Dnipropetrovs'k. The territory of the contemporary city was populated since olden times, which is testified by numerous finds kept in the Yavornyts'kyi Museum of History. The city itself was founded in 1776 under the name of Yekaterinoslav evidenced by the memorial Catherine's Mile. At that time, during the travel of Catherine II through her estates, the construction of the Transfiguration Cathedral, one of the city's famous architectural monuments, was begun. In 1790, the palace for Count Potocki was built after the design by architect I. Starov
in the territory of the picturesque park (now a monument of landscape architecture) laid out by the Zaporozhian Cossack Lazar Hloba in the late 18th c.
At different times many outstanding Ukrainian and Russian scientists and cultural workers visited the region. In 1820 A. Pushkin was in exile here. Now there is a monument to the great Russian poet. During the Crimean War, the outstanding surgeon N. Pirogov worked in one of the city hospitals.
Talented Ukrainian poet, publicist and ethnographer I. Manzhura lived and worked in Yekaterinoslav.
In 1926 the city was renamed Dnipropetrovs'k. More detailed information on its history can be obtained in the city museum of history.
Dniprovs'ko-Oril'skyi reserve. The reserve, organised in 1990, occupies an area of 3,766 ha, including the Dnipro water area 50 m wide.
Oak-maple forests prevail in the flora of the reserve. Small areas are covered with forests of white willow, white poplar, aspen and alder. Twenty-five species of rare plants are entered into The Red Book of Ukraine. The reserve fauna comprises more than 4,000 species, including typical representative of ichthyofauna.
The territory of the reserve borders upon Mykolaivs'kyi steppe, the section that is a valuable example of motley grass and fescue-feather grass steppes.
Kryvyi Rih. The territory, where the contemporary city stands, has been populated since olden times. The first human settlements appeared here more than 40,000 years ago. The excavations of the great Royal Burial Mound, burials of the Sarmatians and the nomads testify to this.
The city was founded by the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the mid-17th c. It got its name after the long crooked horn (kryvyi rih in Ukr.) formed at the confluence of the Saksahan' and the Inhulets' Rivers. On April 27, 1775 in Kryvyi Rih area a station of the post road was opened which laid the foundation of the contemporary city. For a long time Kryvyi Rih was a military settlement.
This land is rich in minerals, the most important of them being the iron ore. The exploring for ore deposits began in the latter half of the 17th c., and the first mine works were held in the 1770s. In 1881 the Saksahan' mine was opened where the ore was extracted by the open-pit method. Within the precincts of the city the Northern Red Gully is situated, as well as a monument of nature the MOPR rocks, the botanical gardens and two parks, monuments of landscape architecture.
Novomoskovs'k. First settlements on the territory of contemporary Novomoskovs'k appeared in the 3rd millennium BC. The city was founded as a winter camp in the 17th c. In 1688 the Novobohodars'ka Fortress was built here, and in the first half of the 18th c. the sentry fort was constructed to protect the city from the invasions of the Crimean Tatars. Novomoskovs'k inhabitants took an active part in the Koliivschyna uprising led by Maksym Zalizniak.
Of great interest is the wooden Trinity Cathedral built without a single nail after the design by architect Y. Pohribniak in 1781. Now it houses the exhibits of the Novomoskovs'k Museum of Local Lore where you can learn about the town history.
Oblast farmsteads