Attractions of Sumy region

The Forest Museum in Trostianets was opened in 2019 at the Trostianets Forest Farm to the 70th anniversary of the formation of the Sumy Regional Department of Forestry and Hunting.

The exposition presents samples of flora and fauna of Sumy region, tools for forestry management, forest planting and wood harvesting. On the territory of the forest farm, you can take a walk through the mini arboretum and buy seedlings.

The 4.3-km-long ecological trail starts from the museum, which runs through the Neskuchne tract and includes 10 stops, including a black walnut plantation, an oak tree up to 500 years old, Yakubiv Yar, Nymph's Grotto, etc.

During the Russian military aggression in 2022 and the temporary occupation of Trostianets, the building of the Forest Museum suffered significant destruction. The exposure is restored.

The fountain-monument "Sumka" (Bag), installed in 2008 on one of the central pedestrian streets of Sumy, symbolizes the legend of the founding of the city.

According to legend, in the summer of 1655, the first Cossack settlers from the town of Pruda in the Kyiv region, led by Otaman Kondratyev, found three hunting sums with coins at the place where a small river flowed into the Psel. The river was named Sumka, and the city founded here was called Sumy.

Sculptor Oleksiy Shevchenko recreated the legend in stone: a bag with money hangs over a well with water, from which water also flows. A new urban tradition has appeared - to wet the face, bags and wallets with "magical" water from the well.

A small gazebo made of carved wood, built according to the project of the architect Matviy Shchaveliyiv without a single nail, is considered a visiting card of the city.

According to legend, it was built by a burgher, Yosyp Lishchynsky, on the site of a well drilled during an unsuccessful search for oil.

This is the only wooden structure in the city that was not damaged in the slightest during the Second World War.

The museum-manor of General Mykhaylo Drahomyrov opened in 2007 in the restored house of the general in Konotop.

Military and statesman of the Russian Empire of Ukrainian origin, General of the Infantry Mykhaylo Drahomyrov was born in the ancestral Drahomyrov village near Konotop, and the last years of his life he lived in his city estate.

The museum exposition presents furniture of the late XIX - early XX centuries, paintings by local artists and other exhibits.

The museum-manor of General Drahomyrov is a department of the Konotop city museum of local lore of Oleksandr Lazarevsky.

The Hetmansky National Nature Park was created in 2009 with the aim of preserving the unique and diverse landscapes of the Left Bank Forest-Steppe - from lowland banks and sphagnum swamps to relict native forests.

The park with an area of ​​over 23,000 hectares is located in the valley of the Vorskla River. The park includes areas of the floodplain, the river itself, in some places the floodplain terraces and the right root bank of the river.

The Hetmansky NPP includes the Khukhryansky", "Bakirovsky", "Klymentivsky", and "Yamniy" hydrological reserves, as well as 6 protected tracts. In particular, the tract "Litovsky Bir" is a unique relict pine forest where trees over 200 years old are found. Two natural attractions of local importance - "Flint Spring" and "Krynychka".

The historical and cultural museum complex "Kochubeyivsky" was created in the village of Dubovychi in 2012 with the aim of developing and preserving the historical, cultural and architectural heritage of the region.

The complex includes 9 historical and cultural objects, including:
- a complex of buildings of the Kochubey family estate (manor house and outbuilding),
- a park-monument of landscape art "Kochubeyivsky",
- a hydrological natural monument of local importance "Dzherelo-krynytsya",
- a memorial sign on the site of the parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a mosaic icon of the Mother of God "Dubovytska",
- a memorial sign on the site of the house church of the Kochubey family,
- a school museum of the history of the village of Dubovychi, etc.

The main areas of activity of the complex are scientific research, search, cultural and educational, economic activities. The employees of the complex provide excursion services at all objects of the reserve.

The Museum "Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors" was founded in Bilopillia in 1998 as a historical and local lore museum. Since 2023, it has been located in the premises of the Center for Children's and Youth Creativity of the city.

The museum's exposition covers the period of the history of the city of Bilopillia from the beginning of the 10th century to the events of the Bolshevik coup of 1917. The central place is occupied by a model of the ancient fortress of Vyr, as an outpost of the Kievan state, which presents the structure of the city in the 10th century. The museum's exposition also includes artifacts from the times of the Kyivan state, as well as valuable items found during archaeological excavations in the city. An interesting exhibit is a trade seal from the times of Prince Izyaslav Davydovych (12th century).

The People`s Museum of the History of Aviation and Cosmonautics at Okhtyrka Secondary School No. 2 was established in 1988.

The museum's exposition has 11 thematic sections - "The Beginning of the Space Era", "Pioneers of Cosmonautics", "Creators of Space Technology. Ukraine" (which, in particular, presents models of the Zenit-38T launch vehicle and materials about rocket and space technology created by the Pivdenne Design Bureau), "Served in the Okhtyrka Regiment", "The First Earthling Cosmonaut", "The First Cosmonaut of Ukraine" (dedicated to Leonid Kadenyuk, "The Feat of Berehovy", "Cosmonauts' Menu", "Cosmonauts' Space Equipment", "History of Ukrainian Aviation", as well as many other exhibits that tell about the role and place of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the history of the development of aviation and cosmonautics.

The History of Jews of Hlukhiv Region Museum was opened in 2003 on the initiative of the Hlukhiv Jewish community "Haverim".

Currently, the museum has more than 1,500 exhibits, of which 148 are original. Here you can trace the history of the famous Jewish families of the Tsveyfel, Dvoskiny and Yanposky.

The Torah scrolls from the Hlukhiv synagogue are considered the most valuable exhibits.

The Museum of History of Sumy Regiment of the Slobidske Cossacks was created in 2003 at the initiative of the public organization "The Sumy Regiment of the Slobidske Cossacks named after Herasym Kondratyev".

Located in a small office on the 2nd floor of a corner building on Voskresenska. The exposition of the museum reveals the Cossack history of Sumy region of the 17th - early 20th centuries. In particular, a fragment of the wooden palisade of the Sumy fortress, found during the reconstruction of Voskresenska Street, is presented.

You can also see a fragment of forged window bars from the All Saints Church of the Sumy Dormition Monastery, fragments of equipment of the entrance gate of the Sumy Fortress, weapons and equipment of the Sumy Hussar Regiment.

The pride of the museum is a color portrait of the founder of Sumy, Colonel Herasym Kondratyev.

The Nativity of the Holy Virgin (Hlynska Desert) Stauropygny Monastery is located in the village of Sosnivka near Hlukhiv, a few kilometers from the Russian border.

According to legend, the monastery was founded in 1557 at the place where a miraculous icon of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on a pine tree to local beekeepers while collecting honey.

The name of the monastery comes from the estate of the Hlynskyi princes, on whose land the hermitage is based. Ivan Mazepa and Oleksiy Menshikov were the patrons of the Hlynsky monastery at different times. He flourished in the 19th century.

The desert, surrounded by a stone fence, had five separate and four domestic temples. The cathedral church in honor of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God with a bell tower was built in 1770-1781. Almost all buildings were destroyed after the monastery was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1922.

In 1994, the Hlynska Desert was reopened, and it was occupied by representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate. A new over-the-gate church was consecrated in the name of the icon of the Mother of God of Iver. In 2002, Saint Michael's Church was built on the site of the destroyed cathedral.

There is a holy spring on the territory.

The Holy Intercession Cathedral is the main temple of Okhtyrka, a visiting card of the city.

The place where the priest Danylo Polyansky found the miraculous icon of the Okhtyrka Mother of God in 1739 was chosen for its construction.

The project of the Intercession Cathedral in the Ukrainian Baroque style was developed in 1753 by the famous architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Part of the funds was allocated by Empress Elizabeth, who visited the city in 1744. Construction lasted 15 years and was completed in 1768. The famous Russian architect Stepan Dudynskyi took part in the construction. The interior is decorated with pilasters with capitals of the Ionic order, sculpting of plant and rocaille motifs, painting on sails.

The building was damaged during the Second World War, restored in 1970-1972.

The icon of the Okhtyrka Mother of God was stolen in 1903 during restoration in St. Petersburg, the cathedral keeps a list. Other lists are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kharkiv and many other cities.

The ensemble of the cathedral also includes the Introduction belfry church (1784) and the Church of the Nativity (1825).

The Holy Resurrection Cathedral is the main Orthodox church of Sumy, the oldest stone building in the city, a wonderful example of Ukrainian Baroque.

The cathedral was built at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries at the expense of the city's founder Herasym Kondratyev and his son Andriy Kondratyev. According to legend, Kondratyev's sister Mariya, the leader of the band of robbers, was buried in the wall of the temple during its construction.

The architecture of the two-story stone cathedral repeats the traditional forms of Ukrainian wooden temple architecture - it is similar to three-log Cossack churches. Judging by the thickness of the walls (up to 1.5 meters), the characteristic shape of the loophole windows and the location on the line of the former. city fortifications, the Resurrection Cathedral was part of the defense system of Sumy. An underground passage led to the river, which is now filled in.

In Soviet times, the department of decorative and applied arts of the art museum was located here. After 1991, the Resurrection Church was returned to the faithful, and now it is the cathedral of the Sumy Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The High Transfiguration Cathedral is the main building of the Holy Spirit Convent founded in Putyvl in the 16th century.

The monastery complex includes the Church of the Ascension of the Cross with a bell tower (XVII century) and stone walls with a gate. In the interiors of the cathedral there is a wonderful iconostasis and works of painting.

The temple was restored in 2006.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Sumy is one of the most beautiful churches in the city, similar to St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

It was built in 1901-1914 in the style of classicism with baroque elements according to the project of the architect Karl Sholts at the expense of the industrialist and philanthropist Pavlo Kharytonenko.

The interiors were decorated by the artist Mykhaylo Nesterov (the marble iconostasis has not been preserved). The project of the mosaic floor and the church fence was executed by the famous architect Oleksiy Shchusev. St. Petersburg artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin worked on the Trinity stained glass window.

Until recently, the Trinity Cathedral was used as a house of organ music. In 1996, it was returned to the believers, now it belongs to the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.