Kherson Favorites

Favorite thing: Between May 18 and May 20, 1944, the Crimea's entire Tatar population was herded up by Stalin's security forces, after being accused by Stalinist propaganda of siding with the Nazis. They were crammed into cargo trains and sent to Central Asia. Thousands perished during the long trip in overcrowded railcars without adequate food and water. At the time of the deportation, the Tatars were Soviet citizens and the Crimea was part of the Russian Soviet Republic. When they started coming back they were caught in a legal limbo since the Crimea had in the meantime become part of the Ukraine.

Fondest memory: By now an estimated 90 percent of Tatar returnees have been granted Ukrainian nationality.

Favorite thing: Kherson is a nice green city at the south of Ukraine that situated on two banks of the Dniper river’s downstream.

Fondest memory: The city of the river- and the sea - ports, Kherson is connected with 42 countries of the world. The cargo ships & the passenger ships sail along the Dniper-river from Kherson to Kiev, the local water lines serve the thousands of passengers monthly, especially in summer.

Favorite thing: The modern Kherson is the large city with the population over 400.000 citizens, with the glorious history & the rich culture. The Dniper-river & the wide city’s zone of green trees provide a good possibility for the rest to the Khersoners and to the guests of the city. Kherson is one of the most "green" cities of Ukraine.

Favorite thing: Many legendary persons have invested their energy in making Kherson one of the major Southern center of the Russian Empire. The general Gannibal (the uncle of Pushkin’s mother) was the main constructor of Kherson and the first ship "Ekaterina’s Glory" was built Under his leading .

Fondest memory: Admiral Ushakov continued this business. Due to the admiral’s efforts the terrible epidemic of plague was stopped and lives of many citizens were saved. And since that time the main street of the city is named Ushakov Avenue. In 1792-1794 Suvorov lived in one of them, at that time he was the commander of the Kherson’s military corps. In 1792-1794 the famous Commander Suvorov lived in Kherson when he was the commander of the Kherson’s military corps.

Favorite thing: Kherson was founded in 1778 by the decree of Ekaterina II with the aim to defend the south part of the Russian empire. The city was built at the mouth of the Dniper-river and it had to be the base for the creation of the Black sea fleet. The city was named in the honor of the old Greek colony Chersonese.

Fondest memory: The legend says that the grand duke Potjomkin discovered the old gate with the Greek inscription: "From here you must go to Visantija". Many years ago they called Russia the Visantija’s successor & Moscow was called the Third Rome, while the Tsargrad (Konstantinopol) was the Second Rome. It is interesting to know that during the Russian – Turkey wars the idea to revival Visantija rose among the politicians, they called it "the Greek project". The aim of that project was to deliberate Balkan countries from Osmans, the creation of the new state "Visantija", which would submit to the Russian throne. Kherson was the part of that project. Ekaterina II had to crown her grandson Konstantin on the Visantija throne. But the death of Ekaterina’s II favorite Potjomkin destroyed the ambitious intentions.

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Favorite thing: walking along Ushakov Avenue and exploring its stores, parks and squares.

Fondest memory: visiting All Saints' Church not far from the central street. The church was built in 1803 - one of the oldest in the country. The old cemetery is still around the church, which cannot be seen in other towns and cities. All monuments of Soviet times are also still there unlike some 'progressive' Western-Ukrainian cities which have long raised all Soviet monuments to the ground.

Favorite thing: I remember having a walk in downtown Kherson.
I payed attention to numerous advertisements and boards like this one intended to advertise a political party called 'Apple' whose emblem is a pineapple.
The word 'pineapple' sounds in Russian like the beginning of the phrase 'It will not let us down'.

Favorite thing: Religions in Kherson :
- Ukrainian Orthodox,
- Moscow Patriarchate,
- Ukrainian Orthodox
- Kiev Patriarchate,
- Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox,
- Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate),
- Protestant,
- Jewish

Favorite thing: Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Fondest memory: The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising agaist the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-1920), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths. Although independence was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.

Favorite thing: Kherson Commercial Sea Port is a modern port and one of the biggest in Ukraine. The Port was founded in 1778.

The Port is comfortably situated in the Dnieper delta 53 miles off the Black Sea. It is an important river and sea junction of Ukraine. The sea port is open for navigation all year round.

Fondest memory: Kherson Port is specialised in the handling of bulk and packed chemical and mineral fertilisers with covered and open storage and with storing in floating barges. There is a special reloading complex for bulk fertilisers and packing production line for bulk cargoes in bags. The Port uses modern technologies and equipment. This provides the opportunity to handle different kinds of transports. The port cranes with lifting capacity up to 10 tones and floating cranes with lifting capacity up to 150 tones are used during the reloading operations.
Kherson Commercial Sea Port tranships in any direction all kinds of export - import and cabotage cargoes, but wet cargoes.