Attractions of Mykolaiv region

The children's town "Kazka" in Mykolaiv is called the Ukrainian "Disneyland". Each building of the cultural and game complex located in the center of the city is associated with some famous fairy tale or folklore character.

There used to be a city market on this place, and when it was moved in 1982, they decided to open a children's amusement park on the former place. First, a large concert pavilion with a golden rooster on the roof was opened, then a wooden fortress and a medieval stone castle were built, as well as a sea harbor with a sailboat "Buyan", which is a model of the first ship built in Mykolaiv. In addition, there are two lighthouses, a real steam locomotive, a carousel with a learned cat and a mermaid from Pushkin's fairy tales. Two new carousels of different types, a ferris wheel, and an autodrome have now been added.

The sundial is the central figure of the "Kazka" children's town.

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.

The complex of buildings of the Maritime Department (Admiralty) in Mykolaiv began to be created in 1788 during the construction of the Mykolaiv Shipyard.

The complex had a closed structure and was a small fortress. After the reconstruction carried out in the 1840s by order of Vice-Admiral Mykhaylo Lazarev, the Admiralty included a shipyard with a stone fence and main gate, a foundry and a rope factory, various workshops, three-story barracks in the classicist style, as well as a male gymnasium building, which now houses the Mykolaiv Construction College.

Most of the original buildings of the Mykolaiv Admiralty were destroyed during World War II. Nowadays, the admiralty refers to the main administrative building of the Shipyard (1951), which is distinguished by a tall spire. It plays a significant urban planning role, closing the wide and well-planted Sadova Street, serving as the compositional center of the square formed at its intersection with Admyralska Street. Only the foundations and the main gate to the right of the house with the spire remain of the old buildings.

On the night of April 27, 2023, during the large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia attacked Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles. One of the missiles hit the Admiralty building. As a result of the rocket attack, the right wing of the historical Admiralty building was destroyed and the left wing was significantly damaged.

The Aktove Canyon on the Mertvovod River, also known as the "Devil's Valley" or Little Crimea, stretches 3 kilometers from the village of Aktove to the village of Petropavlivka.

The depth of the canyon reaches 40-50 meters, the area is more than 250 hectares.

Aktove Canyon is a unique complex of forest and water ecosystems with an ensemble of rocks and granite boulders. The only one in Europe, which, according to its geological and landscape indicators, resembles the famous canyons of North America in miniature with great accuracy in the time of formation.

The whimsical ornateness of the Mertvovod channel (due to the high concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the water), steep walls, the magnificent beauty of granite-basalt rocks (up to 100 meters high) and unique natural beauty attract tourists from all over Europe. The difficult topography of the area does not allow river rafting, but the canyon is attractive for fans of extreme sports, rock climbers and climbers.

The natural complex of the Aktove Canyon, like all the banks of the Mertvovod, is a part of the National Nature Park "Buzky Gard".

Nearby, between Aktove and Trykraty, at the confluence of the Arbuzynka River with the Mertvovod, is the equally picturesque Arbuzynsky (Maly Aktove) canyon.

The Arbuzynsky Canyon near the village of Aktove is also called the Small Aktivsky Canyon, "Valley of the Devil".

The granite rocks that form the relief of the Arbuzynka River valley were formed 4 billion years ago as a result of volcanic activity (it is believed that the volcano has not yet cooled, so violets sometimes bloom on the rocks even in winter). Here you can meet pheasants, turtles, hawks, muskrats, moles, bison, wild boars and even deer.

Arbuzynsky Canyon is a part of the National Nature Park "Buzky Gard". It is often confused with the larger and more difficult-to-access Aktove Canyon ("Devil's Valley"), located on the Mertvovod River behind the village of Aktove.

The view of both canyons opens simultaneously from the rock "Navel of the Earth" - the highest point of the tract.

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 to Berezan Island are organized in Ochakiv.

Flotskyi Boulevard in Mykolaiv is a shady pedestrian embankment over the Inhul River that vaguely resembles Primorsky Boulevard in Odesa.

It offers a view of the river, bridges and Peremoha City Park on the opposite bank. In honor of the founding of the city, a commemorative sign - an ancient cannon - was installed on Flotskyi Boulevard.

In 2002, a monument to Colonel Mykhaylo Faleyev, who supervised the construction of the city and the shipyard, was erected nearby. At the other end of Fleet Boulevard is a monument to Admiral Stepan Makarov (1976), a famous scientist and naval commander.

The Hard tract in the granite canyon of the Pivdennyi Buh River is one of the most picturesque places of the Buzkyi Hard National Nature Park (formerly the Regional Landscape Park "Granite-Steppe Pobuzhzhya").

"Hard" was the name of a special structure for catching fish, built by Zaporizhzhia Cossacks back in the 16th century. After the creation of Nova Sich in 1740, the Buho-Hard palanque of the Zaporizhzhia Nizove Army was formed on these lands, the military-administrative center of which was the settlement of Hard (present-day Bohdanivka opposite Pivdennoukrainsk). There was a ferry crossing across the Pivdennyi Buh on Hard Island, for the protection of which the Buho-Hard armed border post was built.

The remains of the Cossack fortress and the wooden church on Hard Island were preserved until the middle of the 20th century. In the 1970s, the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP was built at the confluence of the Pivdennyi Buh and its left tributary Velikiy Tashlyk, a Cossack church was destroyed on Hard Island, and granite rocks were blown up. In 2006, during the construction of the Tashlytska HPP, the Hard threshold was flooded.

The remains of the island itself still exist, but are divided into two parts. The hanging rocks of the canyon are a favorite place for climbing competitions. Porig Hard is one of the most difficult sections of rafting on the Pivdennyi Buh.

The Kinburn Spit is the western edge of the Kinburn Peninsula, which separates the Dnipro estuary from the Black Sea. The length of the spit is about 40 kilometers, the width is 8-10 kilometers.

Described by Herodotus as Hileya (forested land), later the route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" passed here. Many myths and legends are associated with the Kinburn spit: about the temple of Demeter, about the sacred grove of Hecate, about Scythian gold and about athletic games in honor of Achilles' victory in the sea battle, after which the Greeks nicknamed the spit Achilles' Run (according to another version, it is the island of Dzharylhach) .

In the 15th-18th centuries, there was a Turkish fortress of Kinburn here, opposite Ochakiv, in the area of which Oleksandr Suvorov defeated a large Turkish landing force in 1787 (the ramparts of the fortress have been preserved, a memorial has been opened).

In 1790, between Ochakiv and the Kinburn spit in the middle of the estuary, an artificial Maiskyi island was built with a block fort that controlled the entrance of ships to the estuary (still under the control of the military).

In 1992, the regional landscape park "Kinburn Spit" was created on the spit, which is part of the Black Sea Nature Reserve. About 60 species of animals listed in the Red Book of Ukraine have been recorded on the territory. About 240 species of birds nest here: swans, pink pelicans, geese, pheasants, herons, white-tailed eagles and others.

Kinburn spit attracts tourists with empty and clean beaches.

Excursions to historical and protected places are organized by the administration of the National Nature Park "Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav" (Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava).

Russian-Ukrainian war

During the Russian-Ukrainian war, in March 2022, Russian troops occupied the Kinburn spit to block traffic from the ports of Kherson and Mykolaiv, and shelled Ochakiv. During the counteroffensive of the armed forces of Ukraine in November 2022, the Kinburn spit remained the only Russian-occupied part of the Mykolaiv region.

Myhiia Rapids on Pivdenniy Buh are the most famous part of the National Nature Park "Buzhkiy Gard" and the Regional Landscape Park "Granite-Steppe Pobuzhzhia".

The Pivdenniy Buh and its tributaries flow here through a narrow canyon-like valley with majestic granite rocks, a hollow channel, islands and eddies.

Myhiia rapids on Pivdenniy Buh, especially the "Integral" rapid, are popular among water tourists and athletes - this is one of the best water slalom tracks in Ukraine.

A beautiful view of them opens from Mount Vysoka, which is next to the highway at the exit from Myhiia in the direction of Mykolaiv.

The administration of the national park is also located in Myhiia.

Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory is a historical scientific institution, the oldest observatory in Ukraine.

It was founded by Admiral Oleksiy Hreyh, who served as Mykolaiv governor in 1821. The observatory provided the Black Sea Fleet with navigational information and instruments, trained navigators. The Mykolaiv Observatory has its own meridian in international astronomical atlases.

Built almost two centuries ago, the premises of the observatory have been preserved to this day in an unchanged form. The observatory museum exposition is located in the Round Hall of the Main Building and two astronomical pavilions. The museum houses a unique collection of astronomical instruments, a collection of astronomical clocks, old books, photographs, paintings, maps.

The pride of Mykolaiv astronomers is the ancient telescope "Repsold Meridian Circle", built in 1834 in Germany. It was used until 2000, when modern computer-controlled telescopes appeared.

The Old Fleet Barracks in Mykolaiv is part of the complex of buildings of the Admiralty, which was built in the middle of the 19th century for the Maritime Department.

The barracks were built in 1850 according to the project of the architect Karl Akroyd in the style of classicism. The premises were intended for sailors of naval crews. Each of the three buildings of the Old Fleet Barracks accommodated 1,200 to 2,000 people. In 1863, the barracks complex was transferred to the Oleksandrivska Men's Gymnasium, which was located here until the Bolshevik coup of 1917. After the Second World War, the western building housed a construction technical school, and the other two were transferred to the military.

In 2012, the creation of a museum town began on the territory of the Old Fleet Barracks. The Mykolaiv Museum of Local Lore, which used to be located on the territory of Saint Joseph's Church, moved to the main building. The museum was created in 1913 on the basis of the office of rare things at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, where various finds from the territory of the Black Sea were collected. They formed the basis of the collection, which now has more than 160,000 exhibits.

In particular, the exposition of the local lore museum presents objects found during archaeological research in Olbia, objects from Kyivan Rus, Cossack weapons.

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, heavy fighting has been taking place near Mykolaiv throughout the year. As a result of Russian missile attacks, 15 exhibition halls of the Mykolaiv Museum of Local Lore were damaged. The northern part of the Old Fleet Barracks building was most damaged. As a result, the museum was forced to dismantle almost 10 thousand exhibits, some of the exhibits were damaged. After the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in Southern Ukraine in November 2022 and due to the front line being moved away from Mykolaiv, the Museum of Local Lore has gradually resumed its work since March 2023.

The Mykolaiv Zoo is considered one of the best in Europe and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

It was founded on the initiative of Mykolaiv City Duma Chairman Mykola Leontovych as a private aquarium-museum with free access to the public. Now the collection includes almost 4,000 individuals of 450 species, many of which are listed in the Red Book.

Large animals have the greatest success among visitors: lions, tigers, bears, hippos. The oldest animal in the zoos of Ukraine lives here - the 65-year-old crocodile Vasya. Children are amused by monkeys, chimpanzees and macaques, and adults by the "little nation" of meerkats, for which a special aviary "Meerkat Estate" has been built.

At any time of the year, the garden of live tropical butterflies impresses with a riot of colors. The enclosure for domestic animals "Grandfather's Hut" is decorated in a folklore style, being a kind of museum of rural life in the south of Ukraine.

The zoo has its own anthem, flag, emblem, anniversary coin and postage stamp. The Natural History Museum of the Mykolaiv Zoo is open for visitors.

The ruins of the ancient Greek city of Olbia are located on the southern outskirts of the village of Parutyne, on the shore of the Buh estuary.

Pontic Olbia was one of the four largest ancient polises in the Northern Black Sea region, having existed for a millennium - from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD.

It was founded by emigrants from Miletus, for whom the island of Borysthenes (Berezan) served as a transshipment point. Mentioned in the "History" of Herodotus.

It reached its peak in the Hellenic period (before the 1st century AD), then was a Roman province until it disappeared under the onslaught of the Huns.

The main altar (temenos), the central square (agora), foundations of temples and residential buildings, crypts of noble residents, fragments of the citadel, defensive walls and gates, roads, etc. were found. The search for the ruins of the ancient theater, which probably lies at the bottom of the estuary, continues.

In 1926, the excavation area was declared a state reserve. Now it is the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve "Olbia". A museum has been opened in the premises of the old lighthouse, where finds made during excavations are presented. The dungeon of the ancient crypt is available for inspection. A lapidary has also been opened, in which ancient tombstones and fragments of ancient architecture are presented.

Every year on the 20th of August, the "Muses of Olbia" festival takes place.

The national nature park "Buzkyi Gard" stretches from the outskirts of the village of Myhiia for 40 kilometers along the Pivdenniy Buh to the village of Oleksandrivka. Its area is 6,138 hectares within Voznesensk and Pervomaysk districts of Mykolaiv region.

The creation of a national nature park on the basis of the regional landscape park "Granite-Steppe Pobuzhzhya" began in 2004 as part of the implementation of the World Environmental Fund - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development project "Biodiversity Conservation in the Azov-Black Sea Corridor".

The local flora includes 900 plant species, 26 of which are included in the Red Book of Ukraine, 4 - in the European Red List.

The territory of the national nature park "Buzkyi Gard" coincides with the border of 1658 between the Ottoman Porte (Turkey) and the liberties of the Zaporizhzhia Nizove Army. In fact, the left bank of the Granitno-steppe Pobuzhzhya coincides with the boundary of the Buho-Hardova palanka of the Zaporizhzhia Army as of 1734. For more than three hundred years, the territory where the National Nature Park "Buzkyi Gard" was created was controlled by the Zaporozhzhians. Their administrative and economic center was located near the confluence of the Tashlyk River with the Pivdenniy Buh, on Gard Island, where a military camp with Cossack huts of up to 500 people was located. The facilities for catching fish were called gardas on Pivdenniy Buh. Such guards existed both in the Guard tract itself and in other areas on the Buh, where Zaporozhzhian winterers were located. Gards, as a method of fishing, existed in this area until 1945. Accordingly, this name first spread to the surrounding areas: Gardovy Island, Gardova Balka, the village of Gardove (now the village of Bohdanivka), Stariy Gard, Gardovy Shlyach.

Aktove Canyon on the Mertvovod River and the adjacent  Arbuzynsky (Maly Aktove) canyon on the Arbuzinka River are a separate part of the "Buzkiy Gard" National Nature Park.