Attractions of Kharkiv region

The Kharkiv Municipal Gallery began its activities in 1996 and became the first gallery of municipal status in Ukraine. The main direction of activity is work with contemporary Ukrainian artists.

In its exhibition policy, the gallery combines programs and exhibitions of masters of traditional painting, graphics, sculpture, photography with projects of contemporary art, new media. Artists of the gallery: Borys Mykhailov, Vitalii Kulikov, Viktor Hontariv, Serhii Bratkov, Viktor Sydorenko, Pavlo Makov, Vachahan Norazian, Eduard Yashyn, Oleksandr Ridnyi, Hanna Ivanova, Volodymyr Kochmar and many others, as well as a team of young authors: Alina Kleitman, Anton Tkachenko, Artem Volokitin, Vitalii Kokhan, Hamlet Zynkivskyi, Hanna Bykova, Konstiantyn Zorkin, Olena Poliashchenko, Olha Fedorova, Roman Minin.

The gallery has two exhibition spaces: the main hall (more than 100 square meters) and the ARTbasement (140 square meters), which specializes in youth and experimental art.

Kharkiv National University named after Vasyl Karazin is one of the oldest and largest universities in Eastern Europe.

It was founded in 1805 as Kharkiv Imperial University. The initiator was the outstanding scientist and educator Vasyl Karazin, whose name the higher educational institution bears today.

Count Severyn Potoski became the first trustee of the university, he formed the teaching staff. Initially, the university was located in the Governor General's house, later it was moved to new buildings on Svobody Maidan.

Over two centuries, Kharkiv University became the center of Ukrainian national cultural revival, played an important role in the development of modern Ukrainian science and culture, and turned Kharkiv into one of the leading intellectual centers of the country. Today, 15,000 students study at 20 faculties of Kharkiv National University.

The University includes the Botanical Garden, the Museum of Nature, the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, the University History Museum, "Landau Center", "Yermilov Center", Henrikh Semyradsky Art Gallery.

From the first days of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian forces bombarded Kharkiv. Karazin University, which is one of Kharkiv's landmarks, was no exception to Russian missiles and projectiles. Some of its hulls are badly damaged. By the beginning of 2023, 25% of the university buildings have been destroyed.

The State Museum of Nature of the Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University is one of the oldest museums in Europe. It was founded by Count Severyn Potocki in 1807, who in 1806 bought a collection of foreign objects collected by Professor Andre from the Hanoverian pharmacist Gruner, and in 1807 - the zoological collection of the Italian Cetti.

In 23 halls of the museum there are scientific expositions of four departments: geology, invertebrates and vertebrates, evolution of the organic world and nature conservation. The exhibits in the halls are demonstrated not only in the form of systematic collections, but also in the form of biogroups and spectacular dioramas equipped with audiovisual means, and are distinguished by high quality artistic design. The scientific funds of the museum store more than 250 thousand exhibits.

The Kharkiv Planetarium was opened in 1957 on the initiative of the prominent astronomer Mykola Barabashov.

The "Middle Zeiss" apparatus is installed in the hall, which allows, in addition to the starry sky, to demonstrate other celestial phenomena.

The museum of cosmonautics and ufology (the science of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations) works at the planetarium. Presented are four-meter figures of aliens, models of flying saucers made on the basis of eyewitness accounts, photographs of UFOs.

Kharkiv Zoo is the oldest in Ukraine. The Kharkiv Zoological Garden was founded in 1896, when an exhibition of domestic animals and birds was organized on an area of 2 hectares rented near the University Garden. Later, the exhibition was replenished with wild animals, which were delivered to Kharkiv by residents of the surrounding villages.

In 1906, the construction and equipment of the main building of the aquarium was completed. In 1911, the South Russian Acclimatization Society decided to set up a zoo in Kharkiv, which became the third largest zoo in the Russian Empire. At the expense of the Society, winter premises and summer enclosures were built, wild animals and birds were purchased, some of which came from the Askania-Nova reserve.

During the Soviet-Ukrainian war at the beginning of the 20th century, the zoo was destroyed. In 1921, it began to be restored, and within a year, the capital's (at that time) Kharkiv Zoo was again open to visitors. In 1928, a whole echelon of animals arrived from Germany, including a lion, leopard, llama, kangaroo, mongoose, monkey, parrot, white-cheeked kazakh and many others. Swans, pelicans and about a hundred other species of waterfowl were brought from Transcaucasia. A pond with an area of 2,400 square meters was built in the ravine for geese, swans, flamingos and other aquatic animals. In the 1930s, a "mountain enclosure" with artificial slides was built, where turus, gazelles, and mouflons lived in conditions closest to natural ones. An elephant house, a monkey house, an aviary, pens for ungulates were built.

During the Second World War, most of the animals died, the zoo was rebuilt on an almost empty site. A new aquarium, winter quarters for large animals, pools for fish and waterfowl were built, and tens of thousands of trees and shrubs were replanted. During the time of the reforms, there were problems with financing and feeding the animals, and their number decreased somewhat.

Now it is one of the most favorite leisure places of Kharkiv residents - adults and children.

The Konhresivsky Sugar Plant in Klynova-Novoselivka was built in 1905 by Count Mykola Kleynmikhel, the leader of the nobility of Bohoduhiv County.

The premises of the sugar factory manager's office (1914) have been preserved. In the 1990s, the interiors were destroyed, in particular, the twisted cast-iron staircase leading to the second floor to the manager's office. The building of the dormitory and library of the sugar factory (1916) has also been preserved.

On the opposite bank of the Sugar Pond, in the historical part of Klynova-Novoselivka village, you can see the former house of the factory manager (1 Tsentralna Street), a water pump, and an old park.

The Krasnopavlivka Museum of Local Lore was founded in 1967 on a non-profit basis in the premises of the House of Culture. In 1986, it opened in a new building - the office of the Krasnopavlivka Bakery. In 1991, it received the status of "People's Museum".

The museum's exposition introduces the history of the village's emergence and stages of development. The museum's funds include more than 5 thousand exhibits, including mammoth teeth and tusk found during the construction of the Dnipro-Donbas Canal, icons, church books from the 8th-19th centuries, an embroidered towel from 1868, a children's encyclopedia from 1815, etc. A diorama of the natural landscape of the forest-steppe has been created, and the interior of a peasant hut and courtyard from the late 8th - early 19th centuries has been recreated.

The Kupyansk branch of the Kharkiv Fire and Technical Exhibition was founded in 1993. The construction part of the complex was put into operation in 1998 by the 175th anniversary of the fire protection of the Kharkiv region.

The exhibition materials are placed in seven thematic halls that tell the history of fire protection and state fire supervision. For the inspection of visitors, full-scale samples of devices, devices, fire detectors, automatic fire extinguishing installations (water, gas, powder), fire-technical equipment, tools, technological automation devices, electric motors, lamps and starting electrical equipment of various protection methods, material evidence, incendiary air bombs, medals, diplomas, postage stamps on fire topics, fire-technical literature, posters and leaflets and other thematic materials are presented.

Kupyansk Museum of Local Lore is located in a building that was part of a complex of buildings destroyed during the Soviet era of the Intercession Cathedral (XIX century).

The museum was opened in 1972. Its funds number more than 1 thousand items. Here are stored historical documents and rare photographs, exhibited archaeological, ethnographic, numismatic collections that fully reflect the history of Kupyansk.

On April 25, 2023, the Russian occupiers launched a rocket attack on the center of Kupyansk and hit the building of the local lore museum with a S-300 missile. Two practitioners of the museum perished after the Russian attacks on the museum in Kupyansk.

Kyrychenko's Well , located near the Holy Ascension Cathedral, is one of the most picturesque corners of Izium.

Many wonderful stories are connected with the bathing chapel, located on the healing spring of the icon of the Pishchanska Mother of God.

Today, Kyrychenko's well is known far beyond the borders of Izium. Many people come to taste its healing water, tired tourists quench their thirst here, travelers stop to rest.

Humpy sands are the only semi-desert in the Kharkiv region (sometimes called the Kharkiv or Kytsivka desert).

Aeolian sand deposits, similar to dunes, arose on the site of a tank training ground near Chuhuiv, which was operated from the 1960s to the 1990s. The sandy hills are covered in places with moss, lichen, grass and shrubs.

A huge sandy area attracts extreme jeepers. Sometimes there are rusty shells.

The LandauCenter Educational Center of Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University was created in 2014 on the initiative of the university community and the Association of Alumni, Teachers and Friends of the University as the first exhibition space for interactive science and scientific discoveries in Kharkiv.

The LandauCenter exhibition hall is one large laboratory in which visitors can conduct experiments, work with devices and try themselves as scientists. Here you can try out an air cannon and fly a sailboat, discovering the laws of physics; think about creating sounds, playing the piano, in which you can "see music"; you can see the largest "Tesla transformer" in Eastern Europe, which gives discharges of up to half a million volts, "Jacob's ladder", "Ames room"; you can try on glasses to see the world as it is perceived by people with vision problems, as well as try to overcome obstacles and perform certain tasks in a wheelchair.

"LandauCenter" is a permanent exhibition of unique exhibits created by university scientists, as well as temporary exhibitions dedicated to a specific topic - physics, anatomy, optics, mathematics, etc. It hosts events in interesting botany and zoology, archeology, biomechanics, experimental chemistry and physics, geometry, astronomy, computer science, robotics, and even philology, psychology, ethnography, and local history.

The Liubotyn Museum of Local Lore was founded in the city of Liubotyn in the Kharkiv region in 1993 on the initiative of local historians. The museum is located in the premises of the central city library.

The museum's collections include over 8,000 exhibits, including a large numismatic collection, icons from the late 19th century, antique clothing, household items and tools from the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

The Museum of Local Lore named after Trokhym Sulima is located in the center of the village of Pechenihy in the historical building of the former Novo-Belhorod convict Central Prison for political prisoners.

The Novo-Belhorod convict Central Prison was built in Pechenihy (at that time - Novo-Belhorod) in 1854 and was part of the complex of buildings of the military settlement. At different times, well-known populists served their terms here: Oleksandr Dolhushyn, Ipolyt Myshkin, Yakiv Rybitsky, revolutionary worker Petro Aleksyeyev and others. The Ukrainian poet-revolutionary Pavlo Hrabovskyi was also imprisoned here. A cell with bunk beds and black-painted windows has been preserved.

The Pechenihy Museum of Local Lore was opened on March 26, 2002. The basis of the museum collection was the items from the former Public Historical Museum of the village of Pechenihy. The museum's funds include more than 3,300 objects, which are exhibited in 12 exhibition halls.

Of special value are the archaeological finds from the excavations of burial mounds of the catacomb culture of the III millennium BC and Neolithic settlements of the V-IV millennia BC.

Berestyn Museum of Local History named after Porfiry Martynovych is located in a historical building in the city center.

It bears the name of the founder - Ukrainian painter, folklorist, ethnographer Porfiry Martynovych.

Museum funds include 24,000 exhibits. In particular, the exposition tells about the construction of the Ukrainian fortified line and the Byelovska fortress, which started the history of Berestyn.

In the section devoted to the history of the gas industry of Ukraine, a model of a drilling tower, documents and photographs of drill rigs, rock samples are presented.