Attractions of Kramatorsk district

Regional landscape park "Kleban-Byk" is a popular object of ecological tourism in Donbas.

It is a picturesque hilly area at the mouth of the river of the same name, on the banks of the Kleban-Byk reservoir. On the left slope of the reservoir there is a geological natural monument of national importance "Kleban-Byk outcrop" - outcrops of very old rocks that were formed many millions of years ago in the coastal areas of the Perm Sea.

There is no unequivocal version about the origin of the name (perhaps it is a combination of the Slavic word "Kleban" and the Turkic word "Byk").

Fragments of ancient petrified trees have been preserved.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cossack outpost "Zalizna" stood here.

The landscape park was created in 2000. From the hill near the track, from which the most picturesque panorama of the park opens, an ecological trail has been laid, and modern sculptures are exhibited, including three huge dinosaurs.

Steppe Nature Reserve "Cretaceous Flora" is the only place in Ukraine where the natural bier of a relict coniferous plant - the Cretaceous pine - has been preserved.

Other rare plants: Bush's bird's milkweed, blackened cross-leaves, double-breasted tulip, Don fight, Russian grouse. Moreover, plants that are usually found exclusively on chalk outcrops grow here together with plants of mountain, coniferous and broad-leaved forests.

The reserve "Cretaceous Flora" is a branch of the Ukrainian steppe nature reserve. It is located in the valley of the Siverskyi Donets River between the villages of Zakotne and Kryva Luka.

The museum of retro cars "Samokhid" named after Zhemov in Kramatorsk operates on the basis of the restoration factory of the "Samokhid" technical club.

The restoration factory-museum has a unique collection of old cars. It has about 200 exhibits of such well-known companies as Horch, DKW, BMW, Wanderer, Steyr, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Packard, Buick, ZIS, GAZ. Some cars are not only works of engineering art, but also have historical value.

The collection also includes rare examples of motorcycles from the period 1900-1950 - more than 80 units in total.

The estate of the landowner Bantysh in Prelesne is located on the territory of an ancient park with an artificial lake.

The Bantysh family comes from Moldavia and was related to the Moldavian king Cantemir, and Peter I in 1718 gave them land as a thank you for their participation in the Turkish campaign.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Bantysh built a two-story palace in the style of classicism in Prelesne, and in 1858 they laid out a park with an area of 66 hectares, where 120 species of trees and shrubs grew.

During Soviet times, a children's camp was placed on the territory of the manor, which still exists today. The palace is in a dilapidated state.

The blue lakes near Lyman and the village of Shchurove arose on the site of the quarries of the former silicate brick factory.

The exhausted quarries were filled with spring water. The considerable depth, purity of the water and sandy bottom determine the penetrating turquoise color of the water. Underground springs constantly maintain the same level of water, which does not stagnate.

Blue lakes are located in a pine forest, where pike, turtles, and mink live. Until recently, it was a popular place for "wild" recreation of Donetsk residents with swimming and barbecues, but now the area between the lakes is being actively developed.

The "Kazka Ozera" amusement park has opened here. The sandy beach with warm blue water is equipped with sunbeds and deckchairs. At the service of vacationers: restaurant, bars, shooting range, paintball, tennis, billiards, fishing, horse riding, ATVs (teenagers and adults), boats and catamarans, children's disco, parties for adults.

The Kramatorsk City History Museum tells about the historical path of the industrial city, in particular about the establishment of the first enterprises in the XIX century, as well as the construction of Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant (NKMZ), thanks to which in 1932 Kramatorsk gained city status.

An interesting collection of Ukrainian folk costumes and towels.

A separate exhibition is dedicated to the Ukrainian actor Leonid Bykov, who spent his childhood in Kramatorsk.

The Kramatorsk Art Museum is located in the same building, where, in particular, works by famous Ukrainian artists Hlushchenko, Trokhimenko, Yablonska and others are presented.

The rock-like outcrop of the upper chalk (Cretaceous rocks) in Bilokuzmynivka is a unique geological monument of the nature of Donbass.

Picturesque rocks with unusual forms of weathering rise above the pristine steppe more than 25 meters. The relief is formed by chalk rocks formed 90 million years ago in warm sea waters from small marine organisms with calcareous skeletons. Vertical white-gray rocks stand out in the rock, the eastern edge of the mountain is cut off by white-gray rocks. A picturesque pond is nearby.

Near the rock-like outcrop of the Upper Cretaceous, a site of a primitive man was discovered from a workshop for processing flint mined in this mountain.

The Donetsk Regional Art Museum (DRAM) is one of the largest art museums in Ukraine and an important cultural center of the Donetsk region.

His collection was formed at the expense of income from art exhibitions, from the funds of state museums of Ukraine and Russia, acquisitions from private collections. The collection includes 16,500 works of painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative and applied art.

In particular, the works of artists from Italy, Holland, France, and Germany are presented. Among them are "Still Life with Fish" by Pieter van Noort and "Landscape with Ruins" by Johannes Glauber. The dominant genre in the collection of Russian paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries - landscape - is represented by such canvases as "Koktebel. Seascape" by Ivan Aivazovsky, "Evening" by Ivan Shyshkin, "View of Venice. Doge's Palace" by Oleksiy Boholyubovv.

Of particular interest is the collection of ancient applied art of Greece and Rome: vases, dishes of various shapes and purposes, lamps, terracotta plastic, as well as glass and bronze products.

In connection with the occupation of Donetsk by the Russian invaders, the institution is temporarily located in Kramatorsk - the Contemporary Art Sector of the Donetsk Regional Art Museum has been opened here.

The Donetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore (DOKM) was founded in 1924 on the initiative of local historians.

As of 2014, the museum's funds numbered about 150,000 items. Among them are the remains of fossil animals, prints of fossil plants, samples of stone trees, a large archaeological collection of tools, weapons, dishes, jewelry and amulets, a numismatic collection (copper and silver coins of the 15th-18th centuries), an ethnographic collection.

Rare early printed editions, including geographical and botanical atlases of the 17th century, were of the greatest value. Due to the Russian occupation of Donetsk, almost all the funds of the museum were lost, remaining in the occupied territory.

Now the Donetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore is temporarily located in Kramatorsk. There are temporary exhibitions here: "A Man in the Space of the Steppe: Time of Stone, Time of Bronze", "Medicine of the First Half of the 20th Century. History of a Medical Dynasty", "Gene of Disobedience: Chronicles of Ukrainian Resistance in the Donetsk Region from the First Half of the 20th Century to 1991" , expositions of products of arts and crafts, as well as exhibitions dedicated to the events of the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, three departments of the museum operate on the territory controlled by Ukraine: the Memorial Manor Museum Nemyrovych-Danchenko, Serhiy Prokofyev Museum and the Velykoanadolsky Forest Museum.

The Druzhkivka History and Art Museum was created in 1984 as a branch of the Donetsk Art Museum.

The basis of his collection was the art collection of the Druzhkivka Tretyakivska Gallery, which operated since 1951 at the Fine Arts Studio of the House of Culture of the Machine-Building Plant in Druzhkivka.

Now the Druzhkivka History and Art Museum is located on the second floor of the Lesya Ukrayinka Central City Library. A special place in the exposition is occupied by artistic works of masters of the Druzhkivka porcelain factory.

The historical and local history exhibition presents fragments of Druzhkivka petrified trees, objects of an ethnographic nature, objects of urban life of the XIX-XX centuries.

Separate expositions highlight the events of the Holodomor, the Second World War, the Russian-Ukrainian war, etc.

The natural monument "Druzhkivka petrified trees" is located near the town of Druzhkivka, on the northeastern outskirts of the village of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka.

On an area of 1 hectare, you can find fossilized remains of Araucaria trees 250 million years old. The petrification of these amazing plants lasted thousands of years: for a long time, the salty waters of the ancient Perm Sea washed away organic substances from tree trunks, leaving mineral deposits.

In appearance, petrified trees are similar to freshly cut trees, only much harder. The diameter of the trunks lying on the slopes of the quarry reaches one meter.

The private "Museum of Ethnography of Ukrainian Slobozhanshchyna" was created in the village of Maiaky by local historian Hennadiy Kyrkach.

In this open-air museum (skansen) you can visit three expositions at once: antiques, embroidered shirts and ceramics. In the manor yard of the museum there are various buildings and structures, among which a traditional place is occupied by a traditional Slobozhanshchyna house of the XIX century, which is well preserved, and a chapel in the Ukrainian Baroque style in honor of Archangel Michael.

In addition, visitors can see two signal towers (Maiaky), one of which simulates those from which smoke signals were given, and the other is a reproduction of sound - on such in the old days hung a bell to transmit sound signals.

Other reconstructed buildings and structures - chicken coop, barn, hut, gallery, barn, well, stove.

There is a seating area and a venue for events and festivals. Various master classes of folk crafts are planned.

The German Pillbox (DOT) on Dmytra Mazura Street in Kramatorsk is one of a chain of long-term firing points created by the Germans for the defense of a strategically important settlement for them.

It is located in the western part of the city, near the village of Sofiivka.

This Pillbox of an atypical design with loopholes on four sides covered the Mayachka River valley.

Currently, the object is cleared by enthusiasts, open access for tourists. It is planned to create a museum.

The Sviatohirsk State Historical and Architectural Reserve unites the complex of buildings of the Sviatohirsk Holy Assumption Lavra of the 17th-19th centuries - one of the three most important Orthodox shrines of Ukraine.

According to one version, it was founded in the chalk caves of Sviatohirya on the high bank of the Siversky Donets by Byzantine monks even before the baptism of Rus.

The first written mention of the "Sviati hory" (Holy Mountains) area dates back to 1526, and the monastery was officially founded in 1624, when Tsar Mykhaylo Fedorovych presented the brothers with the land of Sviatohirya and assigned a state salary. At first, monks settled in caves on chalk spurs. The entire mountain is permeated with a labyrinth of passages and cells, which are open to visitors today. The high mountain is crowned by the Saint Nicholas church of the 17th century with a chalk altar carved directly from the rock. At its foot is the Assumption Cathedral (1859-1861, architect Oleksiy Hornostaev), a hotel (1877), the abbot's house (1900), a refectory with the Intercession Church (1847-1851, architect Andriy Ton), the towers of the monastery walls. In the caves there are the underground churches of Anthony and Theodosius (XVII century), Nativity of John the Baptist (XIX century), cave chapel, two tombs, cells. The Lavra was visited by Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Anton Chekhov, and Illia Repin.

The monastery was closed twice, during the Soviet times a rest house was located here. In 1992, it was transferred to the UOC community of the Moscow Patriarchate, in 2004 the monastery was granted the status of a Lavra.

Sviatohirsky state historical and architectural reserve was created in 1980. The historical museum of the reserve is located in Hostinny Dvir (Guest yard). In five exhibition halls, objects of the material and spiritual culture of the tribes and peoples that inhabited Sviatohirya since the Stone Age, models of the architectural ensemble of the Sviatohirsk monastery in different periods of its history, archaeological finds and documents from the history of the monastery from the 17th century, are presented. memorial expositions. The thematic excursion "Sights and memorials of the Sviatohirsk Lavra" also includes a visit to the Upper Lavra with the Saint Nicholas Church, the All Saints Hermitage, the monument to Artem (Fedir Serheev), created in 1927 by the sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze.

Entrance to the territory of the Lavra is free, but visitors are asked to observe a strict dress code - upon entry, women can receive a headscarf and a skirt.

Russian-Ukrainian war

In 2022, during the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Lavra was hit several times by shelling and bombing by Russian troops. People who were hiding on the territory of the Lavra from shelling were injured. Almost all the buildings of the Lavra were damaged - the cell blocks, the dormitory building, the hermitage of John of Shanghai, the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs, etc. Saint George's Hermitage was destroyed, the church in honor of the "Joy of All Sorrowful" icon of the Virgin Mary Hermitage was destroyed, the main church of the All Saints' Hermitage was burned down.

The municipal cultural institution "Kostiantynivka City Museum of Local Lore" was founded in 1967.

The museum is located on the ground floor of a multi-storey residential building of the 1930s. It consists of seven exhibition and exhibition halls. The exposition is presented by the main sections: nature, ancient history, history of society and the city at its various stages, modernity. In the archeological collection: Polovtsian stone sculptures, tools and weapons of ancient times.

A special place is occupied by the collection of glassware of the XIX-XX centuries, when the glass industry began to develop in Kostiantynivka.

Exhibitions, thematic events and excursions are held.