Park “Sofiyivka” was founded in 1796 by the owner of the town of Uman, Polish magnate Stanislav Potocki. The park was named in honor of his wife Sophia Witt-Potocki and presented to her in May 1802.

Today it is a popular holiday destination. Every year the park is visited by about 500,000 people. The total area of the park is about 180 hectares. “Sofiyivka” is a monument of world landscape gardening art of the late 18th – early 19th century. Photos by Vitaliy Milevich

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Tags: Cherkassy oblast · Uman city

Yalta is definitely the most famous resort city in the former Soviet Union countries. The city is located on approximately the same geographical latitude with renowned Italian ports and resorts of Ravenna and Genoa.

The sun is shining here about 2250 hours a year – about the same as in Nice, Cannes, San Remo and other Mediterranean resorts.

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Tags: Crimea Republic · Yalta city

State Dendrology Park of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine “Alexandria” is located in Bila Tserkva. The park is a monument of landscape architecture. It was founded in 1793 by hetman Francis-Xavier Branitsky and named in honor of his wife Alexandra.

Bila Tserkva park is considered to be one of the best and largest in Europe. The plan was created by the French park designer Myuffo. It occupies the territory of over 200 hectares, has 25 water reservoirs and about 2,500 species of plants, including rare plants from South America, China and Japan. Photos by Roman Naumov

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Tags: Bila Tserkva city

Object 825 GTS (or K-825) is an underground submarine base in Balaklava (near Sevastopol, Crimea), a secret military installation built in 1953-1961 during the Cold War, located in Balaklava bay. Currently, the base is a museum.

The object is a construction that has anti-nuclear defense of the first category (protection against direct hit of 100 kt nuclear bomb), which includes combined underground water channel with a dry dock, repair shops, fuel storages, torpedo arsenal. The base is located in the mountain Tavros on both sides of which there are two exits. Photos by danlux

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Tags: abandoned · Crimea Republic · Sevastopol city

“Kiev in Miniature” is located in a picturesque place on the banks of the Dnieper River in Hidropark in Kiev. This mini city has diverse collection of buildings constructed in 1:33 scale. The park shows the most famous architectural landmarks of present Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

The park was opened on June 23, 2006. The total area is about 2 hectares. It took nearly four years to make all 48 models presented in the park. At this time the population of mini Kiev is 700 inhabitants and it is growing every day. Photos by vaita

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Tags: Kiev city

Odessa, a wonderful city standing on the Black Sea coast, is often called the “Pearl of the South”. Odessa has special architectural style and ambiance.

Fortunately, most of the marvelous buildings that went up in Odessa during the 18th and 19th centuries were only partially damaged during the Second World War. That means Odessa retains the charm of yesteryear.

Odessa residents are known to be hospitable, warmhearted, independent, proud – and to possess a sophisticated sense of humor. Odessa city holds festivals of humor and satire every year on April 1.

Tags: Odessa city

Chernivtsi is a city in south-western Ukraine, 40 km north of the border with Romania, the administrative center of Chernivtsi region. The city is the historic center of Bukovina and, along with Lviv is the cultural center of western Ukraine.

Over the centuries, Chernivtsi formed as a city with a unique multi-style architecture and rich cultural heritage. It is one of the few cities in Ukraine, which is rightly considered the jewel of architecture. Photos by horoshiyblog

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Tags: Chernivtsi city

Bakhchisaray Khan’s Palace, the former residence of the Crimean Khans, is a historical and cultural monument of world importance, the world’s only example of the Crimean Tatar palace architecture. The palace is part of Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve located in Bakhchisaray town, Crimea.

Entry to the museum is free, but you need a guided tour to get inside the palace. The territory of the palace complex is 4.3 hectares. The architectural style of the palace continues the tradition of Ottoman architecture of the 16th-17th centuries. Photos by Alexander Lipilin

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Tags: Crimea Republic

Boryspil International Airport is the largest airport in Ukraine. The airport is located 18.5 km east of the entrance to Kyiv, in Boryspil city. The airport serves about 60% of international air transportation in Ukraine.

The airport has several terminals: one of the main terminals is terminal “F” (international flights, mainly charter and low cost airlines), which was opened recently, in late 2010. Photos by Oleg Stelmakh

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Tags: Boryspil city

Zakarpattia (Transcarpathian) region is located in the south-western slopes and foothills of the Eastern Carpathians, and also includes the Carpathian lowland. In the south the region borders on Romania, in the south-west – Hungary, in the west – Slovakia and in the north-west – Poland.

Thus, the region is a kind of Ukrainian “window to Europe.” About 80% of the area are the Carpathian Mountains. Transcarpathian region is Ukrainian key tourist area of national importance. It is also one of the centers of winter sports in Ukraine. Photos by l_z_foto

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Tags: landscapes · Zakarpattia oblast