Attractions of Kovalivka

The State Museum-Reserve of the outstanding pedagogue and writer Anton Makarenko is located in the village of Kovalivka, Poltava district, on the territory of the former estate of the Trepke family.

It was here from January 1921 to May 1926 that the colony for juvenile offenders and the homeless established by Makarenko was located.

The Makarenko Museum-Reserve was opened by UNESCO on February 25, 1988, on the eve of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the teacher's birth.

The Red and White houses, the outbuilding, and a number of small memorials have been preserved - the entrance arch, gazebo, well, cellar, stairs to the river, pier.

The main hall of the Red House houses the main exposition, which tells about the life of Anton Makarenko and his educational teams, the creative activity of the teacher, the fate of his pupils, the implementation of Makarenko's pedagogical ideas today.

In the White House - a memorial part. Classrooms, a girls' bedroom, a club, workshops, and Anton Makarenko's study, where he wrote the first pages of the Pedagogical Poem, were restored here.

The ancient buildings of the Trepke estate have preserved the decorative stucco of the XIX century.

Ecopark "Kovalivka" near Poltava is one of the largest contact zoos in Ukraine. On an area of 120 hectares, more than 5,000 animals of 530 species are kept here, which can be observed, and some can also be fed and petted.

Many species of predators are represented in the ecopark, including tigers, lynxes, panthers, red wolves, servals, caracals, ocelots and others. Lemurs, monkeys, a family of tapirs, tree porcupines, iguanas, and turtles live in the enclosures. Among the ungulates in the contact part of the zoo, llamas and alpacas receive the most attention from visitors. You can also feed raccoons with special feed purchased on the territory of the park.

The pride of the ecopark "Kovalivka" is the residence of birds, the area of which is about 900 square meters. Here you can see flamingos, cockatoos, cranes and many other birds.

A steam locomotive runs through the territory of the ecopark. There are cozy gazebos where you can have lunch.