Pryluky. A Walk Around the Landmarks on the Town Squares

Pryluky is a district centre of the Chernihiv region whose main landmarks are concentrated on its squares, which flow into one another in a chain and make up the historic core of the town. If in other towns the tourist appeal lies in pedestrian streets, in Pryluky the pedestrian zone is formed by the restored squares on the site of the former citadel.

Chasiv Yar. The Shukhov Water Tower: Demolish or Save?

The year 2019 in the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, was marked by a fateful decision concerning a unique monument of engineering architecture — the water tower of V. H. Shukhov. After many years of neglect and oblivion, this avant-garde architectural masterpiece faced demolition, but thanks to the efforts of the public the tower was saved from being cut up for scrap metal.

Chasiv Yar. Donetsk region. The water tower of the engineer V. H. Shukhov

Pysmenna Railway Station and the Village of Pysmenne

The Pysmenna railway station is located in the village of Pysmenne, Vasylkivka district, Dnipropetrovsk region, which was founded with the opening of the station in 1884.

The Pysmenna railway station. Vasylkivka district, Dnipropetrovsk region

Hustynia. The Holy Trinity Monastery, a Treasury

"visit ... the half-ruined Hustynia monastery, on the other side of the Uday River, three versts from the town of Pryluky. I can assure you that you will not regret it. It is a true Abbey of Saint-Clair ...," — thus, as early as the 1840s, did Taras Shevchenko advise a visit to the holy cloister. In 1845 the classic of Ukrainian literature, as a member of the Archaeographic Commission, made sketches in the monastery courtyard, and later, in 1953, he began his novella "The Musician" with a description of this place of prayer.

Hustynia. Chernihiv region. The Holy Trinity Monastery. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

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