Attractions of Sumy region

In 1965, the Spadshchansky forest northwest of Putivl was declared a historical and cultural reserve, since it was here in 1941 that the famous partisan unit of Sydor Kovpak was created, which fought against the German occupiers during the Second World War.

As a result of the active actions of Kovpak's detachment, a large partisan region was created in Sumy region and nearby areas, on the territory of which 24 detachments and 127 groups (about 18,000 partisans) operated in 1942. Kovpak's unit fought 18,000 kilometers behind the enemy's rear, fought on the entire territory of Ukraine from Putivl to the Carpathians.

The memorial complex in the Spadshchansky Forest opens with the "People's Avengers" stele, then the "Alley of Heroes" leads to the "Guerrilla Glory" monument. The partisan stronghold with 9 dugouts was reconstructed: headquarters, bathroom, kitchen, dugouts of scouts, miners, 2nd, 4th, 5th operational groups, personal dugout of Sydor Kovpak. There is a mass grave near the shrine.

Also there are the main objects of the memorial complex "Spadshchansky Forest": the Museum of Partisan Glory and the Museum of Weapons and Military Equipment. The museum presents personal belongings of partisans, samples of weapons, photographs, documents, etc. A cannon that was in service with the Kovpak army and a German T-III tank captured by them are installed near the museum.

In 2019, the Museum "Soviet Park" opened on the territory of the complex. Soviet monuments, busts and sculptures collected from the Sumy, Poltava and Chernihiv regions are presented here. Among them are monuments to Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Kotovsky, Shchors, Frunze, Chapaev and others.

Only two outbuildings have survived from the once luxurious Strohanov Manor in Khotin, which a hundred years ago was called one of the most outstanding estates in the entire Russian Empire.

Since the 17th century, the Khotin estate belonged to the descendants of the founder of Sumy, Colonel Herasym Kondratyev. The palace complex was built in 1799-1810 by the colonel's granddaughter Hanna Kondratyeva, who married the secret adviser Mykhaylo Komburley. The couple invited the famous St. Petersburg architect of the heyday of Russian classicism, Giacomo Quarenghi.

The estate was built according to the axial system traditional at the time and surrounded by a large park. There were 87 rooms in the palace, all of them were decorated in a different color scheme. For a long time, the military historian Dmytro Buturlin lived and worked in the manor, then for more than half a century, Count Pavlo Strohanov owned the manor, at whose invitation the artists Ivan Kramskoy and Fedir Vasylyev visited.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when a lawsuit broke out over the estate, the palace fell into disrepair. In 1918, the Khotin palace complex was destroyed by fire. Two side wings have been preserved from it, which housed a secondary school in Soviet times. Currently, the buildings are in poor condition.

There is a History Museum at the school.

The Sukhanov-Sumovsky estate is a beautiful two-story palace-type house in Sumy.

It was built in 1895 by Sumy businessman and philanthropist Mykola Sukhanov. Later, the manor became the property of the Sumovsky family. The manor house is located in the depth of the park behind a fence with a wrought-iron gate and figured bars.

A two-story residential building with rich architectural decorations was connected by an underground passage to an office building with an attic in the Neo-Renaissance style. On the border of the manor plot there is a long building of the farm building.

Currently, the Institute of Applied Physics, the services of the Academy of Banking, as well as one of the divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are located in various premises of the Sukhanov manor.

In the premises of the library of the banking academy, the exhibition "The Sukhanovs in Sumy" was opened, which tells about the life and charity of the Sukhanov family.

Sumy Regional Art Museum named after Nikanor Onatsky is located in the building of the former State Bank, built in the early XX century by Sumy architect Hustav Sholts.

The museum was established in 1920 on the basis of nationalized private art collections and the collection of Oskar Hansen, which was then in Sumy. The first director was the artist Nikanor Onatsky, a student of Illya Repin, whose works, in particular, are presented in the museum.

The most interesting are the landscapes of Italian artists of the XVII-XIX centuries, Dutch and Flemish painters, including the works of Rubens' students, French landscape painters of the XIX century.

Also presented are the works of famous artists-travelers: Shyshkin, Kuyindzhi, Levitan, Savrasov. The masterpieces of painting of the late XIX - early XX century include the works of Vasnetsov, Serov, Kotarbinskyi, Ayvazovskyi. 

The museum has a collection of works by the outstanding Ukrainian folk artist Mariya Prymachenko.

The Sumy Regional Museum of Local Lore is located in the former building of the county zemstvo administration with a notable tower-like projection on the facade, which rises above the main building and ends with a dome.

There are four caryatids on the pylons of the second floor, which support the balcony. Oleksandr Kuprin and Volodymyr Korolenko visited the office in different years. In 1905, the printing office and editorial offices of the first Sumy newspapers were located here.

The Museum of Local Lore in Sumy was founded in 1920. The exposition presents objects from archaeological excavations of early Slavic and ancient Rus monuments, rare materials from the history and nature of Sumy Region.

The sculpture "Sweet Teeth Babies" on Voskresenska Street was installed in Sumy for the 355th anniversary of the city. This is a tribute to the sugar industry of the Khayitonenko family, thanks to which the city achieved prosperity in the 19th century.

The monument was created by sculptors Oleh Prokopchuk and Volodymyr Bukov. A bronze boy is eating sugar from a bag on a chair, and a girl is standing next to him. Any passer-by can join them by sitting down on a free chair.

On the same day, a monument to refined sugar was opened on Pokrovska Square in Sumy.

The museum of the glorified commander of the Sumy partisan unit Sydir Kovpak was opened in 1971 at the Hlukhiv Technical School of Mechanization (now the Hlukhiv Agricultural Technical Institute).

The museum reflects the history of the partisan movement in Sumy region during the German occupation of 1941-1943. In particular, materials and maps are presented about three raids of Kovpak troops in Sumy region, a raid on Right Bank Ukraine, the famous Carpathian raid, as well as Polish and Niemansky raids.

One of the rarities is a wooden German sign "Caution: Kovpak!", which was hung in the places of action of the partisans.

Personal belongings of Kovpak and members of his family can also be seen, including his famous trophy Hungarian officer's fur coat.

The first full-size monument in Ukraine to the outstanding Ukrainian poet and public figure Taras Shevchenko was erected in Romny in 1918 (according to other sources, in 1919).

The city of Romny at that time was already under the control of the Bolsheviks, who actively supported the cult of the "revolutionary poet". The author of the monument is the famous sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze. The sculpture, which depicts Shevchenko sitting in a thoughtful pose, is considered the most "human" monument to the poet.

A model of this monument has been installed in Kyiv, on Andriyivsky Descent.

The Tereshchenko House in Hlukhiv is the oldest surviving building of the architectural heritage of the family of famous sugar millers and patrons.

Prosperous merchant Artemiy Tereshchenko applied to the city authorities for permission to build a new two-story stone house in the historic center of Hlukhiv back in 1855. He was able to complete the construction of his Hlukhiv residence in the architectural forms of historicism only in 1866.

In the interior, the original decor is partially preserved: stucco ceilings, carved doors, tiled stoves, as well as stairs to the second floor, made in the technique of cast iron decorative casting.

In 1931, the All-Union Research Institute of Hemp was located here. Now it is the Research Station of Bask Cultures (Institute of Bask Cultures), where a hemp variety that does not contain narcotic substances was recently created. In the lobby, there is a small exhibition of hemp products: ropes, ropes, fabrics, clothes, shoes, etc.

The ancient Church of the Three Holy Anastasies in Hlukhiv was founded in the 18th century by Hetman Ivan Skoropadskyi as a house church near the Hetman's estate.

Named after his wife Anastasiya. It was revived in 1884-1893 at the expense of the Tereshchenko family of sugar growers, becoming their ancestral tomb. Its forms resemble the Saint Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv, which was also built with the participation of the Tereshchenko family.

The project in the neo-Byzantine style was developed by architect Andriy Hun. Famous artists Svedomski, Pymonenko, Vereshchahin, Zhuravlyov, who also designed the Sain Volodymyr Cathedral, created masterpiece paintings based on sketches by Viktor Vasnetsov. A luxurious white marble iconostasis has been preserved.

In 2003, after a visit to the city by one of the descendants of the Tereshchenko family, a family crypt was discovered in the basement of the Three-Anastasies Cathedral. The founder of the family Artemiy Tereshchenko, his wife Yevfrosyniya, their sons Fedir and Mykola are buried here.

Today it is the cathedral church of the Konotop and Hlukhiv Diocese of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The majestic Transfiguration Cathedral on a pedestrian street in the very center of Sumy combines Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism elements in its image.

The Transfiguration Cathedral in Sumy was built in 1776-1788 on the site of a wooden church of the 17th century. The 56-meter baroque bell tower with English chimes was added later. The cathedral acquired its modern appearance after a major reconstruction, carried out in 1882-1892 according to the project of the authoritative Kharkiv architect Mykhaylo Lovtsov. Cast-iron figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as two identical figures of Saint Volodymyr the Great, and figures of the four evangelists: Luke, Mark, John and Matthew, are installed in the corners of the dome.

In the interior - an iconostasis made of white marble and Ural malachite, paintings on biblical themes by Volodymyr Makovsky. The main shrines are miraculous icons of the Tikhvin Mother of God and the Korsun Mother of God.

The cathedral belongs to the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate. Festive services are broadcast outside.

The Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine occupies a complex of historical buildings in the center of the city of Sumy.

The first educational building is located in Taras Shevchenko Square (Soborna Street), in the former premises of the First Female Gymnasium. It belongs to a large group of Neo-Gothic buildings of the 19th-20th centuries in the city.

The main building of the academy was built only a few years ago on the central Petropavlivska Street, on the site of the former estates of the descendants of the founder of Sumy Hryhoriy Kondratiev. Until 1917, one of the city's fire brigades was located here, then various institutions. All the architectural nuances of the historical building have been carefully preserved in the reconstructed building. Instead of a fire station, a tower with a clock was built, which notifies the city about various celebrations at the academy.

The village park in Velykyi Bobryk was established in 1815 on the territory of the estate of the landowner Yelyzaveta Rakhmanova.

The dominant feature of the park is a 35-meter-tall spruce tree, planted during the foundation of the park by the landlady's son, General Hryhoriy Rakhmanov, a participant in the war with Napoleon in 1812.

In addition to several 250-300-year-old patriarchal oaks, an alley group of lindens, several spruces, two pines, an ash, etc. have been preserved. The manor house has not been preserved.

A small one-story manor house in Lebedyn was built in the first half of the 19th century by the Zalesky brothers.

In 1859, Taras Shevchenko stayed at the Zalesky estate.

Until the end of the 20th century, a local history museum was located here. Now the building is empty, restoration is needed.