Attractions of Kharkiv region

The Central park of culture and recreation in Kharkiv was laid out in 1893-1895 and inaugurated two years later, when the trees had grown a little.

At first it was called Mykolayivsky or Zamisky park. The area is about 130 hectares. Now it is one of the main centers of recreation and entertainment, mass celebrations and folk festivities take place here. On the territory there is an amusement park, the "Park" cinema, the "Mala Pivdenna" children's railway, a cable car, tennis courts, etc.

In 2006, for the Day of the City of Kharkiv, the colonnade in front of the entrance was restored on the side of Sumska Street. The central fountain were also restored.

In 2012, a renewed amusement park was opened, including a "roller coaster" and a Ferris wheel, which are most popular with visitors. Many original bronze sculptures symbolizing each recreation area appeared on the alleys.

During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Central park of culture and recreation in Kharkiv was repeatedly targeted by Russian artillery. As of the beginning of February 2023, during the Russian-Ukrainian war, there were about 70 hits from rocket launchers and two missile strikes on the territory of Park. About 20 attractions, park alleys, lawns, sculptures, and trees were damaged as a result of shelling.

The sculpture "Fiddler on Roof" was installed on the building of the Kharkiv Conservatory - an architectural monument of the 19th century.

The author of the composition is Seyfaddin Hurbanov. The prototype of "Fiddler" was the famous violist Yuriy Bashmet, but the image is considered collective, and the monument is dedicated to all Kharkiv artists, artists and musicians - people of creative professions.

"Fiddler on the Roof" became a symbol of the "People's Recognition" award - the "Kharkiv Oscar", which is awarded every year in the nominations "Music", "Fine Art", "Literature", "Theatre" and "Architecture".

In 2017, the monument was moved to the roof of the Platinum Plaza building.

Cossack Kharko (Kharyton) is the mythical founder of the city of Kharkiv, about whom several urban legends have been compiled.

According to the "Topographical description of the Kharkiv governorship" (1785), "...if we believe the rumor, one of the wealthy Ukrainians established a farm in this place, but who he was, where and when, there is no information about it, by the name of Kharyton, and according to the colloquialism, Kharko, from which this city and the river supposedly got their title."

The monument to the Founders of Kharkiv in honor of the city's 350th anniversary was opened in 2004 at the beginning of Nauky Avenue. Presented to the city by the famous sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. This is the first equestrian monument in the history of the city. It is a 12-ton bronze sculpture of a horseman, the Cossack Kharko. In his hand he holds a spear, a shield, behind his shoulders is a bow and a quiver of arrows. The height of the sculpture is 6 meters, the pedestal is 7 meters.

Kremenets Mountain is a geological monument of nature, the historical core of the city of Izium, the highest point of the Kharkiv region (218 meters above sea level).

The place where the Siverskyi Donets River bends over a huge ledge of Upper Miocene and Jurassic rocks has long served as a natural fortification for the people who lived here. Stone statues gathered on the outskirts are installed on the mountain slope. According to an ancient legend, the tribes living in the steppe worshiped the sun god, but they angered him and were turned into stone. Dated to the middle of the 12th century, they give an idea of the physical appearance of the nomads, their clothes, jewelry and weapons.

The rampart and moat of the Izium Fortress, built in 1681 to protect the southern borders of Russia from raids by the Crimean Tatars, have been preserved on the heights. The fortress was one of the most powerful fortifications of that time and became the foundation of the city.

Other monuments remind of the events of the 20th century - the Soviet-Ukrainian and Second World Wars. In 1985, a magnificent memorial complex was built. Military equipment from the period of the Second World War is on display: the legendary "Katyusha", T-34 and KV tanks, self-propelled artillery installations and others.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during the battles for Izium, the Russian army repeatedly fired at Mount Kremenets. As a result of these shellings, the "Attack" memorial, dedicated to those who died in the Second World War, was destroyed, and one of the nine Polovtsian women (dating from the 9th to 13th centuries) was destroyed.

Nataliyivka Park is a masterpiece of garden and park architecture of the 19th century.

The estate on the bank of the Merchyk River was founded by the famous industrialist and philanthropist Ivan Kharytonenko, naming it in honor of his youngest granddaughter Nataliya (married Horchakova). Construction was continued by his son Pavlo.

A manor house, outbuildings, outbuildings, and a playpen were built among the ancient timber (some trees are up to 300 years old). The park was surrounded by an elegant fence with a front gate in the form of a wide arch with a pointed roof.

The decoration of the estate is the Transfiguration Church (1913), built by the academician of architecture Oleksiy Shchusev, who designed the Lenin Mausoleum and the Kazan railway station in Moscow. The temple is made in the style of Pskov-Novhorod Orthodox architecture. The walls are decorated with ornaments and relief medallions by the sculptor Oleksandr Matvyeyev, the sculpture "Crucifixion" by Serhiy Konenkov is located near the southern wall. According to legend, an exact copy of the Transfiguration Church is located in Nice, but in fact Shchusev designed a similar church in Bari, Italy.

During the Second World War, the main building of Nataliyivka Estate was destroyed. Tuberculosis sanatorium "Volodymyrivskyi" was located in the outbuildings. Partial restoration has been carried out in recent years.

Currently, one of the buildings of the manor is in the care of the National Nature Park "Slobozhansky", repair work is underway, the creation of a visitor center and a museum of ecological and nature conservation orientation is planned.

Sharivka Palace and Park Complex, known as "Koenig Castle", is one of the best aristocratic estates of Slobozhanshchyna, a monument of cultural heritage of national importance.

Retired second major Sava Olkhovsky (according to other sources, his son, court councilor Petro Olkhovsky) slaughtered the manor house in Sharivka on the banks of the Merchyk River in 1836, building a manor house and breaking up a large park on the slope of a two-kilometer beam. Later, the estate in Sharivka passed to the Goebenstein brothers, who enriched the park with many exotic plants, built a church and a school.

At the end of the 19th century, the new owner, a German sugar confectioner Leopold Koenig, overhauled the Sharivka Palace, giving it a neo-Gothic feature with Renaissance elements. Two stylized defensive towers give the building the look of a medieval castle. The main entrance is made in the same style: a gate with fortress teeth, a guard house with arrow windows, a pointed watchtower.

Sharivka Park was reconstructed by the famous park builder Georg Kufaldt, who decorated it with terraces, stairs, a swimming pool, fountains and a stone bridge. The main element of the park was a wide lime alley.

From 1925 until recently, the estate housed a tuberculosis sanatorium, visits were limited.

Currently, it is the Palace and Park Complex "Sadyba" run by the regional utility company "Znakhidka". In recent years, some restoration and conservation work has been carried out. The rich interiors of the two-story Library with a balcony and massive cabinets, the Blue Hall with a painted ceiling and choirs for the orchestra, some other rooms with coffered ceilings, marble fireplaces, tiled stoves, stucco and paintings have been preserved.

Entrance to the territory is paid, excursions are conducted.

The monument to Taras Shevchenko in Kharkiv is considered the best of all the existing monuments to the poet.

The project was developed by the sculptor Matviy Manizer. According to the author's plan, the multi-figure sculptural group personifies the struggle of the people for freedom sung by Kobzar. Actors of Kharkiv theater "Berezil" posed for the sculptor.

The grand opening took place on March 24, 1935. At that time, it was the largest bronze composition in the USSR (total height - 16 meters, height of the poet's figure - 5.5 meters).

Some student traditions of students of Kharkiv University are connected with the monument.

The palace in Staryi Merchyk was built in 1786-1788 by the active state councilor Hryhoriy Shydlovsky, a representative of one of the noblest noble families of the Kharkiv region.

On the site of a somewhat modest parental home, he built a magnificent palace in the style of Louis XVI. Presumably, the project was developed by Kharkiv provincial architect Petro Yaroslavskyi (according to other versions - Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli or Vasyl Bazhenov).

The complex belongs to the earliest architectural monuments of the transition from baroque to classicism. A large two-story building on a high plinth, oval in plan, with one facade facing the courtyard with stone wings, and the other facing the parterre with stairs leading to the shore of the pond. The palace had several drawing rooms and a magnificent ballroom decorated with moldings.

The manor park was laid out in 1724, then expanded. Its landscape was formed by age-old trees, ponds, green lawns, gazebos and bridges. Oak, maple, ash, linden grow. There are also silver and Canadian spruce, and a straight-coniferous pine. A total of about 30 species and forms of trees.

The decline of the estate began after Shyldovsky sold it to Count Orlov-Denisov. In the second half of the 19th century, the new owner, entrepreneur Yevhen Dukhivskyi, cared more about the development of the economy.

In the 1920s, an agricultural school was located in the manor, and the palace was seriously re-planned. Since 1997, the palace has remained ownerless.

Krasnokutsk Arboretum is one of the oldest arboreal parks of Ukraine.

It was founded in 1809 (according to other sources, in 1793) by the biologist Ivan Karazin, brother of the founder of Kharkiv University Vasyl Karazin, in their family estate. The father of the Karazin brothers, Nazar Karazin, a colonel in the Russian army, received these lands from Catherine II. His son Ivan Nazarovych carried out reclamation works on the outskirts of the former military settlement, on the site of the Cossack Peter and Paul Monastery (1664), and established an arboretum here.

While traveling the world, he collected many seedlings and seeds of rare plants, which he then acclimatized. Among them: ginkgo, Canadian poplar, western sycamore, Lowa fir, Weymouth pine, Japanese quince, black walnut and others.

Currently, the Krasnokutsk Arboretum is part of the Krasnokutsk Research Station of Horticulture, free entry. The caves of the Peter and Paul Monastery have been preserved on the territory.

Kharkiv Jungle Aqua Park is a large modern indoor water park, the interior of which is stylized as the jungle of South America.

There are 7 swimming pools (including sports, wave, circular, hydromassage, jacuzzi) with 11 water attractions on 11,000 square meters of space, of which 4,000 square meters are occupied by the water entertainment area.

Water slides are distinguished by the profile of the chutes and the steepness of the curves. Super-attractions: the "Space Hole" centrifugal slide (54-meter spiral) and the "Black Hole" slide (16-meter rapid descent).

The temperature regime is maintained throughout the year in the range of 30-33 degrees with 65-70% humidity.

The complex also includes a hotel, restaurant, bars, sauna and massage, solarium, billiards, shooting range.

The Museum of the History of the Resort "Berezivske Mineral Waters" is located in the center of the village of Berezivske, on the left bank of the Uda River, in an old two-story wooden summer house.

The museum's exposition tells the story of the founding and development of the resort and sanatorium "Berezivske Mineral Waters" (Berminvody), introduces the features of using the water of local healing mineral springs, etc. The museum's collection includes household items from the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, vintage clothing, unique photographs, documents and letters.

The "Hyivka" estate on the south-eastern outskirts of Liubotyn was founded in 1802 by retired major Yona Poznanskyi, who bought this land from ensign Mykola Shcherbinin.

The "Hyivka" estate was created in the 1820s - 1870s. All elements of the estate were located along a single axis connecting the palace, the pond and the church. This technique creates picturesque perspectives. The main axis was emphasized by linden alleys oriented to the side entrances to the palace and a wooden bridge over the pond. There was a landscape park in the northern part.

The palace, service building, church, and a number of farm buildings have been preserved. The palace building with elongated proportions in a style combining elements of classicism, Romanesque and Gothic styles, single-story in the central part with two-story risalites, had pointed windows. In the garden there was a five-room outbuilding built in the 1820s in the style of classicism with columns and a dome.

In 1881, the "Hyivka" estate was purchased by the Governor-General of the Kharkiv Province, Prince Dmytro Svyatopolk-Mirskyi, a hero of the Crimean War. Svyatopolk-Mirski turned out to be the last owners of the estate.

After 1917, the "Hyivka" estate was nationalized, an orphanage was placed there, and then a boarding school. Currently, the building is dilapidated. The manor park has fallen into disrepair, but here you can still see a cascade of lakes, a linden avenue and ancient oaks. Tombstones on the graves of princes Svyatopolk-Mirsky have been preserved.

The regional landscape park "Pechenizke Pole" was created in 1990 on the shore of the Pechenihy Reservoir, on the border of the steppe and forest-steppe.

Its area is about 4.5 thousand hectares. On the territory of the park there is an untouched area of ​​the Ukrainian meadow-steppe, where many rare plants grow, including those listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. There is an agricultural farm here, which restores the population of bustards - rare steppe birds, which, like ostriches, do not fly, but move by running on the ground. The park is also home to baboons and other rare animals.

The territory of the landscape park "Pechenizke Pole" stretches along the streams of Hnyluska and Sulymiv Yar, leading to the Pechenihy Reservoir.

The regional art gallery "Art of Slobozhanshchyna" was founded in 1999. The gallery's exhibition halls are located in the center of Kharkiv, on Svobody Square, on the first floor of the 4th entrance of the Derzhprom Building.

The gallery's exposition is updated every two weeks and presents works of various artistic directions - painting, graphics, photography, decorative and applied arts, sculpture, etc.

The gallery also hosts creative meetings with artists, concerts, poetry evenings, seminars and much more.

The church in honor of the 2000th anniversary of Nativity of Christ and in the name of Reverend Serhiy Radonezhsky was founded in Kharkiv in 1998.

A year later, the lower church of Saint Serhiy of Radonezhsky was consecrated, and in 2001 the Church of the Nativity of Christ was completely completed.

In 2007, the icons and paintings of the upper temple were consecrated. On the white walls appeared a wonderful color painting and rich interior decoration. Numerous frescoes tell about the main stages of the Savior's life - from birth to martyrdom on the cross and subsequent resurrection. For better safety, the painting is covered with a layer of wax, which gives it the appearance of "smelt".

Unique stained-glass windows, reaching an area of 85 square meters. They are made in Kharkiv according to the classic technology: from pieces of colored glass, fastened with metal partitions of a special profile.