The White Elephant, a once famous Polish observatory in the Carpathians, is as close to the stars as it only could be. Just look at the ruins and try to imagine that the complex erected on top of the Chornohora, or the Mount Black, is located more than two kilometres above the sea level! The initial construction, the Marshal Jozef Pilsudski Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory, was established back in 1938, when Western Ukraine was still a part of Poland. No one really knows why it was baptized as the “White Elephant” - could it be due to its unusual L-shape, or because of the grand amount of time, effort, and money its design and construction consumed?
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Dusia, a first generation Ukrainian Canadian, says that she does not remember much about the famine in Ukraine of 1932-33. She was only five year old when the Soviet-imposed famine, also known by historians as the Holodomor, started raging in her home village. That was one of the most devastating national disasters of the Ukrainian people in all modern history. “My Mom went out to sell jewellery and buy some bread, but she never returned home”, - recalls Dusia, one of just a handful survivals among people living in central and eastern parts of Ukraine during the Holodomor. It is estimated that the total number of those who died from starvations when communists forced Ukrainian peasants into collective farms can be more than 10 million people
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The city of Lviv is located in the western part of Ukraine, at the shores of the Poltava river, 80 kilometres away from the border of Poland. Currently, its population is about 735,000 people, most of whom are ethnic Ukrainians speaking the Ukrainian language.
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Kamyanets-Podilsky is an extremely beautiful ancient town of Ukraine, “a stone flower on the rockâ€, as the famous Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrayinka described it in the beginning of the 20th century.” Stare Misto”, a majestic stone fortress with numerous fortifications and intricate architectural decorations, which dates back to the beginning of the 12th century, is the heart of this medieval place. The fortress, built on a rocky island near the River Smotrych, is just one jewel of Kamyanets-Podilsky. Among other ancient attractions, there are a two millennia old Roman bridge, a Gothic city hall, and a unique minaret featuring the statue of the Virgin Mary. Besides being a military fortress, ancient Kamyanets-Podilsky was also a stronghold of Christianity. In the 17th century, the town had about 15 different churches of Orthodox, Catholic, and Armenian Christian confessions, many of which still stand and continue to marvel tourists.
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Beets, sweet tubers with a bright colour and a tender-crisp texture, play a significant role in Ukrainian cuisine. Many appetizers, soups, salads, and other simple dishes of Ukraine feature cooked or fermented beets as a main or complementing ingredient. Beets are native to the Ukrainian land, where they were cultivated in peasants’ vegetable gardens already hundreds of years ago.
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The global consultants company “Creators Synectics” has published a list of 100 living geniuses, which also includes one Ukrainian name. No wonder that the rating heavily favours the British, since the initial selection process was based on the opinions of randomly selected Britons who were asked in email massages to name ten people whom they considered to be living geniuses. Each of the initially selected names then was rated by the panel of six experts and awarded scores from one to ten on the basis of a number of important criteria, such as intellect, paradigm shifting, cultural importance, social acceptance, and achievements. The list is headed by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman (the inventor of LCD), who received the highest rating (27 points) and ends with American filmmaker and actor Quentin Tarantino, who, in view of “Creators Synectics”, deserves 2 points. Three Russians have been honoured, too: mathematician Gregory Perelman (21 points), world famous chess champion and political activist Garry Kasparov (15), and inventor of the “Kalashnikov rifle” Michael Kalashnikov (5 points).
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For every American traveller, the architecture of Ukraine’s old cities should look strikingly ancient and intriguingly sophisticated. The cultural and architectural history of entire Russia, actually, started in Ukraine, when Kiev, the present capital of the country, became the center of the Russian statehood then called the Kievan Rus. Since the 9th century, Ukraine was both developing its own style in construction and absorbing great architectural influences of Byzantine, Greece, and France.
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Bread is not only a staple food in Ukraine, it is also a symbol of prosperity, divinity, and hospitality. Since the first agrarians settled the Ukrainian land, grains, porridges and breads have become sacred objects of worship and rituals, closely connected with folklore and traditional customs.
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Ivan Kupala Day is one of the most expressive traditional holidays in Ukraine. It is still very popular among many locals, especially those living in the vast Ukrainian countryside. This pre-Christian rite, which is celebrated at the summer solstice, around June 24, signifies the connection of people with “Dazhbog” - the Slavic God of the Sun. Originally, Ivan Kupala Day was a joyful fertility festival honouring the light energy of the sun that was believed to provide people with good harvest, beauty, love, and healing powers. Later, the holiday was even accepted by the Orthodox Christian Church and included in the Church Calendar.
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Borscht, a deep red beet and cabbage soup, is popular all around Ukraine. The recipe might slightly differ by regions, but the main ingredients still remain the same - cabbage, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, sour cream, and dill. Depending on a season, borscht can be served hot and cold, with cold varieties often being light or vegetarian.
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