Attractions of Kharkiv district

The Kharkiv city dolphinarium "Nemo" opened in the garden named after Taras Shevchenko in 2009 for Children's Day.

Theatrical performances with the participation of marine animals take place here, as well as dolphin therapy sessions, which are an effective method of improving and rehabilitating children with functional limitations. 4 dolphins, 3 fur seals and 1 sea lion participate in the performances. Visitors are also offered swimming with dolphins.

The Dolphinarium Nemo in Kharkiv works in any weather, all viewing points are under a canopy.

The Donets Hillfort is located on the right bank of the Uda River on the northern outskirts of Pokotylivka near Kharkiv.

The ancient Rus fortress-city of Donets is mentioned in the "Ipatiev Annals" and the "Words about Ihor's Campaign" as the first Rus city reached by Prince Ihor Svyatoslavych, returning from Polovtsian captivity after an unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsy.

Donets was a border town and trade center of Ancient Rus, it was inhabited by artisans and herders. The city ceased to exist after the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Powerful earthen ramparts of the Donets hillfort of a triangular shape with sides from 200 to 400 meters have been preserved, as well as several semi-underground dwellings. Archaeological excavations are regularly conducted here, as a result of which many interesting finds have already been made.

A wonderful view of the Uda Valley opens from the ramparts of the Donets hillfort.

The Museum of Famous Kharkiv Residents named after Klavdia Shulzhenko was founded in 1996 on the initiative of the singer's relative Borys Ahafonov on the basis of the apartment in which Klavdia Shulzhenko lived from 1959 to 1974. The museum building is a monument of 20th century architecture.

The museum collection was assembled with the participation of the singer's son Ihor Kemper-Shulzhenko. In one of the rooms, the interior of Klavdia Shulzhenko's house is recreated - here you can see the singer's personal belongings, furniture, and dishes. The exhibits in the other three halls tell about the life and creative path of the pop legend. On display are editions of Klavdia Shulzhenko's works, manuscripts, sheet music, letters, concert programs, posters, numerous rare photographs from the family album, personal memorial items, and concert dresses in which the artist performed.

The museum's exposition includes special thematic exhibitions dedicated to the life and work of Leonid Bykov, Iryna Buhrymova, Liudmyla Hurchenko, Isaak Dunaievsky, Anatolii Efros, Volodymyr Krainiev, Les Kurbas, Yevhenia Miroshnychenko, Vadym Mulerman, Natalia Fateyeva and many others who make up the fame of Kharkiv's artistic figures.

A branch of the Famous Kharkiv Residents Museum named after Klavdiya Shulzhenko is the Hryzodubov Family Memorial Museum-Apartment.

An open-air Fantasy Park was opened in Kharkiv in 2021.

The park of light sculptures is located in a public garden near the Kharkiv Municipal Cultural Center, the former Metallist House of Culture.

Art installations and figures of fantastic heroes are installed on park alleys and lawns. In the evening, the figures are illuminated and come to life with the help of projection technologies. A stage has been set up in the park, a large playground has been equipped, a fountain has been reconstructed, pedestrian paths have been laid, and recreation areas with benches have been landscaped.

It is assumed that young sculptors, designers, lighting designers, architects, musicians and artists will be able to embody their creative ideas on the territory of the creative space of the Kharkiv Fantasy Park.

The Museum of Folk Art of Slobozhanshchyna was founded in Kharkiv in 1991. The museum is located in the building of the former Sunday school of the prominent Ukrainian writer and public figure Khrystyna Alchevska, which was built according to the design of architect Oleksii Beketov at the end of the 19th century.

The museum collection includes about 2 thousand exhibits that reflect the history and main directions of folk art of the region. These are samples of ancient folk art and works of modern masters: embroidery, folk painting, pottery, carving and folk decorative painting. In addition to products made of clay, straw, vine, wood, beads, the museum presents non-traditional types of folk art for Slobozhanshchyna - miniatures on birch bark and works made of modeled colored glass.

The Museum of Folk Art of Slobozhanshchyna is a department of the Kharkiv Art Museum.

The largest memorial complex in Kharkiv was opened on the northern outskirts of the city in 1977 in honor of Kharkiv residents who died during the Second World War.

Sculptors Vasyl Ahibalov, Yakiv Ryk, Mykhaylo Ovsyankin, artist Serhiy Svitlorukov, architects Ihor Alforov, Anatoliy Maksymenko, Yerik Cherkasov.

Visitors are greeted by two walls with flags and inscriptions on the reverse side. The forest alley leads to the tall sculpture "Motherland", at the foot of which an eternal flame burns. On the left is a wall with bas-reliefs depicting various episodes of the city's defense. A few years ago, a wooden cross surrounded by flower beds was installed on the square.

The Henrikh Semyradsky Art Gallery opened in Kharkiv in 2015 to commemorate the birthday of the famous Polish artist, graduate of the Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv University, Henrikh Semyradsky, and was named after him. It is located in the northern building of the university.

The gallery organizes and holds art exhibitions to showcase domestic and international projects in the field of culture and art, and promotes communication between artists, critics, art historians, curators, and the public. Here you can see not only paintings by recognized artists and young authors in various styles and genres, but also the best examples of decorative and applied arts, photographs, musical instruments of the peoples of the world, pottery, embroidery, etc.

The Museum of History and Railway Technology of the Kharkiv Railway (formerly the Southern Railway) was founded in 1967 and completely reconstructed in 2014 for the 140th anniversary of the Kharkiv Railway.

It is located in a reconstructed warehouse building of the 1950s. Three main expositions are presented: "Green Hall" (the pre-revolutionary period of the construction and establishment of the Kursk-Kharkiv-Azov road), "Red Hall" (the Soviet period of the development of the Southern Railway (now Kharkiv Railway)) and "Blue Hall" (the history of development during the independent of Ukraine).

The museum has collected many ancient and rare exhibits, unique documents and photographs, models of rolling stock.

The layout of the route of the high-speed "Capital Express Kharkiv - Kyiv" is presented, which accurately reproduces not only the train itself, but also the railway section with copies of the buildings of the stations of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava-Kyivska and Myrhorod. The model features an automatic centralization system with traffic lights, turn signals and a level crossing, and the train departs and makes stops to music and announcers.

Old steam locomotives and other retro equipment are presented on the outdoor area.

The Museum of the History of Ambulance is located in the building of the Ambulance Station, built in 1914 in the Ukrainian Art Nouveau style. Mykola Molokhov was appointed as the senior doctor even before the station was established. He organized the work of the station, equipped it and was its permanent manager until his death. In the hall of the central dispatch room, Molokhov created a museum, which housed ten glass cabinets with anatomical specimens, weapons (knives, bullets), and poisons used by suicides. After the death of Mykola Molokhov in 1956, all the exhibits of the museum disappeared.

In 2000, at the initiative of the medical service workers, the Museum of the History of Ambulance was recreated in the premises of the Kharkiv Ambulance and Emergency Medical Service Department, where the dispatch service is located. In 2004, on the eve of the anniversary of the establishment of the ambulance service in Kharkiv, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the facade of the building in honor of Mykola Molokhov, the man whose efforts led to the establishment of this service a century ago.

The Museum of History of the Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University is one of the first university museums in Ukraine.

Founded in 1972. Located on the second floor of the main building of KhNU. The museum has about 19,000 exhibits.

The exposition consists of four sections, covering the entire bicentennial of Kharkiv University from its founding in 1804 to activities in the conditions of independent Ukraine. In particular, materials related to the life and work of the founder of Kharkiv University Vasyl Karazin, the first professors and students are presented.

Special attention is drawn to the unique exhibits - the diploma of music teacher Ivan Vitkovsky, who was a student of Joseph Haydn, with the first seal of the university, as well as invitations to university holidays in the early nineteenth century.

The Hnat Khotkevych Museum was opened in Vysokyi in 1995 in the house where the famous writer, historian and art critic spent the last 9 years of his life. This estate was one of the informal cultural centers of the Slobozhanshchyna region. After Khotkevych was arrested by the NKVD and executed in 1938, the house was confiscated by the Soviet authorities.

The creation of the museum was initiated by the artist's daughter and wife - Halyna and Platonida Khotkevych, who in 1988 came to Kharkiv after many years of emigration. They managed to buy several rooms of the house from the new owners and open a memorial room-museum of Hnat Khotkevych on an area of ​​50 square meters. At the same time, the entire territory of the Khotkevych estate was included in the state register of historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine. Since 2005, the room-museum of Hnat Khotkevych has been a branch of the Kharkiv Literary Museum.

The museum's exposition recreates the image of the writer, historian, and art critic. It presents rare documents, manuscripts, letters, photographs, books, concert posters, musical instruments, sheet music, lifetime editions of Khotkevych's books, and translations of works by European authors into Ukrainian. The permanent exhibition "Hnat Khotkevych - Artist" presents a cycle of his paintings created in 1908-1909 in the Hutsul region.

It is planned to reconstruct the Khotkevych estate to restore it to its original appearance.

The Church of the Annunciation of the Ozeryanska Icon of the Mother of God was founded in 1892 on the former outskirts of Kharkiv. Since 1874, there was a chapel at this place, where prayers were served during processions with the Ozeryanska Icon of the Mother of God (Hodigitria).

The new majestic Holy Ozeryanska Church designed by Volodymyr Nemkin was made of red unplastered brick in the eclectic forms of the Byzantine-Rus style. The facades of the building are full of architectural details borrowed from ancient Rus cult architecture. A slender four-tiered belfry with a height of about 40 meters is connected to the western vestibule.

In 1938, the temple was closed by the Soviet authorities, the episcopal chair was transferred to the Kazanska Church on Lysa Hill. Services in the Holy Ozeryanska Church in Kharkiv resumed in 1942.

The Holy Transfiguration Church in Nova Vodolaha was founded in 1821 on the site of an old wooden church that had existed since 1750. In 1830, thanks to the efforts of the parishioners, the construction was completed, and the next year the church was consecrated.

The Transfiguration Church is an example of post-classicism in architecture. It is surrounded by a massive stone fence with stylized towers and iron gates, which emphasizes the completeness of the structure and makes it look like a fortress.

In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks closed the temple and removed all objects made of gold, silver and ivory. Divine service resumed in 1943. There are many icons in the church, there are paintings by old masters of Nova Vodolaha, in particular the icon painter Borysenko. The most revered icon of Saint Ioasaf of Belhorod.

The memorial apartment museum of the Hryzodubov family is dedicated to the pioneer of Kharkiv aviation, pilot-aircraft designer Stepan Hryzodubov and his daughter - an outstanding pilot, world record holder Valentyna Hryzodubova. 

The Museum is a branch of the Famous Kharkiv Residents Museum.

The museum opened in 1970 in a three-room apartment, where from 1922 to 1965 the first Kharkiv aircraft designer Stepan Hryzodubov lived and his daughter, pilot Valentyna Hryzodubova, spent her youth. The museum's exposition presents almost 5,000 exhibits of the main fund, memorial items of the Hryzodubov family and personal belongings of other prominent people in aviation and cosmonautics, pilots, engineers, scientists.

The Memorial Museum-Apartment of the Hryzodubov Family is a branch of the Famous Kharkiv Residents Museum.

The Kharkiv Children's Railway "Mala Pivdenna" is located on the territory of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation and the Lisopark.

The first train passed through "Mala Pivdenna" of Kharkiv in 1940. The length of the road is 3.6 kilometers. Initially, two stations were built: "Park" and "Lisopark". To celebrate the anniversary of the road in 2000, the railway station, track management and other buildings were reconstructed. The "Memorial" platform was also built. Two diesel locomotives - TU2-054 and TU7A-3198 - and two trains with six passenger cars each are currently in operation.

It works from May to the end of October (only on weekends in May and September-October).

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

During the Russian full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops repeatedly shelled the children's railway in Kharkiv. The attacks damaged the railway's rolling stock and buildings. For security reasons, train service on the children's railway in Kharkiv was suspended for the duration of martial law.