When choosing a destination in Ukraine, it is worth first deciding what interests you most: historic cityscapes, sacred art, archaeological sites, or living traditions offer different ways to explore the country’s culture. Its buildings span different eras; borscht and pysanka, meanwhile, center on cooking practices and design.
Architecture and History in Specific Places
Four of the Struve Geodetic Arc’s original survey points are in Ukraine. They were established between 1816 and 1851. This arc, surveyed over several decades, stands alongside examples of urban architecture and building design. Those interested in the history of surveying will find a different thematic perspective here than at historic buildings.
In Chernivtsi, the Residence of the Metropolitans of Bukovina and Dalmatia was built from 1864 to 1882 to designs by Czech architect Josef Hlavka. It is an example of 19th-century historicist architecture. Compared with the Struve Geodetic Arc, the focus here is on a single building: when it was built, its architect, and its place in architectural history.
The historic center of L’viv includes well-preserved urban buildings with an Eastern European character, including numerous monasteries and Renaissance and Baroque houses. The different building types and stylistic periods give this city-focused destination several dimensions: religious buildings and residential architecture sit side by side. In Odesa, historic buildings reflect the city’s rapid economic development in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The contrast is that L’viv draws attention to preserved architectural traditions, while Odesa highlights the connection between urban history and economic development.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is a significant architectural monument and monument of monumental art dating from the early 11th century. It preserves a collection of 11th-century mosaics and frescoes. The building and its art collection make sacred art the focus of this destination. The ancient city of Tauric Chersonese and its chora offer a different archaeological perspective: together, they comprise public building complexes and residential quarters. Thus, the choices include not only individual buildings but also larger areas of an ancient city.
Borscht and Pysanka: Living Traditions
The Ukrainian tradition of cooking borscht has been passed down within families for centuries; children take part in preparing it. For travel planning, the focus is not just on a dish, but also on passing a cooking practice down within the family. This offers a different way to explore culture than learning about historic buildings: here, culture is expressed through a tradition practiced together.
In Ukrainian pysanka egg decorating, patterns and symbols are applied to the egg with wax. It is then dyed, and the process is repeated until the patterns and desired colors are achieved. The design therefore takes shape in stages. While borscht brings together the passing down of a cooking tradition and children’s participation, pysanka focuses on the repeated process of using wax and color. Both topics complement architectural history with a look at living cultural traditions.
Travel Planning Information
The Ukrainian tourist map lists the phone numbers and addresses of Ukrainian tourist information centers, where visitors can get the information they need. The State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine focuses its projects, among other things, on developing innovative tourist routes. These offer different starting points: the map points to contacts for information, while route development is one of the agency’s project areas.
To help you choose, you can first decide what interests you most: architectural history, urban development, sacred art, archaeology, or a living tradition.
Discover more destinations: Kherson Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Lviv Oblast, Kyiv Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Rivne Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Ternopil Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast.
