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

Sviatohirsk. A November Album. Routes and Landmarks

My excursion to the northernmost city of Donetsk region began at the railway station. Sviatohirsk station was opened in 1911; you can get here by train from Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Bakhmut. Suburban trains run through the station from Izium, Kramatorsk, Fenolna, Lyman, Kharkiv.

Sviatohirsk. Donetsk region. Railway station

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.

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