Natural Parks and Preserves of Ukraine

Ukraine enjoys the fame of one of the most beautiful countries in the world: the evergreen Carpathian mountains and ages-old woods of Polissya, magnificent subtropics of the Crimea and mountain gorges in the land of Ternopilshchyna, boundless steppes of Khersonshchyna and shadowy groves of Poltavshchyna permeated with birds' singing, golden beaches of the Black and Azov Seas, picturesque valleys of the Dnipro, Danube, Dnestr and Buh rivers. Moving from north to south you can clearly distinguish four climatic zones in the territory of Ukraine thanks to which our country outstrips almost all the European countries in the landscape variety. There are numerous parks, biosphere preserves, nature sanctuaries, dendrological parks and botanical gardens, monuments of landscape gardening art that belong to natural, cultural and historical heritage of the Ukrainian people. It is hard to name all the gifts that nature favoured our land with.

Unique landscapes of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains amaze everyone who has visited these places. The nature of the Carpathians is fantastically rich. No matter where you're in the mountains be sure you're in the middle of the beautiful and picturesque land. Alpine meadows - polonyny - overgrown with relic and endemic plants, stretch over pristine woods. There is a sign of the geographical centre of Europe standing on the bank of the Tisa River, in the vicinity of the town Rakhiv, Zakarpattya (the western part of the Carpathians). The highest point of the Carpathians, Mount Hoverla (2061 m) clustered with other 2000-meter high peaks into a ridge, is the highest mountain in Ukraine. The nature in the centre of Europe is rich and diverse. There the biggest areas of wild nature have been preserved, in particular the vastest in Europe virgin woodlands that inhabit more than 50 percent of flora and fauna of Ukraine. High in the mountains there grows a flower of courage and love, that is edelweiss. The Carpathian Biosphere Preserve has been created for saving unique mountain landscapes where the fanciful design of stalactites adorn the caves, and in the second half of April a snow-white 'blanket' of beautiful flowers covers the Narcissus Valley - a unique place in Europe where Narcissus narrow-leaved survived. The Ukrainian Carpathians are splendid at any time of the year. Nothing breaks the silence in the evergreen kingdom, but a gentle murmur of rivers and a rolling rumble of waterfalls. One of them, in the village of Yaremcha, has always attracted crowds of tourists whose curiosity is fully remunerated. Others move upstream the Prut River to see a picturesque stone and the cave of Dovbush (a national hero, commander of people rebels). And there are numerous marvellous and incomparable places like this one in the Carpathians. Snow in the mountains lies almost for five months. This season is a favoured time for fans of winter kinds of sports. And in spring, Vyzhnitsa, on the Cheremosh river, and Yaremcha, on the Prut River, welcome lovers of boating.

The untouched woods of the Carpathians are still the homeland for bears, chamoises, wild boars, and other animals, including species that are hard to find nowadays in the rest of Europe: lynx, marten, ermine (or stoat). Tourists will be surprised to see unique landscapes of the Carpathian National Parks: Synevir Natural Park, known for its invaluable treasure - Synevir lake (989 m above the sea level) which is also referred to as 'the sea eye of the Carpathians'; Vyzhytsky Natural Park, a distinguished place for its rich animal and floral worlds; Uzhansky Natural Park, part of the first and biggest European threelateral biosphere preserve 'the Eastern Carpathians', where sources of mineral water and wooden monuments of sacral architecture are also included; Skolevsky Beskidy Natural Park with unique beechen virgin forests. The Ukrainian Carpathians is a place far famed not only for its picturesque and unique landscapes, but also for original and ingenious culture, for ages-long customs and crafts. Curative air, water from the springs, delicious Ukrainian cuisine together with travelling in mountains, all this creates a unique setting for an unforgettable visit to Fairyland - the Ukrainian Carpathians.

The Ukrainian Polissya occupies almost the fifth part of Ukraine. There are a lot of picturesque places that impress visitors with their primeval beauty. Poyaskovsky woods keep their secrets since there have been no economic activities for three hundred years now. Sandy ridges in a valley of the Sluch river, rocky hills in the vicinity of the town of Olevsk, freakish looking rocks along the riversides in the vicinity of the towns Korosten and Zhytomyr, narrow ravines on Slovchansko-Ovruchsky range, green slopes along the Dnipro in the land of Kyivshchyna, picturesque coppices in the valleys of Chernihovshchyna, basalt rocks in the Rovenska oblast, excellent greenery near the Teterev, Desna, Horyn rivers will fresh up your spirit and leave sweet memories. Yet, Volyn region, with its numerous lakes, is considered to be a pearl of the land. There are more than 200 of them, hidden in the pinewoods, crowded around the town of Shatsk, which is crowned with a true "diamond" - lake Svityaz, the deepest water basin of Ukraine (58,4 m). The purest air saturated with the flavour of the needles, calm and clean waters (you can easily see the inhabitants of the lake at the bottom of up to several metres), rustle of the wind in the trees tops, veils of the morning fog, - all this will make you willing to stay there longer. And add to this enjoyment from fishing out big fish - catfish, pike, and, if you'd be so lucky, eel. The Shatsky lakes are part of the Shatsky Natural Park.

The Ukrainian Polissya is also the land of numerous historical and cultural monuments, which you can find in the cities of Lutsk, Rivne, Dubno, Chernihiv and others.

Podniproviye (land in the valleys of the Dnipro River) is a big region of Ukraine where you can find heavenly scenic localities of untouched nature. A pearl of this region is the Dnipro river, (its old name is Slavutych), the third river in length after the Volga and Danube in Europe. The lands of Dnipropetrovshchyna and Poltavshchyna impress the visitor with the beauty of wild woods and vast valleys criss-crossed by the rivers, and picturesque villages plunged into the blooming gardens. The land of Zaporizhzhia houses the Kamyana Mohyla (Stone Grave) Preserve of the steppes land; Velyky and Mali Kuchuhury Ornithological Preserve of rare kinds of birds; Hortytsa, an island-preserve, and the Dnipro rapids, the history of which is connected with the last knights order in Europe - Viysko Zaporizhske (the Army of Zaporizhzhia) and the first-ever Christian republic - Zaporizhska Sich.

The Mykolayiv-Kherson region comprises dozens of unique natural zones, health-giving climate, far-stretched beaches of the Black and Azov Seas, plenty of sunshine. In the north of the Mykolaiv region the Southern Buh river makes its way to the sea forming a 40-kilometre canyon which walls in some places rise up to 50 metres.In terms of relic and endemic plants and animals the canyon of the Southern Buh is second only to the legendary Karabi-Yal in the Crimea. The Granite-Steppe Pobuzhie (land in the valley of the Buh River) Natural Park has been founded to preserve the invaluable natural and historical treasures of the Southern Buh canyon. The best slalom route in the plain Eastern Europe runs in here, and rocks and coastal mazes are dream of tourists and sportsmen. The Kherson region is well known for its golden beaches of the Black and Azov Seas, picturesque greenery in the lower reaches mouth of the Dnipro, the biggest fluxes in Europe. The Kherson region houses Askania-Nova Natural Preserve, a unique place on the European continent where the sanctuary steppe occupies a very large territory. Back in 1856, a German settler Frederick Faltz Fein bought about 150,000 acres of land from his countryman the Duke Ketensky Von Anhalt. The Duke named this farmstead that he had owned for more than 30 years, in honor of his country estate in Germany. The new owner decided to leave the name of the new grounds unchanged. Later, in 1874, he founded a zoo here, and in 1887 - a dendrological park. The diverse wild life of the Askania Preserve presents rare species from all over the world: horses of Przhevalsky, bisons, buffaloes, zebras etc. The major part of its territory is occupied with a picturesque botanical garden where trees and bushes of all climatic zones are presented. In 1984 UNESCO included this unique patch of wild nature in the land of the ancient Tavria into the list of the World Biospheric Preserves.

The Black Sea Preserve covers vast water spaces together with numerous islands where you can find more than 600 species of plants and diverse animal kingdom, with birds considered to be the main treasure of the Preserve. The black-headed seagull chooses shores of the Tenderovsly Gulf for the nest. It is a bright, colourful creature with black head, red beak and snow-white feathering. The fascinating excursions to the birds' islands are available from May till November.

The Crimea is one of the unique places in the world. Amazingly beautiful landscapes, primeval woods, subtropics of the coast, lazur water of the Black Sea will leave no visitor indifferent. There grow more than 2,600 kinds of plants, an unprecedented number in the whole Europe. The Crimean peninsula can be divided into two parts: the south coast and mountainous part, that are too different, and yet together, they create a whole and integral natural composition. The Southern Coast of Crimea is a heavenly beautiful place, where summer reigns almost the whole year. Fantastic rocks, waterfalls, splendid subtropical vegetation, and luxury beaches, famous palaces and parks ensembles impart landscapes the surpassing appearance. The Mountainous Crimea is the area of predominant karst landscapes. There are about 850 original karst cavities (wells, mines, and caves) in the Main Crimean Ridge, including the longest one - Kysyl-Koba (the Red Cave), of 13.7 km in length; and the deepest one - Soldatskaya (Soldier's) Mine, of more than 500 m in depth.

In preserved woods of the Crimean National Park one can come across Crimean deer, the largest and most beautiful animal of the mountainous Crimea. The Karadag (Black Mountain) Preserve amazes its visitors with fanciful appearances of its mountain slopes and peaks; with shadowy oak groves and spacious colourful steppes; with its freakish rocky capes dividing innumerable bays and bights; with its fathomless gorges and snug valleys. The Chatyrdag (the Black Mount) Tract Preserve houses caves famous for their beauty and old legends.

The labyrinths of the caves on the Peninsula are mysterious and beautiful, its Àê-Êàya (the Big Cliff) is majestic and insurmountable, its Grand Canyon is impressive, and the Dale of Ghosts is unique as to its mysteries. The Crimea is also home of Alushta's 'Stonehenge' and of a mysterious mountain Demerdzhi, picturesque waterfalls Uchan-Su and Dzhur-Dzhur and sharp dents of Ai-Petri Mount; renowned Nikitskiy Botanical Gardens and fine parks of Massandra, Ìiskhor and Alupka.

Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, undoubtedly ranks among the most scenic places of Ukraine and the world - it has been recognized as one of the three best capitals of Europe (together with Oslo and Vienna) as to its greenery. Its suburbs are also splendid. Pushcha-Vodytsa belongs to one of these lovely places. There might be no other megapolis in the world that can offer its residents and visitors a nature oasis only in 20 kilometres off its centre. The picturesque dendroparks of Ukraine are also worth mentioning here - they can be referred to as masterpieces of landscape gardening art without any exaggeration: Sofiyivka Park, a pearl in the crown of world parks; Aleksandriya Park in the Kyiv region; parks of Kachanovka, Sokornitsy and Trostyanets in the land of Chernihivshchyna.

One can write about natural treasures of Ukraine without end. And some places are so beautiful that you can't help feeling yourself happy and full of life there. Come and enjoy the scenic beauties of Ukraine's nature with Lybid-Tourist.
 

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