Travel to Kherson - Ukraine - Europe - Culture

Kherson - Culture

Kherson is the city in the south of the Ukraine, which is situated on the two banks of the Dniper – river’s downstream. Kherson is the centre of the Kherson region, which borders upon the Dnepropetrovsk region in the north, Zaporozhje region in the east, Nikolaev region in the west and the Crimea in the south-east.

Kherson is situated on the territory of the lowland near the Black sea, not far from the Asov sea. Kherson is the city of two ports: river-port & the sea-port. Through the Kherson’s trade port the Ukraine is connected with 42 countries of the world. The cargo ships & the passenger ships sail along the Dniper-river from Kherson to Kiev, the local water lines serve the thousands of passengers monthly, especially in summer. The city is the large railway knot, which is connected with Moscow, Dnepropetrovsk, Harkov, Simpheropol & other cities of the Ukraine & CIS.

Modern Kherson is the large city with the population of 1,149,811 citizens (figure at 1/1/2004), with the glorious history & the rich culture.

The Dniper-river & the wide city’s zone of green trees create a magnificent surrounding for a rest to the Khersoners & to the guests of the city. Kherson is one of the most "green" cities of the country; there are some city parks here: the Lenin Komsomol park, the Lenin park (in this park there is the oak tree, which has been growing for 100 years), the Glory park, hydropark (where thousands of the citizens have their rest in summer).

The main Kherson street is Ushakov avenue, it begins from the Dniper quay, where the monument to the First Shipwrights was erected.

Kherson is a large industrial centre. Mainly majoring in machinebuilding industry, metal-working industry, the food industry, the light industry & the manufacture of industrial materials. The absolute leaders of the Kherson machinebuilding industry are the shipbuilding & the shiprepairing.

There are 69 secondary schools (for 53 000 students) among them are: 4 lyceums, 3 gymnasiums, 5 specialized schools, the national school, 2 private schools. There are also 2 lyceums & the boarding-school for the orphans. There are 4 high schools, where you can get the high education. These are: the teachers training college, the agricultural college, technological college & the Kherson’s department of the Ukrainian Sea technological University.

There are 5 hospitals, which serve the children & adults, the maternity hospital with two maternity welfare clinics in it.

The traditional popular sport competitions decorate the city’s life. The motor-race , the national rowing competitions on the canoes, the female handball championship of the high league are among them. There are 5 stadiums, 4 swimming-pools & 268 yards for sport games.

The nature of the Kherson region is unique. There is the unique nature reserve Askanija Nova. It is the first nature reserve of Ukraine. The virgin steppe is the greatest value of the reserve. This part of the unique land in the eastern part of the Europe is considered as the example of the droughty steppe. 452 kinds of the flowers have been growing there, 50 kinds of wild hoofed animals from all continents live there at the Zoo.

The total area of the virgin reserve is about 33307,6 hectares. This reserve complex is very popular among tourists. In 1984 Askanija Nova was included by UNESKO in the global world network of the natural reserves.

Capital of the oblast (district) of the same name in the Ukrainian SSR. Kherson was founded in the eighteenth century. Jews lived there from the very beginning, and on the eve of World War II they numbered more than 15,000, out of a population of 167,108.

Kherson, also spelled Cherson, is the adminsitrative centre of Kherson province. It has major river and sea ports. It lies on the right (west) bank of the lower Dnieper River about 15 miles (25 km) from the latter's mouth. It was founded in 1778 by the military leader and statesman Grigory Potjemkin. Kherson region is situated on the south of Ukraine. The area of Kherson region is 28, 500 sq. km. It's bounded on the north by Dniepropetrovsk region, on the east by Zaporoge region, on the west by Nikolaev region and Crimean republic on the south by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. There are 18 regions, 9 cities, 30 settlements in the region. The population of cities is 61% of the population of the province.

In 1830 the first theatre in Kherson was organized. The famous actor Schepkin starred on the stage of the theatre. The plays "Three sisters", "The sea gull", "The uncle Vanja" by Chehov, "At the bottom" by Gorkij were shown on stage at Kherson theatre.

In 1898 the Local nature museum was opened. In 1908 – the musical specialized school.

Places of Interest
The standard city tour is usually a brief drive along the main boulevards of the city with the stops at the main sites of relatively old architecture (18-19th century) - Ammunition Depot, St.Sophia's Church, St.Catherine's Cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Spirit - and a visit to the Local History Museum.
Day trip to the Bird Islands Preserve (50 km one way). Founded in 1927. Covers over 142,500 acres of sand islands, shoals, swamps and estuaries in the mouth of the Dnipro and Southern Bug rivers. Alongside with the local species, there are numerous flocks of migratory birds, whose routes cross there.

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