4.5.2011
DONBASS. TIME TO VISIT! Touristic routes.
Donbass can surprise!
In spite of industrial heritage Donetsk region is preserving the unique natural landscapes.
Improvement of Donetsk regional Reserve Fund is carried out in cooperation with Russian and international companies. In particular, in cooperation with UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) has developed several projects, including - parks creations of international significance.
The branch of the Ukrainian Steppe Natural Reserve is located in Donetsk region:
• Khomutovskaya steppe which was never touched with plough and which is flourishing in spring with all the colors of the rainbow;
• reserved area "Kamennye Mogily" ("Stone graves") — the area of unique endemics (flora, peculiar exceptionally to this territory);
• reserved area "Melovaya Flora" ("Cretaceous Flora") — the keeper of prehistoric petrified plants .
Regional landscape parks:
• Donetsk Mountain Ridge;
• Zuyev Regional Landscape Park;
• Polovetsk Steppe;
• Klyoban Byk;
• Meotyda
Klyoban Byk is a perfect place to feel the nature. The incredible beauty of spaciousness strikes the imagination. Prehistoric petrified plants and ancient mountain plants listed in the Red Book are scattered on the banks of the crooked river Klyoban Byk. Here you can see wild boars, hares, pheasants, falcons and many others.
Zuyev Regional Landscape Park fascinates! It’s the place for those who active to rock climbing, to go by kayak and canoe, to hang gliding and to ride on mountain bikes.
But perhaps close location to the sea of Azov is the best gift of the nature. It is unique on the richness of vegetative and animal organisms; it has almost half of periodic table.
Thousand of tourists come here to have a rest and to health.
The Sea of Azov comforts with velvety soft sand, beautiful golden beaches. Sea water is a storehouse of minerals (about 92 chemical elements of the periodic table) beneficially affecting the body. Mud from Azov produces a therapeutic effect. The air Azov is saturated with iodine and the smell of steppe grasses.
The unique park of Meotyda stretches in the Azov Sea coast. You can breathe the fresh sea air; stroll through the cockle-shells sand beaches, but above these you can relax watching the rarest species of flora and fauna. Meotyda is the largest in the entire European continent, the colonial settlement of waterbirds.
Donetsk botanic gardens
In the garden there is incredibly interesting complex with amazing variety of plants. Even the most sophisticated judge of terrestrial flora would be much surprised to see dozens of varieties of irises, lilies, asters, varieties of tropical and subtropical plants, breathtaking beauty, as well as economically helpful culture.
Botanical Garden is working closely with the best gardens in Ukraine: Nikitsky, Krivoy Rog, Zaporozhye, Kiev and many others; cooperates with the gardens of Europe and Asia.
For significant contribution to environmental protection in 1984 the garden was awarded the Great Silver Medal of the UN Environment. In 2001, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appropriated comprehensive collection of the Donetsk Botanical Garden Steppes of Ukraine's status as a national heritage.
Sanctuary
Mountains, chalk caves, pine forests, river and ancient monasteries you can see only in Svyatogorsk, we call it our Donbass Switzerland. Here is the Holy Assumption Monastery, one of three in the territory of Ukraine.
The beauty and magnificence of temples, fraternal harmonious singing, grandeur monastic services, ancient caves, wonder-working icons and relics … Its touches the soul and fills it with a quiet joy the hearts of people coming to this holy place. The pilgrims come here from all corners of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus to worship the holy places.
Real treasure of ancient architecture is Nicholas Church, created by craftsmen in the XVII century in the chalk cliffs. This unique building with chalk altar is a vivid example of Ukrainian Baroque.
In Svyatogorsk you’ll be alone with the nature and enjoy the freshness of the forest. In 2003 the park "Holy Mountains" has been accepted into the Federation of national and natural parks in Europe, Europark.
Slavyansk Resort
In the coniferous-deciduous park not far from Svyatogorsk located Slavic resort. This is a special place with special ecological features, with a good sanatorium treatment base. Here fairy-nature created healing salt lakes - Repnoye, Slepnoye, Kryvoye, Veysovo, Chervlyonoye, and smaller ones calling the estuaries. The abundance of blooming plants, clean air infused with deciduous and coniferous trees and the simple beauty of the steppe.
There is no other place in the world like this miracle created by nature! Water salt lakes of Slavic resort are not inferior to the Dead Sea and Carlsbad.
