Ukraine - Kyiv, St. Oleksandr Kostel (Catholic Church)

Kyiv
St. Oleksandr kostel (Roman Catholic Church), architect is unknown,  construction finished headed by F. Miekhovych, 1817-1842 yr.
2016

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The St. Alexander Cathedral is the oldest Catholic Church in Kiev.

Ukraine - Church and Street

Ukraine
2009

The sender writes that on this street they sell 'The most delicious pastries', and that she kissed a boy on the bench  :)

Ukraine - Rushnyk Wedding Adornment in a Home

Wedding adornment of a house from the village of Bobrivnyk, Zinkiv district, Poltava region.
Late 19th century

This is postmarked in 2009.

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The sender writes:
Rushnyk  is the towel decorated with the cross stitch pattern.  This is very popular in the Ukraine.  You can see them on the wall on this postcard.

I found this on the web:
A rushnyk is a ritual towel. The word comes from ruka, meaning hand, and a regular rushnyk would be simply a towel, a piece of cloth that a person could use to wipe his or her hands. Rushnyk has acquired and is currently used in a double meaning: it retains its simple meaning of "towel" and it has also acquired the meaning of ritual object. The ritual rushnyk is a very important item to which a great deal of power is ascribed. It is used to secure a wedding, to dispatch the deceased to the world of the dead, to protect the home and insure the prosperity and fertility of the inhabitants of the household, among other things.

Ukraine - Architecture of Historical Buildings and Churches

I Love Lviv, Lemberg, Leopoli

the sender writes:
Hello from Ukraine!
On this postcard you can see parts of churches and buildings in the historical part of Lviv.
2010

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Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine. The historical heart of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived World War II largely unscathed.

The city is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Ukraine - Lviv, Sirmenska Str. - Dog and Flat Tire

Lviv / Virmenska Str.

photo by Yurko Dyachyshyn
2010

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Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine. The historical heart of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived World War II largely unscathed.

The city is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Ukraine - Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet

Lviv
Theatre of Opera and ballet after Solomiya Krushelnytska, 1897 - 1900. (It was built between 1897 and 1900)

This is postmarked in 2014.

The sender writes:
On this card you can see the 3rd most beautiful European Opera House, the architect of which committed suicide after learning the theatre was going to collapse due to his incorrect plan (it had been built on the river).   But fortunately, many tourists have been able to feast their eyes on it for more than a century.  It’s definitely worth visiting so welcome to Lviv! 

Ukraine - Lviv, Multiview, Then and Now

Lviv, Ukraine

I love the old pictures of Lviv in the past.
2011

Ukraine - Lviv, Korniakt Tower

Lviv, Ukraine

Korniakt Tower, 1572 - 1578

Photo: Cyril Horiszny
2011

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The tower was used as a belfry and a guardhouse. Inside is a 2m in diameter bell.

Europe Map in 3-D, Day View and Night View

Europe by Day and Night
Data: NASA Earth Observatory
in 3D

This is the day picture, the night picture is all dark with all the city lights turned on so you can still see the outline of the land and where the cities are.
2011

Shown are major cites for Spain, England, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine - Lutsk, Lubart's Castle

Lutsk
Overhead castle in spring florescence.
2013

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Lutsk is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine with a population around 206,000.

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History of Lutsk High Castle, (also known as Lubart's Castle)

The Kievan town of Luchesk had a wooden wall as early as 1075, when Boleslaw the Brave laid siege to it for six months.

Yury Dolgoruky failed to take Lutsk after a six-weeks siege in 1149. In 1255, the walls of Lutsk were stormed by Jochi's grandson Kuremsa.

The current castle, towering over the Styr River, was built mostly in the 1340s, although some parts of the earlier walls were used.

Ukraine - Odessa, Duke Armand de Richelieu Monument, 1828

Odessa
The Duke Armand de Richelieu Monument, 1828. Sculptor I. Martos - Primorskiy Boulevard
2013

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Odessa is the third largest city in Ukraine, with a population of a around 1,003,000 people.

Armand Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, (5th) Duke of Richelieu (25 September 1766, Paris – 17 May 1822) was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration. As a royalist, during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, he served as a ranking officer in the Russian Imperial Army, achieving the grade of Major General.

Ukraine - Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle at Sunset

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle. Ukraine

Photo: Oleg Zharii
2013

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Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is a former Ruthenian-Lithuanian castle and a later three-part Polish fortress located in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine. Its name is attributed to the root word kamin', from the Slavic word for stone.

Historical accounts date the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the early 14th century, although recent archaeological evidence has proved human existence in the area back to the 12th-13th centuries. Initially it was built to protect the bridge connecting the city with the mainland.

From the beginning of the 18th century, it had lost its defensive role, and was used more as a military prison than a military fortification. Numerous people were executed or held captive in the prison, including Cossack starshynas (officers), haidamakas, and even the three-year-old pretender to the Polish throne, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

During the late 1930s, plans were made to turn the castle into a museum, and reconstruction work on the buildings was started in 1937. Visitor numbers for the castle during the 1930s reached 300,000 a year.

Along with the Old Town neighborhood, the complex is a candidate UNESCO World Heritage Site, nominated in 1989 by the Ukrainian representatives, and is also one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

Ukraine Celebrates Christmas

Ukraine celebrates. Christmas
2012
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Sviata Vecheria or "Holy Supper" is the central tradition of the Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes and takes place in most parts of the country on 6 January. In Western Ukraine, especially in Carpathian Ruthenia, due to historical multi-culturism, Christmas can be observed twice—on 25 December and 7 January, often depends on whether the family belongs to Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the (Roman) Catholic Church, one of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, or one of the Protestant denominations.

When the children see the first star in the eastern evening sky, which symbolizes the trek of the Three Wise Men, the Sviata Vechera may begin. In farming communities the head of the household now brings in a sheaf of wheat called the didukh which represents the importance of the ancient and rich wheat crops of Ukraine, the staff of life through the centuries. Didukh means literally "grandfather spirit" so it symbolizes the family's ancestors. In city homes a few stalks of golden wheat in a vase are often used to decorate the table. The dinner table sometimes has a few wisps of hay on the embroidered table cloth as a reminder of the manger in Bethlehem. A prayer is said and the father says the traditional Christmas greeting, "Chrystos rodyvsya!" which is translated to "Christ is born!", which is answered by the family with "Slavite Yoho!" which means "Let us glorify him!". In some families the Old Slavic form "Сhrystos rozhdayetsya!" is used. At the end of the Sviata Vechera the family often sings Ukrainian Christmas Carols. In many communities the old Ukrainian tradition of caroling is carried on by groups of young people and members of organizations and churches calling at homes and collecting donations. (Carolers walk through the town with a star on a long pole while singing as seen in the postcard above.)

Traditionally, Christmas Day opens for Ukrainian families with attendance at Church. Ukrainian Churches offer services starting before midnight on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning. Christmas supper, without Lenten restrictions, does not have as many traditions connected with it as Sviata Vechera. The old tradition in Ukraine of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day, December 19, has generally been replaced by the Christmas date. In Ukraine, at Christmas Eve when everyone is at the table, angels bring presents which they leave near the Christmas tree.

Ukraine - Swallow's Nest Castle

Swallow's Nest
2012

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The Swallow's Nest is a decorative castle near Yalta on the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine. It was built between 1911 and 1912 in Gaspra, on top of the 40-metre (130 ft) high Aurora Cliff. The castle overlooks the Cape of Ai-Todor of the Black Sea and is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Crimea.  It has become the symbol of Crimea's southern coastline.

Ukraine - Feodosia, Constantine's Tower

Constantine's Tower
2012

the sender writes:
On this postcard is the Tower of Constantine in Feodosia.  This is an architectural symbol of the city.
I love this place, looking at this tower is like being in the Middle Ages.

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The Genoese Fortress, 14th c., is located in the northern part of the city, above Feodosiya Bay. It was part of ancient Kafa's (Feodosiya) city fortifications. In the 18th and 19th c. most of the structures were dismantled.

Ukraine - Kyiv - Pechersk Historico, Cultural National Park

Greetings from Kyiv
Kyiv-Pechersk historico-cultural national park, XI - XIX c.
2012

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Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051 the Lavra has been a preeminent center of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ukraine - Khotyn Fortress, International Festival 'Khotyn Firmament'

Author: Irina Pustinnikova / Festival "Khotinska tverd" Ukraine

This is the Khotyn Fortress showing the 2011 International Festival of the Cossack Song called "Khotyn Firmament'
2011

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The Khotyn Fortress is a fortification complex located on the right bank of the Dniester River in Khotyn in the Ukraine. It is situated on a territory of the historical northern Bessarabia region which was split in 1940 between Ukraine and Moldova.

Construction on the current Khotyn fortress was started in 1325, while major improvements were made in the 1380s and in the 1460s. Now it is a large tourist attraction for the area and Ukraine. In 2007, the fortress was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

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The festival -
There were many contests:  tug-of-war, dancing, and speed eating of cornmeal gruel and there were traditional performances of folk groups.

Re-enacting of one of the battles of Khotyn War of 1621 -
About two hundred people from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary were involved in the re-enacting of the battle.

Ukraine - Simeis (Simeiz) Crimea, the Black Sea Coast

Simeis
2011

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Simeiz or Simeïs is a resort town in Crimea, Ukraine. It is located by the southern slopes of the main range of Crimean Mountains at the base of Mount Koshka.

There are prehistoric dolmens and fortifications nearby; in the Middle Ages the area was under the control of the Byzantine Empire, which built a fortified monastery in the vicinity (and may have given the town its name). As the Byzantine power weakened, the area fell under the control of Genoa, which in its turn gave way to the Ottoman Empire; under the Ottomans the village was ruled from Mangup. By 1778, with the departure of the Christian population, the village was depopulated.

In 1828 Simeiz came into the ownership of Ivan Akimovich Maltsov, who planted grapevines and fruit orchards; at the start of the 20th century his descendants created a resort, Novy Simoiz, which quickly became one of the most prestigious resorts in the Crimea. This period saw the construction of a park and a number of villas which remain to this day. In 1912 Nicholas II visited with his family. After the October Revolution, Simeiz was nationalized and public sanatoriums were created, mainly specializing in tuberculosis.

Ukraine - Alphabet

Ukrainian Alphabet
2012

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The alphabet comprises thirty-three letters, representing thirty-eight phonemes (meaningful units of sound), and an additional sign—the apostrophe.

Twenty letters represent consonants (б, г, ґ, д, ж, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ), ten vowels (а, е, є, и, і, ї, о, у, ю, я), and two semivowels (й/yot, and в). The soft sign ь has no phonetic value, but indicates softening (palatalization) of a preceding consonant.