Ukrainian Architectural Modern (UAM). A National Style

Ukrainian Modern took shape on the traditions of progressive architecture with the use of historical architectural forms. The style was founded on the canons of folk building, the ritual character of religious structures and the achievements of European architecture. UAM developed on the territory of Ukraine during 1903-1941, and in those years about 500 remarkable structures were built — religious buildings, zemstvo schools and hospitals, and public buildings. Not all of the representatives of the national architectural heritage have survived to our days, but many of the monuments can be called true masterpieces of Ukrainian art.

The Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore (UAM)

Slag Heaps. The Benefit, Harm and Danger to Mining Towns

The Donetsk steppe is literally strewn with artificial grey-blue cone-shaped mountains. In the region they number more than 600. The bluish slag heaps have become the unchanging symbols of the mining towns and settlements. Like all mountain ranges, they are conquered by daring bold souls. The risky ascent up slopes at an angle of 40-60 degrees draws incorrigible romantics and desperate lovers of contemplating industrial landscapes and urban panoramas.

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

Kamianka. The 'Floodplain of the Byk River' Reserve

The village of Kamianka in the Dobropillia district lies in the west of the Donetsk region, where the administrative border with the Dnipropetrovsk region runs.

The Carpathians. Fine Tourist Locations

A holiday in the Carpathians will satisfy the tastes of any traveller and leave unforgettable impressions. Travellers explore the mountains on hikes along the ridges and peaks, take in learning tours, bathe in hot tubs and under waterfalls, reunite with nature and feel the powerful energy of the green massifs.

The Mizunka River. Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Sukha Balka. A Natural Monument and a 2006 Crash Memorial

The Sukha Balka botanical natural monument is located in the Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region, on the north-western side of the settlement of the same name and a kilometre from the H-20 road to the east.

Sukha Balka. Yasynuvata district. Donetsk region. Natural monument

The Sinna River. Why Are Our Rivers Disappearing?

5 June — World Environment Day

More and more often alarming signals ring out — rivers and wells are shallowing fast, streams are drying up, springs are silting over, blue mirrors are becoming overgrown with reeds. Why is this happening, and who is to blame? Once our rivers had crystal-clear water, but today they present a depressing sight.

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. A pond on the Sinna River in the Sinna gully

Novotroitske. The Wooden Holy Ascension Church of 1893

Ancient churches draw believers with their prayer-steeped setting and centuries of history. Pilgrims come to the Holy Ascension Church in the village of Novotroitske in the Donetsk region from all regions of Ukraine to bow before the spiritual relics and to see the only wooden church in the Pokrovsk district that has survived in its original form since 1893.

Novotroitske, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. Holy Ascension Church. 1893.

Museums in Ukraine. Rich Collections and Varied Themes

In Ukraine there are about 5 thousand museums of the most varied themes. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism owns about half a thousand museums, but far more of them exist under various departments, educational institutions and at enterprises. A great many private museum displays have been opened by collectors and at tourist locations. The map of Ukraine's museums is being replenished with new unique sites where millions of rare exhibits are kept. The largest area is occupied by the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohiv.

Pyrohiv. The National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The Church of the Resurrection. Kysorychi, Rivne region, 18th century.

The Carpathian Tram. The Best Attraction of Prykarpattia

In Ukraine several narrow-gauge railways have survived — the Borzhava one in Zakarpattia, one in Antonivka in the Rivne region, one in Holovanivsk in the Kirovohrad region, and one in the settlement of Vyhoda in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Vyhoda, Dolyna district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. A tour along the narrow-gauge railway by Carpathian tram