Eastern Ukraine - Ukraine - page 410

Virgin; vul Klochkovska) are visible from miles away. The predictably peaceful grounds
(enter from pl Konstytutsiyi) have two attractive churches. The smaller and more import-
ant of the two is the blue, three-domed 1689 Pokrovska Church OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP . As in all Orthodox churches, the altar is under the east-pointing dome,
and there's another altar hidden in the basement, which the attendant may show you if
you ask. The church is almost always open for services. The yellow church next to it is
the Ozeyansky Church OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP .
Back on the square, you can't miss the large granite sculptural ensemble commemor-
ating Kharkiv's designation as the first capital of Soviet Ukraine on 24 December 1917.
Tongue-in-cheek Kharkivites nicknamed it 'five men carrying a fridge' - the resemb-
lance is far from passing. Nearby the Kharkiv History Museum OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP ( 731 1348; www.museum.kh.ua ; pl Konstytutsiyi; admission 8uah;
9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun; Istorychny Muzey) was receiving a major facelift at the time of re-
search - this involved hoisting a huge glass and steel facade onto the red-brick building.
Staff were unclear as to how this would affect future exhibitions.

Shevchenko Park PARK
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( Universytet) Central Shevchenko Park is one of those post-Soviet parks where you
can sit for hours watching families boarding the kiddy train, listening to some remark-
ably talented buskers, and pondering the shortness of some skirts and height of most
heels. Not sure what the national poet might have made of all that flesh on show - from
the expression on the face of the Taras Shevchenko statue OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP (vul Sumska;

Universytet) it doesn't look as though he approves.

Kharkiv Art Museum MUSEUM
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( www.artmuseum.kharkov.ua ; permanent collection vul Radnarkomivska 11, exhibit hall vul Rad-
narkomivska 9; admission per bldg 7uah; 10am-6pm Wed-Sun; Arkhitektora Beketova)
Kharkiv's most famous museum owns one of many versions of Ilya Repin's Zaporizhsky
Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan, which is found in a room full of Repin
paintings in the museum's permanent collection. The entire collection of romantic paint-
ings here is of a high standard for Ukraine, but the neighbouring exhibit hall is hit or
miss.

Uspensky Cathedral CATHEDRAL