From a dump to a tourist destination: Buky Landscape Park
Today it is a picturesque landscape park, famous across Ukraine. Until 1996 it was a rubbish dump. In 1996 the businessman Ivan Suslov bought the site in the village of Buky, almost 3 hectares in area, and began putting it in order. Thanks to his efforts, the former dump turned into a park that tourists from all over the country hurry to visit year after year.
The park in Buky is divided into two parts. Entrance to the first is free, while the second can only be visited with a guide after buying a ticket. As soon as you enter the park, you will see a fountain long familiar to Kyivans, which once decorated Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Ivan Suslov bought it after it was decommissioned, restored it, added illumination and installed it in his park. Nearby rises a church complex consisting of the Daniel bell tower and the Church of St Eugene.
To get to the second part, you will have to pay. Here are the Suslov estate, the Fairy Tale Alley with a playground and a small zoo with ponies, bears, lions, deer, ostriches and wolf cubs. The latter is also interesting for its sculptures, among them a monument to Maxim Gorky and three frogs symbolising prosperity and great wealth. As for the Fairy Tale Alley, it will immerse you in the world of fairy-tale characters: dragons, Pegasuses, Cthulhu and many others.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, Skvyra district, village of Buky.
“Corruption Versailles”: the scandalous Mezhyhiria
Everyone knows about the existence of “Mezhyhiria”, but not everyone knows its history or what is worth going to see at the famous residence. Its history begins in 1935, when the ancient Mezhyhirya Transfiguration Monastery was demolished and a kind of recreation complex known as “Shcherbytsky’s Dacha” was set up in its place.
Finally, in 2002, the then Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych began to rule this residence and, in fact, continued to do so after becoming president. What did Yanukovych build and equip here before his shameful flight? The main palace, also the clubhouse called “Honka”, his old house, a guest house, the famous palace on the water “Galleon”, as well as a sports complex, a shooting range, bowling, a spa centre, golf and yacht clubs, a helipad, a garage with a collection of rare cars, one of the largest zoos in Ukraine and a picturesque park with rare plants and twelve artificial lakes.
Since February 2014, anyone can visit the scandalous residence. In total, you will need at least six hours to see the whole site.
You can explore the residence on your own, or you can book a tour that includes the main palace and the wellness complex. You can also tour Mezhyhiria on horseback, by electric cars, Segways, scooters, bicycles or even in carriages.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, Vyshhorod district, village of Novi Petrivtsi.
A picturesque giant with rare plants: Oleksandriia Arboretum
When we say “the best arboretums near Kyiv”, we understand that this means, first of all, “Oleksandriia”. 100 kilometres from Kyiv blooms the famous Bila Tserkva arboretum, worth visiting with the family for the whole day. On its huge territory you can see and admire more than 2,500 plant species (among them the famous tulip tree) and the majestic residence of the Branicki family, the founders of the renowned arboretum. The park is, in fact, named in honour of Oleksandra Vasylivna Branicka.
“Oleksandriia” is a record-breaking arboretum. It is the largest and oldest in Ukraine. Visitors will find a Chinese bridge with sculptures of a sage and a Chinese woman, the Tsar’s Pavilion where the Branickis’ guests stayed, the Dance Pavilion, the “Luna” colonnade, the “Rotunda” and “Ruins” pavilions, a host of ponds with ducks and swans, including the Ros River, various bridges, fountains, sculptures, decorative compositions and a whole variety of curiosities. That is why we advise staying in “Oleksandriia” for the whole day.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, city of Bila Tserkva.
Zalissia National Nature Park for cycling trips
The park is located on the territory of two oblasts at once, Kyiv and Chernihiv. So the area and the number of attractions here are truly impressive! “Zalissia” is home to a large number of wild animals: red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, elk, wild boar and even European bison live here. The flora is no less unique: about 1,700 hectares of local forests are over 100 years old.
Thanks to its status as a presidential residence, the park can boast excellent infrastructure, in particular perfectly paved roads. A cycling trip through pristine nature, but in comfort. In addition, visitors to the park will definitely be interested in the Wildlife Museum and the stable with thoroughbred horses.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, near the village of Zalissia
Yahotyn Landscape Park named after Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky
A less famous, but also picturesque and extremely interesting park is located in Yahotyn. It was founded and made famous by Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky himself. However, the greatest contribution to its development was made by Rozumovsky’s son Oleksii. He was fascinated by botany and had his own collection of rare plants. They were planted in Yahotyn Park under the attentive guidance of a renowned foreign gardener.
Besides a multitude of unique plants, the park is interesting for its numerous monuments. On its territory you can see the monument to the Unknown Soldier (at the entrance) and a memorial on the bank of the Supii River, erected to honour the memory of the defenders of the Motherland. In the surviving Rozumovsky estate you can admire a picture gallery. Nearby you will see a monument to the famous artist from Yahotyn, Kateryna Bilokur. Two more monuments in the park are dedicated to the composer Richter and the writer Gogol. Also, from the ruins of the Rozumovsky-Repnin palace, a museum called “Taras Shevchenko’s Outbuilding” was set up here in 2003.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, city of Yahotyn.
To a blooming paradise at Dobropark
A unique arboretum, whose area equals 400 football pitches, opened in 2019, 18 kilometres from Kyiv. Its founders promise to delight guests with seasonal flowers; this spring, for instance, more than half a million tulips bloomed profusely here. Unfortunately, because of quarantine only journalists were able to admire them.
Today Dobropark invites visitors to see lavender (25 thousand bushes), begonias and petunias. And in September you will be able to enjoy the beauty of hydrangeas.
But it is not only about flowers. Dobropark has also become a location for open-air events. In particular, plein-air painting sessions, parties and seminars are held here. Moreover, right in Dobropark you can rent a bicycle to ride around its territory, rent a blanket and a picnic basket, entertain a child with attractions, enjoy street food at the food court and take part in a master class.
By the way, a shuttle minibus to this picturesque location has now started running. It operates three times a day from Sviatoshyn metro station.
Address: Kyiv Oblast, village of Motyzhyn.
Bohuslavl Regional Landscape Park
It is worth going to the town of Bohuslav for the landscape park that stretches along the Ros River. Pristine nature and facilities for recreation are successfully combined here. Most of “Bohuslavl” consists of famous granite rocks about 2 billion years old. The smaller part is a picturesque city park criss-crossed by rivers, equipped with all the necessary infrastructure.
The main decoration of the park area is the monument to the brave town girl Marusia Bohuslavka, who rescued 700 Cossacks from captivity. Not far from the monument rises a famous shrine founded by Oleksandra Branicka. This is the Trinity Church.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, city of Bohuslav.
Tashan Park: a place with centuries of history
Tashan Park, about 145 ha in area, was founded in 1775 by Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky on the order of Empress Catherine II. Later it was developed by the count’s son Serhii Petrovych, Prince Golitsyn and Prince Gorchakov. For example, the latter planted exotic tree species, rare conifers, as well as ornamental trees and shrubs in the park.
Today there are about three hundred plant species here. It is worth noting that even before the park was created, many ancient trees grew on this territory. And now you can find 1,000-year-old oaks and rare plants with a long history in it.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, village of Tashan.
The park founded by Kochubei: Zghurivka Arboretum
One of the largest arboretums (the area covers about 300 hectares) awaits you in the urban-type settlement of Zghurivka, Kyiv Oblast. It was founded by the Kyiv vice-governor Arkadii Vasylovych Kochubei, who, under the guidance of a Swiss gardener, planted rare plants and installed gazebos.
The central part of the park was occupied by Khyvre More, a tributary of the Supii River. At one time it was cleared, deepened and turned into a pond, which exists to this day.
As early as 1938, Zghurivka had more than 150 tree species, but later some of them died due to lack of care and flooding. Now the park can boast only 65 plant species. Despite its present neglect, Zghurivka remains a picturesque ornament of the Kyiv region, worthy of tourists’ attention.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, urban-type settlement of Zghurivka.
Kaharlyk Park: to meet Gogol’s oak
Since the day it was founded, Kaharlyk Park has had three owners. The first, the Polish count Jan Tarnowski, laid it out at the end of the 18th century. The second, the patron Dmytro Troshchynsky, continued to develop the place and built a palace, and the Kyiv governor Chortkov filled the park with more than seven hundred sculptures. They copied Greek and Roman statues and stood literally everywhere. Unfortunately, some of them were taken away and others were destroyed.
Today the park covers more than 35 hectares. There is a pond and about 70 species of trees and shrubs grow here, among which you can even find Gogol’s oak, about 350 years old. Fortunately, some architectural monuments of past years have also survived. For example, the iron gate set up by Troshchynsky himself and the “Rotunda” gazebo.
- Address: Kyiv Oblast, city of Kaharlyk.
Material from kyivmaps.com
