Among the most picturesque treasures of Romania are the Painted Monasteries of Bucovina (in northeastern Romania). Their painted exterior walls are decorated with elaborate 15th and 16th-century frescoes featuring portraits of saints and prophets, scenes from the life of Jesus, images of...
We spent few hours on safari (250 UAH) in Askania-Nova. It is one of the oldest and largest biosphere reserves in Europe, located in a remote part of the Kherson steppe. Nowadays, this unique island of primordial nature, where live many rare animal species and exotic plants, is recognized...
Finally, our friend Peter has arrived and joined our tour in Kyiv – the capital city with an ancient and proud history. The city stands on the Dnieper River just below its confluence with the Desna. As the center of Kyivan Rus, the first eastern Slavic state, 1,000 years ago, it...
We spent three days in the largest city in western Ukraine waiting for our friend Peter who did not arrive. The city was named in honor of Leo, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia from 1272 to 1349. Lviv was the center of the...
We stopped for one night in the historical city in southwestern Ukraine. Chernivtsi is situated on the upper Prut River in the Carpathian foothills. The first documentary reference to Chernivtsi dates from about 1408 when it was a town in Moldavia and the chief center of the area known as...
Oświęcim (Auschwitz) is located in southern Poland, it lies at the confluence of the Vistula and Soła rivers. Oświęcim began in the 12th century and received municipal rights in the 13th century. It served as the capital of a sovereign duchy that in 1307 swore allegiance to Bohemia...
Our next stop was the Old City of Zamość, a fine example of an Italianate Renaissance town, which became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. It was founded on the estates of Polish chancellor Jan Zamoyski (1542–1605) that lay on the trade route between the Black Sea and northern and...
We spent another two days in a historic and utterly charming spectacular medieval town Toruń (listed in UNESCO). A city located in Northern Poland is the birthplace of the famous Nicolaus Copernicus. In the Middle Ages Toruń was a prominent trade center as a member of the Hanseatic...
The Greek Catholic Wooden Church of St. Nicolas the Bishop (UNESCO) was built at the beginning of the 18th century, in the years 1720 to 1730. The log building consists of three parts and two towers. It is covered by a shingle roof with almost perfect geometric shapes resembles...
The Greek Catholic church of St. Nicholas is part of a unique urban unit on an elevated position in the center of the village Bodružal. The church is surrounded by the cemetery, wall, and belfry from the 19th century. It was built in 1658 and consists of three interconnected square-shaped...