Attractions of Izmail district

Ecopark "Kartal" was inaugurated in the Danube region in 2017 at the initiative of the Center for Regional Studies.

The park with an area of ​​about 100 hectares was located on the shore of Lake Kartal near the village of Orlivka, Izmail district. The main goal of the project is to effectively use the floodplains of the Danube - parts of the river valleys that are flooded during floods or floods, as well as the restoration of the water buffalo population, which is rare in Ukraine.

A herd of Asian water buffaloes imported from Transcarpathia was kept here for free grazing. For the convenience of visitors, a wooden path with a total length of 230 meters was laid on the territory of the ecopark.

However, during the abnormal drought of 2020, the exotic animals almost died of starvation, after which the buffaloes were evacuated from Orlivka. Soon, the "Kartal" ecopark, which at that time had managed to become the most famous and most successful tourist facility in the Reni community, also closed down.

"Brynzarnya" is located on the territory of the Danube Biosphere Reserve, next to the resort area of ​​the village of Prymorske, not far from the town of Vylkove on the canals in the Danube Delta. It is the Bessarabian center of the global Slow Food movement, which encourages the development of regional cuisines, the use of environmentally friendly local products, and most importantly, the attitude to food as a ritual, when the whole family gathers at the table and all the most important matters are discussed over dinner.

"Brynzarnya" has created both the best conditions for the production of high-quality goat cheese, traditional for this place, and relaxation in an ecologically clean place. Goats are kept on free grazing next to protected areas with clean air and soil without chemicals.

Visitors can enjoy a story about the history of Bessarabia, goat farming, and a tour of the Bryndza Dairy. Tastings take place in the Lypovans (Old Believers') house-museum. After the tasting, guests have the opportunity to purchase local products and souvenirs.

"Brynzarnya" is a participant in the project "Wine and Taste Route of Ukrainian Bessarabia".

The half-destroyed bell tower is the only surviving fragment of the Church of the Assumption in Kiliia. It is also the only surviving structure of the Kiliia fortress, except for the defensive moat.

The Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was built in the 15th century by the order of the Moldavian ruler Stephen III the Great at the same time as the construction of the fortress according to the project of the Byzantine architect and military engineer Privani, who gave the church some features of Sophia of Constantinople.

In 1825-1830, a two-story bell tower was built near the main entrance to the Church of the Assumption.

In 1947, the Soviet authorities razed the ancient temple to the ground. Today, only the remains of the bell tower have survived.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lymanske (former Selc) was the main church of the Kuchurhan German Catholics.

The church, built in 1901, was considered one of the most beautiful churches in southern Ukraine. Externally, it resembled the cathedral in Salzburg (Austria), monastic churches with double baroque towers in Silesia, as well as the Benedictine abbey church in Grusnau.

Limestone served as the building material of the monumental building in the Neo-Renaissance style and two twin towers with a height of 57.9 meters.

In 1944, the church was closed. For some time the building served as an assembly hall. Now in ruins.

The Danube floodplains are a unique ecosystem where you can meet 563 species of various plants and more than 200 species of birds.

The territory of the Danube Biosphere Reserve includes delta islands upstream and downstream of the Danube, flowing north along the Danube, delta lakes and a two-kilometer strip of marine water along the coast.

Rafts are available for excursion trips organized by the reserve administration, as well as numerous private carriers. Popular excursions to water lilies, to the "Zero Kilometer" (where the Danube meets the Black Sea) and to the islands of the Old Believers with a treat of Danube fish soup and homemade Novak wine.

The information and tourist center of the Danube Biosphere Reserve is located near the Christmas Church (the so-called "second church"). There is a museum at the visitor center.

The Small Mosque is the oldest architectural monument of Izmail (XVI century), one of the few examples in Ukraine of medieval classical Ottoman architecture of its heyday.

The mosque is located near the Turkish fortress of Ishmael, taken in 1790 by Russian troops and the Black Sea Cossacks under the command of Oleksandr Suvorov.

A museum with a diorama "Siege of Izmail Fortress" created by artists Yevhen Danilevsky and Veniamin Sibirsky was opened in the mosque. The 20x8 m canvas depicts the decisive moment of the storming of the fortress.

The first snail eco-farm in the Odesa region, "Bessarabia Snails", was founded in 2016 in the village of Safyany near Izmail by local entrepreneurs Andriy Shyrenkov and Serhiy Shulha. The farm is located in an ecologically clean area, on the shore of Lake Safyany in the lower reaches of the Danube.

Edible snails of the European breed Helix aspersa Muller are grown here on natural feed, without using any chemicals. A full production cycle is organized here - from eggs to semi-finished products suitable for transportation and ready-made dishes that can be tasted right on the spot.

For guests of the eco-farm "Bessarabia Snails", excursions are held, during which they show the snail brood chamber in an old village house, where snails lay their eggs, as well as premises for breeding, growing and fattening snails.

The farm has a tasting room with a panoramic view of Lake Safyany, where you can taste snail dishes in cold weather. And during the summer heat, large open gazebos are better suited for tastings. If desired, visitors can organize fishing, hold master classes. There is a playground for children.

Ecofarm "Bessarabia Snails" is a participant in the project "Wine and Taste Route of Ukrainian Bessarabia".

The Izmail Memorial Park-Museum "Fortress" was created in 1991 to protect the historical territory of the Izmail Fortress of the XVI-XIX centuries and other architectural monuments of the city.

The administration and exhibition halls of the museum are located in an old one-story building in the city center. The exposition consists of one large hall and three rooms, which shows the history of the formation and development of the fortress of Ishmael, reflects the life of the medieval city.

In the courtyard of the museum there is a Park of Miniatures, which exhibits models of objects that took place in Turkish Ishmael in the XVI-XVIII centuries: a general view of the fortress, the Broska Gate, the stone bastion of Tabia, the Red Mosque in the Tatar districts, the Small Mosque diorama "Assault on the fortress of Izmail"), St. Nicholas Church, residential buildings, caravanserai, city fountain. The miniatures are made at a scale of 1:30.

A sightseeing tour of the main sights of the city of Izmail is offered.

The Izmail Museum of History and Local Lore of the Danube Region was founded in Izmail in 1990.

Located in an old two-story mansion of the late XIX century, which belonged to the Bessarabian landowner and mayor Fedir Tulchianov.

The museum's collection includes more than 40,000 exhibits. The exhibition area of ​​about 1,000 square meters features permanent exhibitions: "Ancient History and Archeology of the Lower Danube", "Turkish Izmail", "Contribution of the Tulchianovy Merchant Dynasty to the Development of Izmail", "World War I in Memory of Izmail", Gloty Hall and the pavilion of nature.

You can see archeological finds, precious coins and jewelry, ceramics, furniture, watches, musical instruments, samples of folk and secular (salon) clothing and more. Of particular note is the collection of costumes of the museum theater "Sophocles", created in the style of different eras: Kyivan Rus X-XI centuries, aristocratic and folk clothing of the XVI-XIX centuries.

The theater, which employs museum staff, shows a number of performances and mini-performances.

The courtyard of the museum with flower beds, trees and exotic shrubs is open to the public, where an old two-storey 19th-century Balkan-style wing with a wooden gallery on the second floor and a corner tower is located.

The Holy Assumption Church was built in the village of Kotlovyna in 1938.

Construction began in 1914, but was stopped a year later due to the outbreak of World War I. After the war, the area came under Romanian rule, but the construction of the church was continued and it was officially opened in 1938.

In 1944, the church was closed by the Soviet authorities. Divine services resumed after Ukraine gained independence.

The Holy Assumption Church in Kotlovyna is the only church in Ukraine where part of the church services are held in the Gagauz language.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in Izmail is the main temple of the city.

It was built in the center of Izmail in 1820-1831, during the heyday of urban planning, in the house of an old wooden temple from Turkish times. The cathedral in the style of classicism was built according to the project of the architect Avraam Melnykov, professor of architecture and rector of the Moscow Academy of Arts (according to another version - Heorhiy Torichelli).

At first it was a simple one-domed temple. Next to it in 1848, a 65-meter three-tier bell tower was built, the bells for which were cast from the metal of captured Turkish cannons. A little later, the bell tower was connected to the cathedral by a covered gallery, and above it was built the upper temple of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The distinct oval colonnade was built in 1837. As a result, the form of the Holy Intercession Cathedral began to vaguely resemble the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The interior was painted in the Art Nouveau style by the artist Pavlo Piskarev, a student of Viktor Vasnetsov.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a clock with a battle was installed on the belfry, which is still going on.

The Holy Intercession Cathedral in Kiliia was built in 1822-1836 according to the project of the architect Abraham Melnikov.

In 1895, a bell tower was added to the new cathedral.

Local residents call the church a "Ukrainian church" as opposed to Old Believer churches.

The Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Kiliia is the largest Old Believer church in Odesa region.

The first Old Believer Intercession Church in Kiliia was built in 1846 from adobe (clay bricks mixed with straw, dried in the sun). The Old Believer district of Kiliia was formed around the church.

In 1912-1916, a new one was built around the adobe church - the old one was dismantled and taken out through the door. Great help in the construction of the Old Believer Cathedral was provided by Jewish merchants - a feature of multinational Kiliia.

In 1929-1930, a new 51-meter bell tower was built. The fence around the temple yard was built already in Soviet times - in 1953-1954.

The Izmail Art Gallery presents a collection of modern Ukrainian and foreign art, an exposition of decorative and applied art, sections of Ukrainian and Western European art of the 16th-19th centuries, works of icon painting, art of the peoples of the East.

Painting, graphics, sculpture are presented. A portrait of Generalissimo Oleksandr Suvorov painted by an unknown 19th-century master, engravings with portraits of Hryhori Potomkin, Kostyantyn Vorontsov, Fedir Tolstoy, graphic sheets of itinerant artists Ivan Shyshkin, Illya Repin, and Volodymyr Makovsky are on display. The painting "Bay" by the celebrated mariner Rufin Sudkovskyi is presented.

Among the pearls of the museum collection is a vase by the famous French master Emile Halle.

The remains of the Turkish fortress of Izmail, taken in 1790 by Russian troops and Black Sea Cossacks under the command of Oleksandr Suvorov, have been preserved on the high bank of the Danube in the western part of present-day Izmail.

The fortress was mostly earthen, with brick retaining walls and three stone bastions on the Danube side. The plan to storm Izmail, approved by Suvorov, was drawn up by the commander of the Black Sea rowing flotilla, Yosyp de Rybas. He also led the largest assault column of Cossacks, attacking the fortress from the river. The battle lasted more than 16 hours. The Turks were defeated, losing 29,000 killed, while the losses of the Russians amounted to 4,000 killed. Mikhaylo Kutuzov was appointed commandant of conquered Izmail.

After the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, under the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty, Izmail Fortress was blown up, the fortifications demolished. Now from the side of Sudnoremontnykiv Street you can see fragments of earthen ramparts and a grand defensive moat up to 11 meters deep, as well as one fragment of the retaining wall consisting of plinths. The park on the banks of the Danube preserves the remains of a moat and an embankment, the Kiliia Gate of Saint Nicholas Monastery, the Church of the Assumption (1643-1841), the Church of Saint Nicholas (1644-1852), and the Small Mosque (XVI century), which exhibits diorama "Siege of Izmail Fortress". The Eagle monument has been erected in the military cemetery.

In 1991, the Izmail Memorial Park-Museum "Fortress" was established, whose staff conducts tours of the fortress.

The administration of the park-museum and the exposition on the history of the Izmail fortress are located in the city center (51 Nezalezhnosti Avenue).