Zolotyi Kolodiaz. A Life-Giving Spring of Healing Water

In the Donetsk region, sources of mineral water are not encountered all that often, so deposits of this most valuable natural resource in the ground, in an industrial region, are worth their weight in gold. A village in the Dobropillia district earned its well-deserved name, for its life-giving spring has been famous throughout the whole district for a fourth century now.

The village of Zolotyi Kolodiaz, Dobropillia district, Donetsk region

Marshyntsi. The Bukovinian Rublyovka

One of the unique monuments that are not listed in the register of architectural and historical monuments is St. Nicholas Church in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region.

Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region. St. Nicholas Church

Wells. Their significance in human life

Wells are artificial structures, in the form of a bore in the surface of the earth, that have served people for many centuries to provide water.

A well in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region

Lunka. Velykosillia. The churches of the Hertsa district

The sacred architecture of the Hertsa district of the Chernivtsi region has its own peculiarities and has survived in spite of time and events.

Velykosillia, Hertsa district, Chernivtsi region. The Church of the Nativity. 1762.