Izium. The Oldest Orthodox Churches of Slobozhanshchyna

Izium is a city in Kharkiv region with the oldest churches of Slobozhanshchyna preserved and still in use. Believers come to its sacred buildings, springs and relics from all regions of Ukraine to bow before the shrines and the miracle-working icons.

Izium. Kharkiv region. Holy Transfiguration Cathedral. 1684

Marigold Zolotonosha. Architecture, Parks, Landmarks

Zolotonosha is a city founded in the middle of the 16th century and located 30 kilometres from Cherkasy. This district centre of Cherkasy region cannot be called popular among tourists, but for lovers of strolls along the old streets of a county town there is plenty here to feed on.

Zolotonosha, Cherkasy region. Holy Dormition Cathedral

Myropillia. St Nicholas Church and Its Heritage

Like rays from the sun, the streets of Myropillia radiate out from the market square, where weekly fairs once bustled. Each street ended in a church. After the revolution, nationalisation, dekulakisation, Bolshevik reforms and the destruction of the spiritual heritage, the town turned into a village with a considerable decline in population. The only church that survived the upheavals of the 20th century is St. Nicholas Church in the Studenok suburb on Sumska Street.

Myropillia. Sumy region. St. Nicholas Church. 1885

Brailiv. A Cultural and Spiritual Centre of Podillia

The tourist sites of Brailiv are among the winners of the regional contest 'The 7 Wonders of the Vinnytsia Region'. I arrived by suburban train at this small settlement, located forty kilometres from Vinnytsia and seven from the junction station of Zhmerynka. The railway in these parts was laid at state expense — and colossal super-profits were made from it — by the railway magnate Karl von Meck. The financial tycoon acquired the town in 1867, owned a brick factory and a sugar factory here, did not stint, and built in Brailiv a snow-white palace in which his enterprising wife, the mother of 18 children, unfolded her patronage of the arts.

Brailiv. The palace of Nadezhda von Meck. Brailiv Vocational Lyceum

Zapsillia and Myropillia. Two Villages on the Psel

Myropillia — a village in the north-east of Ukraine, in the east of Sumy region, 40 kilometres from the regional centre. This small settlement in the Sumy area has more than a dozen architectural monuments, but there are far more unique buildings that deserve attention and protection. St. Nicholas Church of St. Nicholas Monastery has an unusual design, the tallest bell tower in the eparchy and a rich history.

Myropillia. Sumy region. Krasnopilskyi district. St. Nicholas Church. 1885.

Poltava. The Ivan Kotliarevskyi Memorial Estate Museum

The works of the writer and enlightener Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevskyi remain relevant and, in the 21st century, still find their way to the reader's heart. More than 200 years ago, in his much-criticised "Eneida", the Ukrainian playwright voiced a protest against the advance of the imperial forces of the northern neighbour and mocked the people's powerlessness to resist the enthronement of great-power ambition and the loss of Cossack autonomy. The classic of new Ukrainian literature was born, studied, worked and died in Poltava, and he wrote in the Poltava dialect of the Ukrainian language.

The Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevskyi Memorial Estate Museum

Izium. Mount Kremenets. A Monument of Nature and History

Mount Kremenets in the town of Izium is one of the main tourist attractions of Kharkiv region. The hill, 220 metres above sea level, has the status of a geological natural monument and is the site of historical events dating back to the times of Kyivan Rus.

Izium. Kharkiv region. Mount Kremenets (Kremianets)

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.

Smila. The Shevchenko Station. A Railway Link

The Taras Shevchenko Station is one of the oldest railway junctions connecting the south, east and west of Ukraine with Kyiv. This hub harbour for trains is located in the town of Smila in Cherkasy region and belongs to the Odesa Railway.

Smila. The T. Shevchenko railway station. The North Station

Mykilske. The St. Basil Monastery in the Donetsk Steppe

The Holy Dormition St. Nicholas and St. Basil Monastery is called the cloister of Father Zosyma, in honour of the founder of one of the largest Orthodox shrines created in modern Ukraine.

 The Holy Dormition St. Nicholas and St. Basil Monastery