Kiev’s official recorded history begins on 482 AD. According to legend, the city was founded on the high right bank of the Dnipro River by the brothers Kyi, Schek, and Khoryv and their sister Lybid, and named Kiev in honor of the elder brother. The city became the center of the powerful Kievan Rus state which reached its golden age under Prince Volodymyr Svyatoslavovych the Great, who Christianized the Rus in 988, and his son Yaroslav the Wise (978 - 1054). Testimonials to the greatness of that era: the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, still stand today.
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Emperor of Byzantium Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (9th century) was a cunning politician and diplomat, researcher and publicist. He left as heritage for his son not only Byzantium and the phrase “Divide and conquer”, but also several encyclopaedias and the treatise “On Governance of the Empire”. In this work, in the chapter about the road from “Varangians to the Greeks” for the first time in history Khortytsia is mentioned, the biggest island of the Dnipro River and the symbol of free Ukrainian Cossacks
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The Lutsk (or Lubart’s) Castle is the main historic monument of the capital of Volyn. It is the only castle in Ukraine seen by nearly every Ukrainian, thanks to the fact that they hold its picture in their hand with every 200 hryvnas bill. The 28 meter-high Entrance Tower of Lutsk Castle was where the idea of a united Europe was voiced for the first time. And it happened in 1429
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Do you know how nice it is in the Khmelnytskyi region at the beginning of summer? Blooming gardens turn the villages into milk-white lakes on soft green hills; forests and fields are covered with a multicoloured carpet. Here you will see another Ukraine: the residents of Podillia took the best from each region, and the result is a dazzling combination!
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Once ancient Cafa, now the south-eastern resort of Crimea; Feodosia measures its age in centuries. Who has this city not seen during its lifetime? The contemporaries of Hellenic legends, Armenian colonies, enterprising Genoeses, Turkish invaders and Zaporizhian Cossacks – the ancient walls of the Feodosian Citadel, spread out on Karantynnyi Hill in the northern part of the city, remember their deeds
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It is early morning. The town of Kremenets slumbers at the base of Bona Hill. The great building of the Kremenets Lyceum, impressive belfry of the Mykolaivska church and the other old houses of the city also sleep. In their dreams they see the many famous people who used to visit Kremenets: the great composer Franz List, genius author Honoré de Balzac, and Ukraine’s legendary Taras Shevchenko… Towering 400 meters above, their rest is guarded by the castle of Queen Bona
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It was 350 years ago; France during the time of the musketeers and Cardinal Richelieu. Young Maria Casimire Louise de la Grange d’Arquien, daughter of the captain of the royal guard and the King’s governess, journeyed east to a remote country. She had no idea that Zolochiv castle (located in the current day Lviv region) would be her refuge for many years, a castle proudly boasting modern Ukraine’s only Chinese Palace
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Filmmakers prefer Khotyn Castle above all Ukrainian castles. With a movie “career” for more than four decades and a long list of “roles”, this fortress is a real movie star! It has played the French La Rochele and grim English castles, a magic palace from H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales and R. L. Stevenson’s medieval stronghold. In each role the fortress has been unsurpassed
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Ukraine’s tranquil Rivne region boasts a region called the “Volyn Switzerland” due to the incredible beauty of its landscapes. Blue lakes nestle among thick forests, while hills rise dramatically from plains of unobtrusive beauty. It is here that Gubkiv castle, so generously endowed with legends and history, rises over the Sluch River.
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Morshyn is a well-known spa town in the Lviv region caring for gastrointestinal issues. Its main healing tool is natural mineral water which contains such useful micro-elements as iron, bromine, iodine, magnesium and considerable amounts of dissolved oxygen. Carlsbad of Halychyna is how it was called in the 19th century by those who came to this famous water resort from all over Western Europe
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