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 50,000-seat Donbas Arena is the first stadium in Ukraine built for the 2012 European Football Championship in accordance with UEFA Elite (five-star) standards.

The design was developed by ArupSport, which at one time created the Manchester City (England), Allianz (Germany), Valencia (Barcelona) and Sydney (Australia) stadiums. Thanks to an unusual design solution, the Donetsk arena resembles a "flying saucer". The main difference of the stadium is its oval shape, as well as a completely glazed facade.

A ball-fountain was installed in the square in front of the Donbas Arena - a 28-ton ball with a diameter of 2.7 meters, spinning under the pressure of two water jets. It was considered the largest rotating granite ball in the world.

A park with fountains, man-made ponds and a 2.5-hectare rock garden was built next to the stadium.

In 2014, the Donbas Arena suffered serious damage as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since then, matches have not been held at the stadium.

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 house of the family of Dzhon Yuz, the founder of Donetsk (Yuzivka), was built in 1873 southwest of the Yuzivka Metallurgical Plant.

Initially, the Hughes house was one-story, with a garden. When the industrialist's family moved to Yuzivka from England, they decided to rebuild the house for their convenience. Two years after the reconstruction began, Dzhon Yuz died, but his sons continued the construction, which was completed in 1891.

The red brick building, standing on a hill, was made in the Neo-Renaissance style - with a terrace and an openwork balcony. After the Yuzs left for England in 1903, the managers and directors of the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant lived in their house.

The building was damaged during World War II, but was used for various purposes until the 1990s. Currently, the Hughes house is located on the territory of a private enterprise. Access to it is difficult.

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.