Monday 17 December 2012

Uzhhorod. Chapter 2

  Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross


Residence of the bishops of Mukachevo Greek Catholic Eparchy, built in 1646.


                                    Regional House of Popular Creation


                 St. Heorhiy Roman Catholic Cathedral, constructed in 1762-1766.


              One of the old city's buildings, called "a white ship" in the past.


                             Symbolic sculpture of the master of street lamps


Ss. Kyrylo and Mefodiy Ukrainian Theological Academy & Avhustyn Voloshyn Carpathian University


                                          Regional Theatre of the Dolls


                                                   Regional Philharmony


Monument to Yevhen Fentsyk, Greek Catholic priest, poet and writer.


                     Mini-monument to Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer


Monument to Avhustyn Voloshyn, president of Carpathian Ukraine, Greek Catholic priest and the rector of Uzhhorod Greek Catholic seminary.


                   Monument to Oleksandr Pushkin, Russian writer and poet


                           Independece Quay, central quay of Uzhhorod


Department of National Bank of Ukraine in Transcarpathian region (building, constructed in 1934-1936).


                          Transcarpathian Regionale State Administration


Monument to Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, writer, artist and public person


                             Ambar and wine cellars, built in 1781

                                                       Wine cellar (1781)


Monument to Transcarpathian artists Yosyf Bokshay and Adalbert Erdeli


                                          Yosyf Bokshay Artistic Museum


Reformative Church, constructed in 1796 and reconstructed in 1905-1906.


                               Christ the Saviour Orthodox Cathedral Church


                                           Uzhhorod Railway Station

                                       Good bye, beautiful Uzhhorod!

Thursday 13 December 2012

Uzhhorod. Chapter 1

                                             Uzh River and Orthodox Quay


        Protection of the Mother of God Orthodox Church, built in 1930.


                                                 Road to Uzhhorod Castle


                                   Uzh River and the part of Undercastle Park


The gates of Uzhhorod Castle, which was built in the XIVth century, though first Uzhhorod fortress was mentioned in the chronicles in 903. 


                                    Uzhhorod Castle's fortificational wall


         Another part of the castle's fortificational wall and Eastern bastion


The ruins of the ancientest Uzhhorod church, St. Yuriy Church, which was known in the chronicles since 1248 and situated in the castle's yard.


                         Bridge and the enter to Uzhhorod Castle's building


                              One of the parts of Uzhhorod Castle's building


                                 Restored former chapel in Uzhhorod Castle


                                  One of the rooms of Uzhhorod Castle


                          Collection of musical instruments, Uzhhorod Castle


                                  Hermes sculpture in Uzhhorod Castle's yard


 The enter to Uzhhorod skansen, Museum of Popular Architecture and Mode


St. Mykhayil wooden church, built in 1777, from Shelestovo village in Uzhhorod skansen


                                 Pottery stove from Velyki Komyaty village


                                  Woollen-mill  from Monastyrets village


House, constructed in the end of the XIXth century, from Steblivka village and a sheep. :)


                              Hives nearby rural house in Uzhhorod skansen


                        School, built in 1883, from Synevyrska Polyana village


                        Romanian house, built in1888, from Bedevlya village


Memorable table to Avhustyn Voloshyn, Greek Catholic priest, professor, rector of Uzhhorod Greek Catholic seminary and the president of  Carpathian Ukraine, on the building of the former seminary on Kapitulna Str.


                                             Uzhhorod Zoological Museum

Thursday 29 November 2012

Remembering Holodomors

In Ukraine and abroad people commemorate Ukrainian victims of Holodomors on the last Saturday of November since 1998 year. Holodomors were the famines in 1921-1923, 1932-1933, 1946-1947, artificially organized by Soviet state power against Ukrainian nation in USSR. There weren't just famines because of bad natural conditions, but there was special organized killing of Ukrainians with the artificial famine. In Holodomors' periods when Ukrainians had no food and wanted to eat, then Soviet state power exported Ukrainian grains and food abroad, leaving Ukrainians to die. The most terrible Holodomor was in autumn 1932-winter 1933, when, according to the diverse informational sources, 7-10 million of Ukrainians died during that Holodomor in USSR.
This year the mournful events were held in Ukrainian cities and in the world in Commemoration Day of Holodomors' victims on November 24th, 2012, and people lit candles in the memory of Holodomors' victims. Remember Ukrainian victims of Holodomors in 1921-1923, 1932-1933 and 1946-1947 years!

Photos of the different informational news sites of Lviv mournful events on November 24th, 2012:
http://lvivexpres.com/news/2012/11/24/37754
http://vgolos.com.ua/fotoday/443.html
http://zik.ua/ua/photoreport/2012/11/24/380507

Commemoration of Holodomors' victims in Kyiv on November 24th, 2012:
http://tyzhden.ua/Gallery/65861

Memorials to the victims of Holodomor 1932-1933 in the various cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Severodonetsk, Obukhiv, Luhansk), in Canada and USA:
http://tyzhden.ua/Gallery/65780

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Ecological meeting in Mariupol

In Mariupol, Donetsk region, the most numeral meeting in the history of the city was held on November 4th, 2012. Terrible smell from Mariupol factories and regular smog in the city were the reasons of this ecological meeting. More than 5 thousands people were present on ecological meeting, which was organized by different public activists. As public acrivists told on the meeting, Mariupol bureaucrats intimidate the citizens, forcing them to be silent and not to protest because of possible losting of their job at city's metallurgical factories, which soil the air the most. Mariupol factory "Azovstal" ("Azovsteel"), one of the factories of "Metinvest Holding" of Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, is the biggest source of the soiling in the city. And Mariupol Metallurgical Factory named after Illich is the biggest metallurgical enterprise of Ukraine and also belongs to Akhmetov's "Metinvest Holding" since July, 2010. "Azovsteel" is equiped with cleaning filters only on 43% and Mariupol Metallurgical Factory named after Illich is equiped with such filters on 63%, so You can just imagine how much Mariupol air is gassed.
Organizers of ecological meeting composed the resolution and thousands of the people signed it after the finishing of the meeting. Mariupol citizens appealed to Government of Ukraine with the request to recognize Mariupol the city of ecological disaster and appealed to Mariupol mayor Yuriy Khotlubey with the request to fix a moratorium for the opening of new industrial enterprises and for the growing of present enterprises' capacities. Besides it the citizens of Mariupol decided to create an independent group of specialists, who will have a possibility to go at the metallurgical factories and can do necessary intentions there, when smog will appear in the city. Mariupol people also appealed in the resolution to "Metinvest Holding" with the request to settle the problem with the aglofactory of "Azovsteel", which soils the city very much. Another important request of the resolution was stopping of huge soiling of Azov sea by "Azovsteel". Because metallurgical factory "Azovsteel" uses 800 million cubic meters of Azov sea's water annualy and then throws down its sewage in Azov sea too. So the members of ecological meeting demanded in the resoultion to create closed circle of the water's using at "Azovsteel". Because Mariupol people, as all people around the world, want to live in clean city and to be healthy and to have healthy children, but such catastrophical ecological situation doesn't give it for them.
Simultaneously, the owner of "Metinvest" Rinat Akhmetov is № 38 in the new top-200 of the richest people in the world with his $18,9 billion of net worth according to such top-200 of Bloomberg agency, published in November, 2012.                    


p.s. The information was taken from the newspapers "Express" and "Newspaper in Ukrainian", and Bloomberg agency's site.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

70th anniversary of the creation of UPA

October 14th, 1942 was declared the day of the creation of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrayinska Povstanska Armiya - UPA) in 1947, though UPA detachments began to do military actions in spring of 1943. But the Protection of the Mother of God religious holiday is celebrated on October 14th, and the soldiers of UPA, as Ukrainian cossacks in Zaporizka Sich, respected this Christian holiday very much, so that's why October 14th, the date of the day of Ukrainian Insurgent Army's foundation, was chosen more symbolically. And this year Ukraine's people celebrated 70th anniversary of the creation of UPA on October 14th, 2012.
UPA soldiers were Ukrainian knights in the years of the Second World War, because UPA had fought for Ukrainian independent state and against Soviet, Nazi and Polish occupants of Ukraine's teriitory. Any war brings deaths and ruins, but the war gives also the chance for enslaved nations to create a new state. Ukraine didn't begin the World War II, but Ukrainian territory was the active camp of the battle between Soviet and Nazi troops, so Ukrainians had to protect their families as they could in that time, and that's why Ukrainian Insurgent Army was founded. Many false historians say and/or write about UPA soldiers as about Nazi collaborations, forgetting the important historical fact: on June 30th, 1941 Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) declared the Act of the Rehabilitation of Ukrainian State in Lviv. In that day Nazi troops entered in Lviv and then they began to arrest OUN members, because Hitler didn't imagine any Ukrainian independent state. OUN and UPA were reciprocal connected Ukrainian organizations, though not only Ukrainians were the members of OUN and UPA, but the representatives of the different nations, who didn't want to live in Soviet or Nazi empire and who could imagine to live in free Ukraine. Poles weren't in OUN and UPA, because during the World War II they couldn't just suppose to give back Ukrainian territories to Ukrainians and to see the creation of Ukrainian state. That's why many Poles consider OUN and UPA Polish enemies till nowadays. Many Russians, especially Russian chauvinists, have the same feelings toward OUN and UPA as many Poles because of the same cause - these two Ukrainian organizations (OUN - political-public, UPA - military) fought for Ukrainian state's creation and didn't want to see Ukraine in Soviet Union. Many Jews consider UPA Nazi collaborants too, forgetting to read historical facts from Ukrainian archives and books, which write about Jewish members in UPA. If You want to know the truth about the activity of OUN and UPA, read many informational source without getting Russian or Polish sources about OUN and UPA as one right history's version. Of course, You can find many Ukrainian books about OUN and UPA, for example, "UPA. Story of Unconquered", the first two published volumes of "History of OUN and UPA in 12 Volumes", "Life and Activity of Stepan Bandera. Documents and Materials" and others.
If You can understand the desire of the nation to have its own independent state and the feeling of the duty to protect own nation during the war, You will understand OUN and UPA.
I only please You not to compare and not to parallel OUN with any modern political party in Ukraine, because there is no the second OUN now, though the famous political party "Svoboda" (Freedom Party) very likes to parallel itself with OUN.                       

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Kolomyya (part 2)

                             Kolomyya railway station, built in 1860.


The building of public organizations, constructed for them in 1895.


Memorial "Sorrow's Square" to all, who died during the Second World War.


Monument to the fighters for independent Ukraine, to the soldiers of UPA (Ukrayiinska Povstanska Armiya - Ukrainian Insurgent Army).


Several architectural examples of the end of the XIXth-the early XXth centuries in Kolomyya.


                                     Kolomyya City Council, built in 1877.


Memorable table on Kolomyya City Council, dedicated to Ivan Franko, which was inprisoned here in 1880.


Monument to Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian writer, poet, artist and public person.


Ancient pharmacy, founded in the XIXth century. Now one pharmacy is also working here.


Allegoric sculptures, made on the beginning of the XXIth century on Revival Square.


Memorable sigh on the place of the former monument to Taras Shevchenko, which was destroyed by Russian soldiers in 1914.


Former St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, constructed by Bernard Meretyn in 1762-1775, and reconstructed in 1830-1895. Nowadays it's St. Yosafat Greek Catholic Church.  


St. Mykhayil the Archangel Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, built in 1864.


Kolomyya synagogue, constructed in the second half of the XIXth century.


Ivan Ozarkevych Kolomyya Dramatic Theatre, built on the beginning of the XXth century.


Memorable table on the facade of Kolomyya Dramatic Theatre to Ivan Ozarkevych, the priest, public person, artist, poet, translator and the founder of the first Ukrainian theatre in the Western Ukraine in 1848 in Kolomyya.


Monument near Ivan Ozarkevych Kolomyya Dramatic Theatre to Myroslav Irchan (his real name - Andriy Babyuk), Ukrainian writer, which was born in the village Pyadyky in Kolomyya district.


Wonderful combination of ancient (the XIXth century) (on the left) and modern (2002year) (on the right) buildings on Viche Square. Evening in Kolomyya. And it's time to say good bye to Kolomyya city. :)