In early May, the weather in the Ukrainian Carpathians can be very changeable. It would seem that winter has long ended, snow has completely melted, green grass and flowering trees are everywhere.

And one night it suddenly snows and winter comes back, even if only for one day. Thanks to this relatively unusual natural phenomenon, you can see very picturesque views of the Carpathians, when snow clearly shows the smallest folds of the relief. Photos by: Vlad Sokolovsky.

spring in the Carpathians

Tags: Zakarpattia oblast

Butsniv is a village with a population of about 1,200 people located about 12 km south of Ternopil. One of the landmarks of the village is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul – an architectural monument of local significance.

It was built as a Catholic church according to the project of the Lviv architect Julian Zakharevich in 1890-1891. During the First World War, the church was partially destroyed. In 1922-1923, the building was restored. Butsniv on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

picturesque stone church

Tags: church · Ternopil oblast

Uzhhorod is a city with a population of about 113 thousand people standing on the banks of the Uzh River at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. Located about 813 km south-west of Kyiv, on the border with Slovakia, it is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia region.

The smallest regional center of Ukraine, Uzhhorod has a rich and long history, significant architectural heritage. The city looks especially colorful in late April – early May, when sakura, magnolia, tulips, and lilac are flowering. Photos by: uzh_city.

colors of spring in Uzhhorod

Tags: Uzhgorod city · Zakarpattia oblast

Borysivka is a village with a population of about 500 people located in the Vinnytsia region, about 65 km south-east of Vinnytsia. The main attraction of the village is the Church of St. Nicholas (1751) – the oldest monument of wooden architecture in the Vinnytsia region.

In Soviet times, the church was used as a granary. Despite this, the local community preserved not only old icons, but also a five-tier handmade iconostasis. Borysivka on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

beautiful wooden church

Tags: church · Vinnitsa oblast

Vorokhta is an urban-type settlement and resort with a population of about 4,200 people located at an altitude of 850 meters above sea level in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, about 89 km south of Ivano-Frankivsk. Almost from all sides Vorokhta is surrounded by mountains and forests. This is a training center for Ukrainian athletes in ski jumping, biathlon, ski racing.

The main architectural landmark of Vorokhta is the wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin – one of the best examples of Hutsul folk architecture built according to traditional technologies without a single nail in neighboring Yablunytsya in 1654-1657. Vorokhta on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

beautiful wooden church

Tags: church · Ivano-Frankivsk oblast

Another attraction of Cherche, a small village located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, about 65 km north of Ivano-Frankivsk, in addition to the “old” Church of St. Basil the Great is the “new” Church of St. Basil the Great built of spruce in a new place closer to the center of the village in 1897.

Today, the church belongs to the local community of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Next to this wooden church there is also a new stone church. Cherche on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

picturesque church

Tags: church · Ivano-Frankivsk oblast

Pidhaichyky is a village with a population of about 900 people located in the Terebovlia district of the Ternopil region, 40 km northwest of Ternopil. In 1810, a Roman Catholic neo-Gothic church of hewn stone was built almost in the center of the village.

In 1910, the church was transferred to the local Orthodox community and became the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In 1947, the church was closed. In 1988, it was reopened and consecrated by the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pidhaichyky on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

unusual Orthodox church

Tags: church · Ternopil oblast

Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine located in the northeast of the country, near the border with Russia. From December 19, 1919 to June 24, 1934, Kharkiv was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, hence the name “first capital”.

Today, it is a large scientific, cultural, industrial, and transport center of Ukraine. It was the third largest industrial center of the USSR.

Tags: Kharkov city

Cherche is a village with a population of about 1,100 people located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, about 65 km north of Ivano-Frankivsk. The main attraction of the village is the wooden Church of St. Basil the Great, an architectural monument of national importance.

This church, one of the most beautiful churches in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, was founded at least in the 16th century. It was moved several times from one place to another. At the current location, near the cemetery, the building was placed in 1733. Cherche on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

scenic wooden church

Tags: church · Ivano-Frankivsk oblast

Sloboda Ukraine (Slobozhanshchyna) is a historical region located in the northeast of present Ukraine and the southwest of the Central Chernozem economic region of Russia. In the 16th-18th centuries, it was a border region, which was actively settled with the support of the Russian government to protect the state from the raids of the Crimean Tatars.

The settlers took over the guard service and military protection of the frontier, their settlements called “sloboda” enjoyed more freedoms. Today, the term “Slobozhanshchyna” is actively used as an informal collective name of the Kharkiv, Sumy regions of Ukraine and the Belgorod region of Russia.

Tags: Kharkov oblast · Sumy oblast