Discover Ukraine
The Ukrainian nature and climate causes a multitude of experiences to await our guests. There is ample opportunity to provide a wide variety of outdoor activities. Visitors can try their luck fishing, hunting or go horseback riding. It is possible to feel the wind in the sails in a sailboat, take a dip into the sea, downhill skiing, soaking up the landscape while climbing or skydiving. Leave the hustle and bustle of daily routine and enjoy a few days discovering Ukraine.
Most of our national traditions are carefully cherished. They transform themselves into different events that bring together folk and ethno rock musicians, craftsmen and applied art artists. For example, the annual Festival of Folklore Music «Krayina Mriy» in Kiev.
Most of our national traditions are carefully cherished. They transform themselves into different events that bring together folk and ethno rock musicians, craftsmen and applied art artists. For example, the annual Festival of Folklore Music «Krayina Mriy» in Kiev.
Modern Ukraine
Ukrainian hotels
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events
Ukrainian hotels offer a huge choice of meeting rooms or convention centres for any-sized business event. When it comes to vary your meetings with activities, cultural programs or other entertainment events, we will provide you with tailor-made programs in any city of the Ukraine.
Recreation
Events and conventions usually mean long working days for the participants, who, like everybody else, have a need for rest, and relaxation after a long day. Our hotels offer not only top class conference facilities, but, better yet, the opportunity for participants to indulge their minds, bodies and souls in a wide variety of SPA’s, recreation centers and fitness clubs.
Ukrainian cuisine
Ukrainian cuisine is, in fact, generally pre-Christian in origin. Ukrainians eat a lot of potatoes, grains, fresh and sour vegetables, different kinds of bread, chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms. Popular traditional dishes include varenyky (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, sauerkraut, cottage cheese or cherries), borsch (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat) and holubtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots and meat).
Incoming department
Our department offers much more than just accommodation, transport services, incentive and leisure travel programs. We can provide services for special events, congress and seminars, conventions and symposiums and incentives for groups of all sizes.
Whatever your needs, we would like to have an opportunity to make it successful. Our proposals include a description of the destination, as well as hotels, restaurants and leisure, along with photographs to give you a full picture of the venue and the whole event.
With our local expertise and professional partners we are able to generate unique ideas to develop programs that will provide you with the best incentive travel experience.
We will be glad to assist you with the following:
Accommodation Corporate Meetings Incentives Business trips Tailor made programs Event Management Excursions Team Building Events Study Tours Leisure Congress & Conference planning Transport services
Our department offers much more than just accommodation, transport services, incentive and leisure travel programs. We can provide services for special events, congress and seminars, conventions and symposiums and incentives for groups of all sizes.
Whatever your needs, we would like to have an opportunity to make it successful. Our proposals include a description of the destination, as well as hotels, restaurants and leisure, along with photographs to give you a full picture of the venue and the whole event.
With our local expertise and professional partners we are able to generate unique ideas to develop programs that will provide you with the best incentive travel experience.
We will be glad to assist you with the following:
Accommodation Corporate Meetings Incentives Business trips Tailor made programs Event Management Excursions Team Building Events Study Tours Leisure Congress & Conference planning Transport services
The wonders of Kiev (Kyiv)
The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. One of the biggest cities of Europe, Kyiv has a population of 3,145,000 (Kyiv Сity 5, 000, 000). Its area covers over 800 sq km. Stretching along the picturesque banks of the legendary full-flowing Dnipro (the Dnieper River), it stands at the crossroads of major internal and transnational railroads, highways and air lines. Kyiv has two airports: for national and international flights. It is a big railroad junction and a river port on the Dnipro. From Kyiv you can make a non-stop voyage to the Mediterranean and to the Atlantic Ocean aboard "river-sea" ships. City transport includes metro (underground), buses, trolley buses/cars, cable cars or funicular and taxis. The core of a big branchy tree as Ukraine is, Kyiv has a history rooted deeply into ancient times. According to an old legend it was founded at the end of the 5th century by three brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid who settled on the hills near the Dnipro and called their town-citadel Kyiv after the name of their brother Kyi. Kyiv was the "mother of all Russian towns and cities", "the Promised land of Slavs, their Jerusalem, and the Dnipro - their Jordan River". It was in Kyiv where in 988 Prince Volodymyr introduced Christianity into Rus as the official state religion.
Ancient Kyiv has given us priceless frescoes and mosaics, a wealth of museum relics, a necklace of architectural monuments such as second-to-none Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, founded in 1051, the Orthodox holy place and their Mecca, or a precious pearl of the llth century - St. Sophia Cathedral founded by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the Golden Gate, one of the most remarkable fortifications of that time, St. Andrew's Church, the immortal creation of Rastrelli and the world beauty of the 18th century, and a great deal of other samples of exquisite architectual designs.
Ancient Kyiv has given us priceless frescoes and mosaics, a wealth of museum relics, a necklace of architectural monuments such as second-to-none Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, founded in 1051, the Orthodox holy place and their Mecca, or a precious pearl of the llth century - St. Sophia Cathedral founded by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the Golden Gate, one of the most remarkable fortifications of that time, St. Andrew's Church, the immortal creation of Rastrelli and the world beauty of the 18th century, and a great deal of other samples of exquisite architectual designs.
Pechersk Lavra Monastery The monastery dates from the eleventh century. It is believed to have been founded by the monks Antoniy and Feodosiy. Soon after its foundation, the monastery became a major cultural center in addition to being a leading religious community in the land. Thanks to the monks’ pious efforts, Christianity was consolidated in the lands of Kyivan Rus. The word "Lavra” (from the Greek word "laura” — "lane”) is an evidence of the monastery’s highest status among the Orthodox monasteries of Ukraine. Throughout the ages, culture was upheld in the monastery, chronicles were written, icons and murals were painted, books were published, and new buildings were built. At present, part of the monastery is a national cultural and historical reserve with several museums — Museum of Books; Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts; Museum of Treasures, to name but a few — functioning on its territory. The museums are housed in the buildings that date to the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Lavra reserve is a major tourist attraction in Kyiv and the monastery attracts an untold number of faithful pilgrims.
Holy Sophia Cathedral The cathedral was built in the first half of the eleventh century (chronicles mention two dates for the beginning of the construction of the church dedicated to Holy Sophia, or God’s Wisdom — 1017 and 1037). The initiator of the construction was the then ruler of Kyiv, Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise. The cathedral acquired a status of the "chief church” of Kyivan Rus. The cathedral was a place where coronations were held, audiences were given, foreign delegations were received and matters of state and faith were discussed and decided. Yaroslav had a library and a school established at the cathedral, thus expanding its role of a cultural centre. Chronicles were written, books were translated and the Duke’s cultural drive earned him a byname of "Wise” (incidentally, Yaroslav was buried in the cathedral in a marble sarcophagus). The cathedral is famous for its magnificent mosaics and frescoes many of which have been preserved in their original glory despite many wars, insurrections and invasions that raged over the city of Kyiv in the ten centuries that passed since the foundation of the cathedral. The restoration work revealed many original frescoes that were covered by layers of paint that accumulated in later centuries during the attempts to "renew” them. At present, the Holy Sophia Cathedral is a museum; religious services are held there only on some special occasions.
St Andrew’s Chirch The Church of St Andrew sits on top of the hill, where St Andrew, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, erected a cross and prophesied a great future for a city that would rise on the nearby hills. The leading architect of Italian descent Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was commissioned by the Russian Imperial Court to design a new church dedicated to St Andrew to be built on the ancient site. The construction, which was supervised by the local architect Ivan Michurin, lasted from 1749 to 1754. St Andrew’s ingeniously combines several architectural styles, the predominant of which is late baroque. The gilded carved-wood iconostasis, icons, murals and interior decor form one impressive whole which evokes musical associations. By the middle of the twentieth century, it became evident that the church required considerable restoration which was carried out in the 1960s. After the restoration it was turned into a museum but occasional religious services are still held there, as well as concerts of classical music. A great view on the left bank of the Dnipro River opens from the terrace around the church.
Andriyivsky Uzviz This is without a doubt one of Kyiv’s oldest and favourite streets. It links the Upper and Lower historical towns of Kyiv. The street has its special atmosphere. It is often referred to as Kiev’s Montmartre; it has a lot of galleries, studios, cafes and restaurants, two theatres and a few museums. We highly recommend you to visit the Bulgakov museum (13 Andriyivsky Uzviz). The celebrated Russian writer was born in Kyiv, loved Kyiv immensely and called it the City with the capital letter in his works. The Descent is especially interesting on Kyiv Day and other holidays. Don’t leave the street without buying some Ukrainian souvenirs at St. Andrew’s Street crafts market!
"House with chimeras” Such is the name that was given by the people of Kyiv to the building that the famous architect Vladyslav Horodetsky built for himself in the early twentieth century. The building is indeed decorated with sculptures made of cement, the building material which at that time only began to be widely used, which reflects the unbridled imagination of Horodetsky — sea and land monsters, fabulous beasts, mermaids and other bizarre creatures perch on the roof and crawl on the walls. The building sits on the slope of a hill and that is why on one side it has three stories and on the other — six. It is an eclectic mixture of several architectural styles but the general impression it makes is that of a fairy-tale creation in the otherwise pedestrian architectural setting. The "house with chimeras” is situated right opposite the pompous building of the presidential administration and is used for state receptions.
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is of the same age as the Holy Sophia Cathedral. It was one of the gates in the defensive walls that surrounded Kyiv in the eleventh-thirteenth century. The name must have been borrowed from the Golden Gate of Constantinople. The gate must have been built in the late 1030s. It was crowned with a golden-domed church and was the central entrance to Kyiv. In the devastating Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century the gate — and most of the city of Kyiv — was ruined. The ruins of the gate were fully revealed to view only in 1832. A hundred and fifty years later the city authorities decided to build a replica of the original gate and church above it and preserve the ruins inside the new structure. Many Kyivans think that it was not a very good idea — nobody actually knows what the original gate and church looked like and the replica looks artificial and in bad taste. But there is a small museum at the site that presents whatever is known about the Golden Gate of the eleventh century. A view from the top provides a good view of the central part of Kyiv.
Mykhailivsky Zlatoverkhy Cathedral The Golden-Domed Cathedral of St Michael is another recent construction but it is indeed a faithful replica of a church which was built in the early twelfth century and consecrated in 1113. In magnificence of its mosaics and frescos it was a worthy rival of the Holy Sophia Cathedral which is situated several hundred meters away. In fact, standing mid-way between the two great churches, you can enjoy a unique sight of both by just turning your head. St Michael’s was part of a monastery dedicated to Archangel Michael, Leader of the Heavenly Host against Satan and Protector of Kyiv. The monastery survived the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century, wars and revolutions, but succumbed to the atheistic fury of the Bolsheviks who came to power after the coup of 1917 and Civil War that followed. The monastery buildings and the cathedral were destroyed in the 1930s to provide space for "great socialist construction” but nothing was built at the site of the former monastery. Luckily, most of the mosaics and some of the frescoes were removed for safe keeping from the walls of the cathedral before it was destroyed. At the end of the 1990s, the cathedral was rebuilt as an exact replica of St Michael’s, though not in the appearance of the church of the twelfth century but in its baroque guise of much later times. The religious services were resumed soon after the completion of the construction.
The Mariyinsky Palace Construction of this great palace begun with submission of empress Elizabeth which indulgently agreed to have the apartments and in Kiev, on Dnipro cliffs . Construction of the palace was conducted in the period from 1744 for 1752. So to say, the well-known architect Ivan Michurin supervised over the project, under the project of whom you would think – correctly under the project of that Rastrelli. The palace was conceived in style of a baroque – the refined modelling decorated both external walls, and internal halls. It is not necessary to speak, that the wonderful park is stretched around of the palace. So in the spring the palace bathed in greens. Mariinsky palace began to name « thanks to » Maria Fedorovna, she was the widow of Alexander < III.>She especially grown fond of the palace in the south of Russian empire and « ran away to here », far away from northern wind and palace intrigues. Maria Fedorovna watched over the city very much, was engaged in the organization of sanatoria and hospitals. And when she had free time whiled away in Palace Park or receiving visitors.
National Botanical Gardens You can get the idea of Kyiv as "the garden city" while stroling through them or having a boat ride on the Dnieper river. If you want to take a tour by bus then it includes Vydubychi St. Michael’s Monastery and the National Botanical Gardens. Very beautiful the Gardens are when the lilac (the richest collection of species in Europe) is in blossom. You will be lucky to see Kyiv chestnuts blossoming if you visit Kyiv in May. One of celebrities when in Kyiv once exclaimed, "… I have seen a lot of parks in different cities but I have never seen a city in the park…" and he is right.
Route: St. Vladimir's Cathedral, the National University, Opera House, Golden Gates, St. Sophia Cathedral, the Monument to Bohdan Zynoviy Khmelnytsky, St. Andrew's Church, St. Michael's Cathedrals, European square, Independent square, Mariyinskiy Palace, Park Vechnoy Slavy, Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, Askold's Grave.
Duration: 3 hours.
| By car | 1-3 persons | € 75 |
| By microbus | 4-10 persons | € 90 |
Route: Podol, Kiev-Mohyla Academy, Andrew's slope, St. Andrew's Church, St. Michael's Cathedral, the Monument to Prince Vladimir, Independent square, St. Sophia Cathedral, Golden Gates, St. Vladimir's Cathedral.
Duration: 2-3 hours.
| On foot | 1-10 persons | € 45 |
| By car | 1-3 persons | € 50 |
| By microbus | 4-10 persons | € 60 |
The museum of Folk Architecture and Life "Pirogovo"
Duration: 5 hours.
| By car | 1-3 persons | € 125 |
| By microbus | 4-10 persons | € 150 |
Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra
Duration: 3 hours.
| By car | 1-3 persons | € 75 |
| By microbus | 4-10 persons | € 90 |
St. Sophia Cathedral
Duration: 2 hours.
| By car | 1-3 persons | € 50 |
| By microbus | 4-10 persons | € 60 |
Welcome to the Ukrainian Carpathians!
Carpathian Mountains are considered to be the Green Pearl of Ukraine. It is the most popular resort and tourist center of the country. What’s more wonderful than to reach for the top and see the whole Carpathian landscape before you? A beautiful mix of natural areas, forests, meadows, shepherds and humans living in harmony with nature! An original nature of territory, beauty of its Alpine meadows and woods, rough rivers and mountain lakes, soft climate, curative mineral sources, the historical and architectural monuments can attract everyone to themselves. Thousands of tourists, people who like travels and adventures or simply persons which are having a rest come here from all parts of Ukraine, near and distant foreign countries. One needs his health to be improved, another – to find out new places, to get acquainted with a history of region, its ethnography, population, third searches for impressions from a unification with a nature, fourth is fond of romanticism and adventures. Even now people glorify in legends and songs Carpathian land that generously shares all the best its nature has given with the visitors. Coming back everyone who has visited this wonderful region takes away unforgettable feelings. Development of all kinds of Carpathian tourism (hiking, ecological, extreme-sport) has limitless possibilities.
Castles and chateaux of Ukraine
The most frequently visited castles and fortified towns in Ukraine are: Kamyanets-Podilsky, Khotyn, Lutsk, Mukacheve, Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky, Zolochiv, Olesko, Pidhirtsi, Svirzh, Zhovkva, Dubno, Medzhybizh, Terebovlya, Sataniv, most of which are to be found in the lands of Lvivshchyna, Volyn and Podillya. Depending on how much time you will have in Lviv on a visit there, you can go and see the Olesko Castle, Pidhirtsi Castle and Zolochiv Castle.
The charm of Lviv
Among the cities of Ukraine Lviv stands out as a place of impressive architectural landmarks of many architectural styles and epochs. But it is not so much the architecture that makes it special — it is the atmosphere, the aura of the city that distinguishes it from any other place. It would be hard to give a rational explanation of what creates this atmosphere, even if all the possible contributions to it are enumerated. You have to take a walk through the narrow and twisting streets of Lviv, to feel the old cobble stones beneath your feet, to breathe the air of the city, to see what in the medieval and Renaissance times used to be the quarters of Italian, Jewish and Armenian traders and merchants, to start feeling that special charm that Lviv exudes. To add to the first impressions, it would be worthwhile to spend some time in the quiet of an old Polish church, to listen to the choir singing in an old Ukrainian Orthodox church, to have a cup of excellent coffee in one of the Lviv coffeehouses, famous for the excellence of coffee, to visit the Lychakiv cemetery famous for its tombs and monuments which are veritable works of art, to talk to and socialize with people, and witness their gallantry, and civility. In its long history Lviv has seen many wars and many invaders — Tartars, Poles, Lithuanians, Turks, Austrians and others tried to establish their rule over Lviv. Attempts were made to destroy the Ukrainian spirit in the city. Even its name was changed to hide its Ukrainian roots — Leopolis, Levensburg, Lemberg, Lvuv, L’vov, but it obstinately remained Lviv. When the Ukrainian lands in which Lviv was a major city were under the domination of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, it was made the official regional centre of the provinces of Halytsiya and Lodomeria. When between the First and Second World Wars, Lviv and the lands around it were part of Poland, the city was a major cultural centre, known for its bohemian style of life. Lviv’s culture absorbed many influences; many religions co-existed in Lviv peacefully in the atmosphere of religious tolerance. Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance palazzos, buildings in the Sezession style or in ascetic modernistic constructivist style create a rich visual feast. "The very sky above the city, the stars that shine on it, inspire the people who live here to look for and create beauty. There is no trade or skill that cannot be developed here,” wrote a seventeenth-century chronicler, Bartolomiy Zymorovych. It was in Lviv that the first Ukrainian newspaper, Gazette de Leopol, began to be published in 1776. Lviv was a place that inspired the creativeness of Ukrainian and Polish artists, scholars and writers. Ivan Franko, the prominent Ukrainian author of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century; Adam Mickiewisz, one of the best Polish poets of the nineteenth century; Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the author whose works described human behaviour which later was given the name of "masochism”; Rudolf Weigle, the scientist who created the anti-typhus vaccine; Sholem-Aleichem, the classic of Jewish literature in Yidish; Stanislav Lyudkevych, the remarkable composer, Stanislaw Lem, the Polish science-fiction writer of wide fame; Mykhailo Hrushevsky, the historian and first president of the Ukrainian People’s Republic — all of them were either born or lived in Lviv.
Sofiyivka: the Love Ode
The dendrological park "Sofiyivka" of Ukraine's National academy of Science, which is situated in the town of Uman (200 km far from Kiev), Cherkasy region, is well-known far away the borders of Ukraine as one of the most famous masterpieces of the world landscape gardening of the end of XVII - the beginning of XIX centuries stands at the same level with other examples of park construction of Europe, such as Balbi Garden in Florence (Italy), San-Susi Park in Potsdam (Germany) and Versailles (France).In some very special way, the beauty of the park reflects the beauty of the woman who gave the park its name.
In the first quarter of the eighteenth century, Umanshchyna belonged to Franciszek Salezy Potocki, member of one of the richest and aristocratic Polish families. In 1796, his son and heir Count Stanislaw Szczesny (Felix) Potocki married Sophie de Witte. Sophie was said to have exclaimed on seeing the scenery of one of her husbands estates, "What a wonderful park it could be!” The husband, smitten with Sophie’s beauty and perspicacity, reacted dutifully and issued an order to have a park laid out. He commissioned Ludwig Metzel, an architect, to provide a design and supervise the work. Metzel travelled around Europe, looking at parks and purchasing equipment and machinery needed for laying out a park that "would outshine any other park in Europe.” Count Potocki brought in serfs from his estates to work at the laying out of the park, and from the documents discovered in the archives it follows that at least 800 people were engaged in this work daily. Gardeners and park designers showed where they wanted trees planted or removed, where ponds should be dug, where dykes were to be built and where islands to be created. Age-old oaks, firs, maples and other trees were uprooted and then moved to be replanted in the park. It took six years to complete the stupendous work of creating and installing the architectural and sculptural features, ponds, streamlets, waterfalls and grottoes. In the valley near one of the ponds, spread a jumble of huge rocks as though thrown in by the enormous hand of a prehistoric giant. Trees, hundreds of years old, lined the alleys giving shade and places to find seclusion in. Shrubs of many species provided many shades of green in the summer and a riot of colours in the autumn. To enhance the natural and created beauty, marble statues were imported from Italy and erected at the most advantageous places. When most of the work had been completed, Sophie was invited to visit "a very special gift” given her by her husband — an entire park of unparalleled beauty. Though it was mid-summer the whimsical woman wanted to ride into the park in a sledge — or so a popular story, maybe apocryphal, goes — and the central alley was covered with a thick layer of salt. A poet in her entourage wrote a poem eulogizing the park and the woman after whom the park was named (the word Sofiyivka is derived from Sophie, of course). The poem was translated into French and published with engravings done by a gifted artist and master engraver. The book was appreciated in high society and both the park and Sophie were the topic of conversation in many salons across Europe. Count Potocki died in 1805 without seeing the park being completed in the way he visualized it. Neither were all of the plans of his architect Metzel realized. Potocki’s children either did not care to have all the work the park completed according to the original design or did not have money for it. After an insurrection in Poland, in which Alexander Potocki, one of the count’s sons, took part, was brutally suppressed by the tsarist army, the park was confiscated to become property of Nicholas I who gave it as a present to his wife. The name was officially changed to The Tsar’s Park but locally it continued to be referred to as "Sofiyivka.” The local authority took the maintenance on itself and in 1848, the 84-year old Metzel was invited to come over from Warsaw where he resided to Uman to complete the work in the park. But the aged architect never made it to Sofiyivka — he was taken ill on the way to Uman and shortly died. Four years after her husband died, Sophie threw out the son and showing a great skill of entrepreneurship and business acumen, built up a fortune to raise her own seven children. Countess Potocka died at the age of 58, "honoured and admired,” in 1822. The park is still there as the Love Ode to a mysterious woman, for whom one of the most beautiful parks in the world was created and named in her honor.
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Travel company
"KENT TOUR"
Kiev, Ukraine
ph. 00 38 044 221 22 60
ph. 00 38 044 221 22 65
e-mail: mdanilko@facebook.com
ICQ 389909736
