UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ukraine

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in education, sciences and culture.

                    Ukraine’s UNESCO Sites 

To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. Of course, this list also includes Ukraine, where many objects of memory are listed, one of which is even recognized as a masterpiece of human genius.

There are many criteria for selecting monuments at UNESCO, so let’s move on to the famous Ukrainian sites from the list.

                 St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv

The St. Sophia Cathedral is one of the main Christian shrines in Europe, and the Royal Gates and Oranta are of special value. The mosaic “Our Lady of Oranta” is an unspoken symbol of Kyiv and embodies the wisdom of centuries. The royal gates are no less important, because they are also considered “holy” in the sacred sense.

In St. Sophia Cathedral there are a huge number of frescoes with different styles of execution. The date of the foundation of the cathedral has long been considered 1037, as stated in the “Tale of Bygone Years”. But historians, based on many indisputable written sources, prove that the construction of the cathedral began in 1011 and ended in 1018.

                     Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

The Kyiv Lavra is the spiritual center of all metropolitan residents and guests of Kyiv, where they gather for Easter and Christmas. The Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is interesting because several more mini plus the Assumption Cathedral are located on its territory.

Every sanctuary has a rich history and extremely beautiful landscapes, dating from different eras.For nine centuries, originality was created inside and outside the lava, and the caves have a special value.

Every day the guide takes with him about 8 persons and during 2 hours acts as a guide in the dungeons of the monastery.

Some really wonderful things do that, because caves are seen as a place of strength. Here come those who want to restore vitality and energy, as well as open up to yourself.  

                            Lviv Old Town

Lviv has the largest number of historical and architectural monuments in Ukraine, counting 2,500 of them. But, UNESCO has included in the list the historical centre of Lviv, where elegant ensembles of medieval and old architecture are concentrated.In Lviv, each quarter literally “exudes” stories.

So, tourists especially liked the Market Square, Solomia Krushelnytska Lviv National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Dominican Church and others.

The territory of the ensemble of the historical center consists of 120 hectares of Lviv.

UNESCO has also included the St. George’s Cathedral and St. George’s Mountain. According to the rules, owners are not allowed to make additions to historic buildings, as well as change the facades or obscure the view with signs and billboards.

Authentic Hutsul is felt in Lviv.

The Struve Arc is probably the most unusual monument on the UNESCO list, because without a dictionary and geologist you will not understand what an arc is and where to find it.

The surveyor Struve once in the 19th century initiated an interesting experiment, the data of which were to measure the arc of the earth’s meridian. Around 260 landfill sites in different countries and cities were used for this process. So, in the territory of Ukraine, there were also several stone cubes buried in the ground, that scientists were guided by in the village of Stara Nekrasovka, Odessa region.

The arc was measured for 40 long years and was named after its finder. 

             Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians

The secret to the preservation and integrity of Carpathian forests is that they are safely away from humans – relatively far away. After all, the logger’s foot has not set foot here, and environmentalists call it the Ukrainian jungle. 

Beech forests stretch along 180 km and consist of 10 conditional segments, depending on the predominant animals. The forests originate at the foot of the Rakhiv Mountains and extend directly to Vyhorlat in Slovakia.

         Residence of Bukovinian Metropolitans

Today the Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, is based at the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans building complex. Visitors to the city often say that the university is similar to Hogwarts’ fairytale Harry Potter of the same name, but it’s even better! 

The residence of the metropolises is included in the UNESCO list not by accident, but due to the exquisite architectural style and cultural significance of this place. The construction of the house lasted 18 years, but it’s worth it. Just imagine how pleasant the creator Josef Hlavka is now for his work.

The university has preserved the former building, which consisted of three buildings: the main, theological school and the church. Hlavka worked hard to come up with such a refined style for such an atypical building. Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine motifs, the walls are decorated with colored tiles.

The beauty does not end there. Inside the residence of the Bukovina metropolitans, tourists are still greeted by a magnificent marble hall and a red room.

                    Tauric Chersonese

Фото tury.club

The Tauric Chersonese National Reserve is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but since 2014, UNESCO has not monitored the preservation of the museum-reserve, as the organization does not recognize the occupation of Crimea.

The Tauric Chersonese in Russia is now classified as a particularly valuable cultural heritage site of federal importance.

              St. George’s Church in Drohobych

The St. George’s Church in Drohobych it’s one of the best preserved monuments of old Ukrainian sacral architecture. In 2013, it was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the object “The wooden churches of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.

The church is a monument of Galician wooden architecture of the late 15th – early 16th centuries, one of the best preserved and one of the best monuments of ancient Ukrainian sacral architecture. Today the church is part of the Department of wooden architecture museum Drohobych

              Descent of the Holy Spirit Church

The Wooden Descent of the Holy Spirit Church was built in the suburb of Potelych, Ukraine in 1502 on the site of a church that was burned down by tatars. It is the oldest wooden church in Lviv Oblast.

On June 21, 2013, on the 37th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Cambodia the Holy Spirit Church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List among other wooden churches of the Carpathian Region in Ukraine.  

          Church of the Ascension (Yasinya)

The Church of the Ascension (Strukivska) crowns the summit of a hill in Yasinya village, Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia Region.

Built in 1824 in a cruciform shape with a dome over the central part of the nave. Preserved ancient iconostasis and banners of the XIX century. Nearby in the church is an ancient cemetery and a bell tower built in 1813. Services in the church are conducted by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) and the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church.

In 2013, the Church of the Ascension, along with other wooden churches in the Carpathian region, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List

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