Dobropillia. The 'By the Stork' Nature Complex

Sometimes you walk along a country road, admiring the tidy homesteads and the front gardens in bloom, and suddenly you see something unusual for the Ukrainian backwoods. Where they remember the history of the village and its founders, where they value the labour of those who came before, the community has created, by its own efforts, historical displays and nature-protection areas. Local landmarks have become the calling cards of small settlements; people are proud of them, they cherish and nurture them, adorn and multiply them. And the old-timers put in their efforts not only for themselves -- a traveller too is curious to look in and learn something new about the cultural traditions of the village.

 

Dobropillia. The "By the Stork" nature-protection complex from the history of the Donetsk land

Prosiana. The V. V. Pryklonskyi Railway Station

A railway station is a line subdivision through which the railway's link with its users is carried out.  The V. V. Pryklonskyi Prosiana station is located in the settlement of Prosiana in the Synelnykove district of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The Suderman House in Zelene. An Estate That Was Lucky

A love of travel and discovery is born back in childhood, when moral values and spiritual needs are formed. It is very important to preserve cultural and historical heritage for young explorers and pioneers, to cultivate a sense of responsibility for preserving historical monuments. Memory is our strength in creating the future. Sadly, in recent years there has been no careful treatment of architectural and historical gems; many unique buildings and estates left to us by earlier generations have been irretrievably lost or spoiled beyond recognition by rebuilding. Every historical object is individual and carries the memory of a bygone era, and needs to be preserved and protected.

A one-of-a-kind example of cultural heritage has survived in the village of Zelene in the Dobropillia area.

 

Zelene in the Dobropillia area. The "Manor House" architectural-historical complex. The Suderman house. 1897-1914

The Princely Town of Sambir. Heritage and Potential

The architectural and historical heritage of Sambir is an inseparable part of the cultural heritage of the Lviv region and of Ukraine as a whole. In Sambir 72 monuments of cultural heritage are on the state register, of them 7 monuments of national significance: 56 architectural monuments, 10 historical monuments and 6 monuments of monumental art.

Sambir, Lviv region. The Market Square

The 8th of March. Sweets and Flowers, or a Fight for Rights

The 8th of March is one of the few pre-revolutionary holidays that has carried over into modern society, though it has changed somewhat over its more than century-long history. Already in the first days of March a pre-holiday fever begins, with ceremonial gatherings at enterprises, corporate parties in companies and festive events in schools.

Ocheretyne. A Junction Station and Its Settlement

The Ocheretyne junction freight-and-passenger station lies at the intersection of the Pokrovsk-Yasynuvata and Ocheretyne-Horlivka lines, in the settlement of the same name in the Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region.

 

Ocheretyne railway station. Donetsk Railway

The Prosiana Kaolin Quarry. Winter Scenery

There are places on earth that draw you with a magic force and enchant at any time of year. Hikes to the abandoned Prosiana kaolin quarry in the summer and autumn period left unforgettable impressions. But the artist-winter transforms nature with special magic, and one wants to see its tricks after the noticeable frosts and the snowfalls that have been rare in recent years.

The Siverskyi Donets River

Rivers, like people, are born, grow and gather strength, find their path in life and their protecting banks, have their own character and interests, work and rest, feel care and suffer from pain. Their tributaries, like a person's friends, strive to meet, so as to overcome obstacles together. Sometimes abysses seize them, but after the whirlpools follow little islands of well-being and prosperity. The Siverskyi Donets is the largest river in the east of Ukraine and the seventh largest on the country's territory.

 

The Siverskyi Donets river. Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region.

Water Towers

The water tower was invented in order to hold a reservoir of water up high and to create pressure in the water-supply system. With the growth of towns and the increase in consumers, the main function of this important element of the water supply has been lost. The most interesting examples can be seen at railway stations or in industrial zones. Most of them are not used for their intended purpose, since there is no need to fill steam locomotives with water. The water tower at the junction station of Koziatyn can be considered a masterpiece of hydraulic engineering architecture. Exquisite in its beauty, with lacy brick decoration, the tower was built at the end of the 19th century by the famous architect O. V. Kobeliev.

 

Koziatyn, Vinnytsia region. The water tower at the railway station

The Blue Lakes. An antiviral winter

How to spend a day off when quarantine restrictions are in force and the theatres, museums and cafes are closed? The best choice for a Sunday outing at the height of the rampage of disease-causing bacteria always remains the forest. Trips to out-of-town green zones and landscape parks are not outlawed yet. Let us make an excursion into the pine forest in the area of the Blue Lakes of the Lyman district of Donetsk region.