Donets'k. The territory of the contemporary city became inhabited in the late 17th c., when in the upper reaches of the Kal'mius, on its right bank, the well-to-do Zaporozhian Cossacks established their settlement in the area of Oleksandrivka. However, the burial mounds from different epochs testify that this territory was already populated in the 4th - 3rd cc. BC.
The city appeared and developed on the basis of the mining industry thanks to rich mineral deposits. Around the settlement of Oleksandrivka founded in 1779, first coal pits appeared, and in 1869, with the beginning of the construction of a metallurgical plant and mines, a settlement appeared, which merged with the miners' settlement of the Oleksandrivka mine. Thus appeared Yuzivka. the future Donets'k.
The development of natural resources was accompanied by the cruel exploitation of miners and metallurgists. A. Serafimovich, A. Kuprin, and V. Veresaev vividly described the life and hard work of the local workers.
The contemporary city is the heart of Donbas, its largest industrial, scientific and cultural centre. It is one of the greenest industrial cities in Ukraine with numerous parks and a botanical garden. In 1965 the Donets'k State University was opened. The Art Museum and the Museum of Local Lore have very interesting collections.
Amvrosiivka. An archaeological monument of great interest – the site of the early Palaeolithic age – has survived here.
In 1968, the scientists of the Donets'k Botanical Garden found a plot of land in Hirka Gully near the town overgrown with the valuable rare decorative eremurus (desert candle), a perennial of the Liliaceae family with leaves in a basal rosette and greenish-yellow flowers in racemes at the tops of long naked stalks.
Artemivs'k. At the end of the 17th c., Cossack Biriukov hit on rich deposits of salt in the vicinity of the contemporary town and founded there a fortified settlement. In 1701, having learnt that there was salt in these places, Peter I ordered to build here a wooden fortress and to rename the settlement into the town of Bakhmut. In 1704, Ukrainian Cossacks were resettled to this place and began to extract salt.
In 1724, the first mining of Donbas coal began in this territory. In the late 19th c., Bakhmut turned into a large industrial town. Great chemist D. Mendeleev visited it many times to study the possible development of coal industry. In 1797, on the donations of salt-workers, St. Nicholas' Church, one of the oldest in eastern Ukraine, was built in the town. In 1861, a stone bell tower was erected near the church.
Mariupol'. On the territory of the contemporary town one of the most remarkable monument of the Neolithic times was researched. In the past, these lands were the arena of fierce battles. In the 13th c. the Northern Azov maritime region fell under the rule of the Golden Horde, and in the 15th c. it went to the Crimean Khanate.
The town appeared in 1770 on the site of the former fortress of Domakha founded in the early 18th c.
The prominent artist A. Kuindzhi was born in Mariupol', as well as Professor of Moscow University G. Chelpakov, who founded an institute of psychology in 1912. M. Kropyvnyts'kyi and M. Staryts'kyi performed on the stage of the local theatre.
At present Mariupol' is not only an important industrial and cultural centre but also the town of resorts.
Sviati Hory (Holy Mounts) national park. In 1997 with the aim of the preservation of the biological diversity of the phytobiota in the middle reaches of the Sivers'kyi Donets' a park was created with an area of 40,589 ha. In its territory, quite a few health-improving establishments enter into the zone of stationary recreation.
Sviatohirs'k. This town is a famous health resort, one of the most picturesque in Donbas. Its ancient history is represented by archaeological monuments – burial mounds and settlements of the Stone and Bronze ages, the Middle Ages – by a fortified settlement of the 8th - 10th cc. Of special interest is a complex of historical and architectural monuments of the 17th - 19th cc. in the former Sviatohirs'kyi Monastery: a cave labyrinth in the limestone rock and a small church on its top, the Dormition Cathedral, the Intercession Church with the bell tower, the lower pavilion for pilgrims, and towers of the monastery wall.
Ukrainian steppe reserve. Created in 1961. Now has four branches: Mykhalivs'ka Tsilyna (in Sums'ka Oblast), Kamiani Mohyly, Khomutivs'ky Steppe and Kreidiana Flora. Its total area is 2,768-ha. It was established with the aim of the preservation, protection and study of natural steppe landscapes and characteristic representatives of the steppe fauna.
Oblast farmsteads