Attractions of Donetsk region

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 only zoo in Donbas was created by the efforts of the labor team of the local enterprise "Dokuchaievsk Fluso-Dolomite Combine" OJSC.

In 2001, a zoo corner appeared at the enterprise. Then the territory of the abandoned children's camp was cleared, arranged and landscaped. "Swan Lake" appeared in the place of the old pool, in the place of the fountain - an eagle's nest, in the place of the dining room - a terrarium. The greenhouse was restored, a children's railway was laid, sculptures of heroes of children's fairy tales were placed everywhere.

The first inhabitants of the zoo were two peacocks. Then mandarin ducks, mountain geese, mouflons, a crocodile and other animals appeared. Today, there are more than a hundred species, seven of which are listed in the Red Book.

The special pride of the zoo is a pair of black swans from Turkmenistan.

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 Mariupol extreme recreation park is located in the Kalmius district, bordering the park named after Hurov. It is part of the Illicha plant.

In the "Extreme Park" there are 14 attractions, including extreme ones: "Falling Tower", "Wild Train", "Ferris wheel", chain carousel, "Wasp" swing, "Looping", etc. The most popular attraction is "Autodrome".

There is also a children's playground, a cafe, and shopping pavilions.

The park of forged figures and carved sculptures is located in Donetsk in the square behind the City Council building.

The works of the best blacksmiths of Donbas are collected here.

An international festival of blacksmithing is held annually. The best works remain in the park as a gift to the city.

Nearby is the Glade of Fairy Tales with wooden sculptures of fairy-tale heroes.

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.

Hamper's House in Mariupol is one of the most interesting architectural monuments of the city.

A small building in the Neo-Gothic style, made of red brick, is located in the Slobidka district. Distinctive features of the architecture: arched windows, brick patterns and an extension in the form of a tower of a medieval castle.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the famous Mariupol doctor Serhiy Hamper, who was very popular among the city's residents, lived and worked here. The descent leading to his house is still called Doctor's or Hamper's.

In Soviet times, Hamper's house housed communal apartments.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, and the blockade of Mariupol began on March 1. The defenders of the city heroically resisted the Russian army, as a result of which the Russians began a massive bombardment of the city, as a result of which Hamper's house was badly damaged - an aerial bomb was dropped on it.

The Historical Museum of Heorhiy Syedov is dedicated to the outstanding polar explorer, in whose honor the village of Kryva Kosa was renamed to Siedove in 1941.

Heorhiy Syedov was born in 1877 in the family of an Azov sailor from Kryva Kosa. After becoming a hydrographic officer, in 1901 he went on his first hydrographic expedition to the Arctic Ocean. with the study of Nova Zemlya and the Kara Sea. In 1912-1914, he made a desperate attempt to reach the North Pole, equipping the ship "Holy Martyr Foka" for this purpose. On the way to his goal, he died of an illness and was buried at the northern tip of the Franz Josef Land archipelago.

The exhibition of the museum, the halls of which resemble a ship's hold, tells about all stages of the researcher's life path. A map of the polar expedition, copies of invoices for voluntary donations for the purchase of dogs and food, authentic items from the ship "Saint Foka", part of the ship's plating and shoeing, as well as parts of a camera, a razor and brushes that belonged to the artist Mykola Pinehin, a member of the expedition, are presented. A drawing of the schooner "Saint Foka" made by him is presented.

The Museum of the History and Ethnography of the Greeks of the Azov region is located in the center of the village of Sartana (a suburb of Mariupol).

The museum has a very rich exposition about the culture and lifestyle of the Greeks from the time of their resettlement from the Crimea in 1778-1780, about the founding of new settlements by them, the development of local lands, and the development of the diaspora.

The exposition is located in 6 halls, on two floors.

Museum employees also pay a lot of attention to the cuisine of the Greeks of the Azov region, collect recipes and publish collections of them.

During the Russian occupation in 2002, the management of the museum went to collaborate with the enemy.

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.