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Dnipropetrovsk

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

is a regional and district center in the South-Eastern part of Ukraine. Its population is over 1 million people. The city spreads over the both banks of the Dnieper /Dnipro/ River on the area of 400 sq. km. The city was founded in 1776 by order of Prince Potiomkin on the site of the Cossack free village of Polovytsia, which came into being in the 1740's. It was named after the Empress Catherine II /1729-1-796/ who ruined the Zaporizhzhian Sich in 1775 and introduced serfdom in Ukraine in 1883. In May 1787, while touring Southern Russia, Catherine II laid the first foundation stone of the Transfiguration Cathedral. On May 6,1820, Oleksandr Pushkin visited Yekaterinoslav on his way to the Southern exile. At first Yekaterinoslav was a small provincial town on the Right Bank of the Dnieper. In 1884 the Katerynoslav Railway linked the city with the Donetsk coal basin and the Kryvyi Rig iron ore basin. The Provincial town of Katerynoslav turned into the center of ferrous metallurgy. In 1926 the city was renamed after G.I. Petrovskyi /878-1958/ who was one of the organizers of the Katerynoslav Soviet in 1905. In 1920-33 he was the chairman of All-Ukrainian central commission of poor peasants. Today Dnipropetrovsk boasts of many historical and architectural monuments of the city. The hill crowned by the Transfiguration Cathedral /1830-35/ is the starting point of the city. There is the Square of Eternal Glory wit a tank standing on a pedestal - the monument to General Yefym Pushkin /b.1899/ who fell in action liberating the Dnipropetrovsk region on March 11, 1944. A street and School N81 of Dnipropetrovsk bear his name. On the slope of the hill there is the city's oldest T. Shevchenko Park. Once a Zaporizhzhian Cossack L. Hloba planted a large orchard in the place. Prince Potiomkin bought it nd built a palace there. The Potiomkin Palace is now the oldest building in Dnipropetrovsk. It was built to the design by prominent architect I. Starov 1745-1808/. Today the palace houses Yu. Gagarin Students' Palace. The Island in the T. Shevchenko Park is of great historical interest. In the 9th century Greek monks built a monastery there. In 957 Princess Olga /890-969/ of Kyiv /945-957/ stayed here on her way to Constantinople where she adopted Christianity and got the Christian name of Helena. It was 31 years before her grandson Volodymyr Sviatoslavych /7-1015/ baptized Kyivan Rus. In 988 the barks which carried Prince Volodymyr's troops to Korsun' pulled to the island. In 1240 the monastery was ruined by the hordes of Khan Batu /1208-55/ who ruined Pereiaslav and Chernihiv in 1239 and Kyiv in 1240. Today this island is a popular recreation place. On the island there is the largest in Europe freshwater aquarium. The city boasts of five theatres, the Circus, the Organ Music House in the ancient Brianska Church and the Sports Complex with the Aquatic and Ice Palaces. The Yavornytskyi historical museum was founded in 1849 and is one of the oldest in Ukraine. The museum bears the name of Academician Yavornytskyi /Evarnytskyi/ /1855-1940/ who dedicated many of his works to the history of Zaporizhzhian Sich /Host/. In the museum there is the diorama "The Battle for the Dnieper" opened in 1975. One of the expositions is dedicated to arts and crafts of the Dnipropetrovsk Region. The former Katerynoslav Province was famous for its painters of ornaments. This form of decorative art came into being centuries ago at the village of Petrykivka of the Tsarychanka district. It is distinguished for floral ornamental motives, graceful tracery nd vividness of color in the style of Ukrainian Baroque. Among the masters of paining are known Tetiana Pata /1884-1976/, Marfa Tymchenko, Nadiia Shulyk and others. Many masterpieces of the Factory of Petrykivka Painting are exported to the foreign countries. The towns of the Dnipropetrovsk region /pop. 3,712,700/ Apostolovo /before 1923 Pokrovske/ was founded in the 18 c. In 1793 the retired second-major M.D. Apostol for his loyal service was granted land here. Dniprodzerzhynsk /before 1936 Kaminske/ is a region town. It was founded in 1750. It got its name from the nearby quarry. It was renamed in 1936 after F, Dzerzhynskyi /1877-1926/. Kryvyi Rig /Curved Horn/ is a regional town. It was founded in 1775. It lies where the Ingulets and Saksagan Rivers form a "curved horn". In the 17 century it was the site of the Zaporizhian Cossack winter camp. The first settler was Kryvyi /"one-eyed" in Ukrainian/ Rig. The town has 21 mines and a metallurgy plant "Kryvorizhstal". Magdalynivka was founded in the 18 c. by he settlers from Poltava. In 1790 Catherine II granted this land to the daughter of Poltava landlord Magdenko. Nikopol is a region town is situated on the Right Bank of the Kakhovka reservoir. It came into being on the site of the Cossack ford Mykytyn Rig named after Cossack Mykyta Tsygan who settled here first. In 1791 it was renamed Nikopol that means in Greek "the town of victory" / Nike is Goddess of victory, polis is a city. /.It has the Southern Pipe Plant. Pavlograd is a region town. It was founded in 1784. In 1770 Zaporizhzhian Cossack Matvii Khyzhniak founded here a winter camp. In 1775 it was turned into a military village Matviivka. In 1780 it was fortified. It was named after Pavlo I. Piatykhatky is a district town. It was founded in 1885. The legend has it that the town got its name from the Chumaks, Ukrainian cart drivers who passed it on their way to the Crimea for salt. There were five huts of the brothers Potabashnyi. Sofiivka is a district town. It was founded in 1793 by the czar general Dunin who named the town in honour of his fiancee. Tsarychanka is a district town. It was founded in 1604. The name comes from Moldavian word "zarizina" - a field. Zhovti Vody is a region town upon the Zhovta /Yellow/ River. It was founded in the 19th c. At Zhovti Vody the Ukrainian Cossack headed by B. Khmelnytskyi won the first victory over the army of Polish landlords on May 6, 1648.