Attractions of Ochakiv

The National Nature Park "Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav" (Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava) protects the protected nature of the Kinburn spit, as well as the adjacent water areas of the Dnipro-Buh estuary and the Yahorlytsky Bay.

The Slavs called the sand spits at the mouth of the Dnipro the Ivory Coast. It was here during the return from the Bulgarian campaign (972) that Prince Svyatoslav the Brave of Kyiv and Novhorod spent the winter with his wife.

The special microclimate here is due to the fact that on one side the Kinburn spit is washed by sea water, on the other by Dnipro water, and the land is covered with pine forest and various herbs (more than 620 species). We managed to preserve one of the largest areas of wild orchids in Europe, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine - 60 hectares (bloom in May). Volyzhyn forest (203 hectares) is more than 40 species of ancient shrubs, alder and aspen groves, mighty 300-year-old oaks.

Kinburn has about 150 lakes, some with healing mud. About 50 species of animals live on the peninsula: raccoon dog, spotted deer, fox, beaver. Large turtles live with a shell diameter of 40 centimeters.

Russian-Ukrainian war

The National Nature Park "Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav" is mostly located on the Kinburn Peninsula, which has been occupied by the Russians since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Russians are shelling the town of Ochakiv from the occupied Kinburn Peninsula. In addition, only in the first year of the full-scale invasion of the peninsula, 131 fires occurred due to the actions of the Russian occupiers. The fire affected more than 5 thousand hectares of the park. Two employees of the park were in Russian captivity as of March 2023.

Berezan is a small island at the entrance to the Dnipro estuary, described by Pushkin in "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" as Buyan (in Slavic mythology - a fairy-tale paradise island).

At the end of the 7th century BC (it was a peninsula before the sea level rose), the first ancient settlement of Borysthenes or Borysphenida, founded by natives of the Ionian city of Miletus, appeared here in the Northern Black Sea region. Later, it was a stronghold of the ancient Rus on the way "From the Varangians to the Greeks".

Remains of the Turkish fortification of the 18th century, reinforced concrete fortifications from 1910, batteries from the Second World War, a chapel and a monument at the place of the shooting of Lieutenant Schmidt (1906) have been preserved.

Berezan Island is part of the Olbia National Reserve. Visiting is limited - archaeological research is underway. Excursions are organized in Ochakiv.

The monument to Brigadier Ivan Horych is the most unusual in Ochakiv. An eagle with spread wings sits on top of a pyramid of 30 cannonballs.

During the assault on Ochakiv by Russian troops and Black Sea Cossacks, Horych commanded the 6th column, which was tasked with directly attacking the fortress. At the head of the column, the brigadier was one of the first to climb the fortress wall and heroically died in battle.

The monument to Horych was installed in the square at the intersection of Schmidt and Lotsmanska Streets. Authors: sculptor Yuriy Makushyn and architect Oleksiy Rudenko.

The Ochakiv Museum of Marine Painting is named after the artist Rufin Sudkovsky, who was born in Ochakiv in 1850. The main direction of his creativity was seascapes, the subjects for which he found on the coasts of Ochakiv and Odesa. The museum exhibits many of Sudkovsky's works. The artist's grave is located on the territory of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral.

The Rufin Sudkovsky Museum in Ochakiv is the only museum in Ukraine dedicated to marine painting, a type of fine art depicting the sea. The museum is a territorially separate department of the Vasyl Vereshchahin Mykolaiv Regional Art Museum.

The basis of the museum's collection is paintings by famous Ukrainian marine painters of the 19th century, Rufin Sudkovsky, Oleksiy Hanzen, Ivan Ayvazovsky, as well as paintings by Tatyana Yablonska. The subjects of the paintings are closely related to the cultural context of the region - they recreate Ukrainian landscapes of the Black Sea coast, the sea elements, the life of sea fishermen, military battles and historical milestones in the development of Ukraine as a naval state.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city of Ochakiv has been under constant enemy fire. As a result of shelling by the Russian army, the building of the Rufin Sudkovsky Museum of Marine Painting suffered significant damage, forcing the museum to close its doors to visitors. The museum's collection has been evacuated to a safe place, and the process of digitizing it is ongoing.

The Ochakiv Military History Museum was opened in 1972 in the former building of a Turkish mosque (now Saint Nicholas Cathedral).

Later, the museum was moved to an administrative building in the center of Ochakiv.

The museum's exposition is located in three halls and has about two thousand exhibits that highlight the history of the region from post-Soviet settlements to the events of World War II. The first section of the exposition is dedicated to the development of the Black Sea steppes by the Eastern Slavs of Kyivan Rus in the 9th-10th centuries and the presence of part of the lands of the Northern Black Sea region as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The second section is dedicated to the Turkish-Tatar rule in the Northern Black Sea region in the 15th-17th centuries, the foundation of the Ochakiv fortress and the Kinburn fortification, and is accompanied by objects found during the Ukrainian-Turkish archaeological expeditions of 1997-1998 (coins of the Tatar Khanate, jewelry, details of military equipment, etc.).

The third section of the exhibition tells about the campaigns of the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks under the walls of the Ochakiv fortress: about Dmytro (Bayda) Vyshnevetsky, who in 1556 rescued many slaves from the fortress; about Petro Konashevych-Sahaydachny, who became famous for his sea campaigns against the Turks; about Ivan Sirko, who in 1669 carried out a very successful military maneuver, freeing Orthodox prisoners from the Ochakiv fortress. The attention of visitors is always attracted by the collection of pipes, a cooking cauldron, weapon samples, a model of a Cossack seagull by Roman Dohar. In addition, the exhibition highlights the struggle between Russia and Turkey for the Black Sea coast. This part of the exhibition is accompanied by paintings, engravings, dioramas, firearms and cold weapons, awards, trophy banners, coins, Turkish seals, etc.

The last section of the exhibition highlights the events of World War II.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city of Ochakiv has been under constant enemy fire. As a result of shelling by the Russian army, the Military History Museum building suffered significant damage, forcing the museum to close its doors to visitors.

The building of the Officers' Assembly in Ochakiv was built in the middle of the 19th century in the style of classicism.

In 1906, the trial of Lieutenant Petro Schmidt and other participants in the mutiny on the cruiser "Ochakiv" took place in this building.

The Schmidt monument is located opposite the Officers' Assembly. On the pedestal is carved the text of the signal raised over "Ochakiv" after the beginning of the uprising on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet: "I command the fleet. Schmidt."

In Soviet times, the former building of the Officers' Assembly housed the House of Fleet Officers and an art gallery. The building is currently in a state of disrepair.

The former Turkish mosque is the only Ochakiv building preserved from Turkish times.

It is located on the ramparts of the Ochakiv (Achi-Kale) fortress, which was taken by Russian troops and Black Sea Cossacks in 1788 after the defeat of the Turkish squadron by the Russian-Zaporozhzhian fleet and the troops of Oleksandr Suvorov.

After the capture of the city in 1794, the mosque was transformed into the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Initially, a wooden dome was built, and in 1804-1807, a major reconstruction was carried out: a stone altar, vestibule and porch were added, and the stone minaret was transformed into a belfry.

In Soviet times, the Suvorov Military History Museum was located here. Currently, the building has been handed over to the church again and the Ochakiv Saint Nicholas Cathedral is located here again, restoration is in progress.

Marine artist Rufin Sudkovskyi and Ochakiv commandant Orest Shchetynin are buried in the church circle.

The monument to Suvorov in Ochakiv was erected in 1907.

Commander Oleksandr Suvorov played a decisive role in the capture by the Russian Empire of the Turkish fortress Ochakiv and the entire Northern Black Sea region. In 1787, during the Battle of Kinburn, Suvorov's troops managed to repulse the attack of the Turkish landing force and hold the Kinburn fortress on the spit opposite Ochakiv. The following year, the Kinburn fortress became the base for the assault on Ochakiv by the Russian troops of Hryhoriy Potomkin and the Black Sea Cossacks of Antin Holovatyi. Suvorov's coastal batteries supported the actions of the Russian squadron under the command of Prince Nassau-Siegen and the Cossack flotilla of Ataman Sidor Belyi, which partially destroyed and partially pushed back the Turkish fleet of Hassan Pasha from Ochakiv.

The opening of the monument to Suvorov in Ochakiv was dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the Battle of Kinburn. Sculptor Borys Eduards depicted Suvorov at the moment when the commander, having been wounded in the chest, nevertheless continued to command the troops.

The monument is located in the square near the Saint Nicholas Cathedral.