Bila Tserkva. Historic, Touristic, Enchanting

Bila Tserkva is the economic, cultural and educational centre of Kyiv region. Travellers include this district centre in their route to see the largest and oldest arboretum in Ukraine, 'Oleksandriia', which has amassed the country's biggest collection of plants. But it is not only this man-made green expanse that draws tourists to one of Ukraine's most ancient cities. Bila Tserkva has about a hundred architectural monuments, fifteen of them with the status of national significance.

Bila Tserkva. Church of St. John the Baptist. 1816. Hall of organ and chamber music. Architectural monument of national significance

Oleksandro-Kalynove. Wonders Right Beside Us

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'.

Oleksandro-Kalynove. Donetsk region. Signpost on the H-20 highway

Sumy. Along the Pedestrian Soborna and Voskresenska

In recent years, in the cities of Ukraine, pedestrian zones have been taking shape in the historical, commercial and business centres, which significantly affects the flow of tourist traffic. In Sumy, two streets at once create a pedestrian space — Soborna and Voskresenska.

Sumy. The pedestrian Soborna Street

Mosaic. A Vanishing Layer of Art. Hurry to See It!

The resonant destruction of a mosaic beloved by Lvivians on the demolished 'Okean' store makes one think about preserving examples of monumental art. Many mosaic pictures bear no communist symbols. Unique, spectacular frescoes are being ruined by spiritlessness and mismanagement.

Pavlohrad. Dnipropetrovsk region. Mosaic panel. Shevchenko Street, 120

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