By the night train I got on in Odessa, I travel to Kharkiv. Actually I was planning to go to Donetsk instead of Kharkiv. But I changed my mind and decided to visit Kharkiv. Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine. It is a nice city to visit. It has a 100 year old subway and old Soviet buildings. You can still see bullet marks on these buildings. Seventh biggest city square in the world also takes place here.

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I booked my hotel on Booking.com before I came to Kharkiv. After checking in to the hotel, I go out in order to discover the places I planned before. I have stayed only for 3 days in Kharkiv. You can easily tour the whole city in 2 full days.

Places to visit in Kharkiv:

• Freedom Square
• Kharkiv Museum of History
• Annunciation Cathedral
• Dormition Cathedral
• Shevchenko Park
• Taras Shevchenko Monument
• Sumska Avenue
• Gorky Park

Freedom Square

The square is in the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine and third largest in Europe. I was called Dzerzhinsky Square in between 1926 and 1996. This name is originated from Feliks Dzerzhinsky, the founder of Bolshevik secret service. The statue of Lenin was erected in the square in 1964. The square is 690-750 meter long and 96-125 meter wide. The university with its magnificent size also takes place in the square.

Kharkov Museum of History

Kharkiv Museum of History is one of the biggest in Ukraine. It was opened as a museum of art by the municipality in 1886. Its name was changed to Museum of History in 1920 and it consists of 4 floors. Different parts are taking place in each floor. Along with archeologic and ethnographic collections, there are gun and flags, pictures, Soviet and German badges, warfare awards and many interesting things from that period. T-34 tank and four cannons used by Red Army in between 1941 and 1945 are ready to welcome you just outside the museum.

Sumska Avenue

Sumska Avenue is the busiest avenue in the city of Kharkiv. Museum of History is also takes place in this avenue. There is also a quite large bus stop in which a lot of buses make a stop. I recommend you to eat in Puzata Hata restaurant which is in the corner of the avenue.

Annunciation Cathedral

It is the main Orthodox church which is the biggest cathedral in Ukraine. It catches attention especially with its 80 meter high bell tower. The construction which was started by Mikhail Lovtsov on 2^nd October 1888, ended in 1901.

The façade of cathedral is striped. It was one of the biggest and largest cathedrals during Russian Empire reign. The cathedral was closed to the prayers in 1930. But during the German invasion in 1943, it was reopened to worship.

Dormition Cathedral

Dormition Cathedral in Kharkiv was the main Orthodox church of Russian Empire (modern Ukraine) until the construction of Annunciation Cathedral in 1901. The cathedral is located on the University Hill near the Lopan River and dominates the whole city center. The 90 meter bell tower of the cathedral which was built in 1820s and 1830s remained the highest building of the city until 21. century.

After visiting the cathedrals, I go to the restaurant across the hotel to eat something. It is an elegant place. After having my meal, I go to the hotel and have a rest. Visiting a few places in the evening will be good. I’ll write a detailed article about the night life later.

The next day, after having a great breakfast, I take a walk in the Kharkiv streets instead of using subway. There are Love Bridges in every country. We can say that there are no cities without it anymore. I go to Shevchenko and Gorky parks. Men should not think about Shevchenko the footballer when Shevchenko Park is mentioned. If you wonder who he is, the answer is Taras Grigoroviç Shevchenko who is an Ukranian humanist poet and painter lived in between 9^th March 1814 and 10^th March 1861. Thanks to the works he left behind, he is regarded as the founder of modern Ukranian language and literature.

Shevchenko Park

This is one of the oldest and biggest parks in Kharkiv. It was established by Vasiliy Karazin, the founder of the famous Kharkov University, in between 1804 and 1805. Ukraine’s oldest zoo is in Shevchenko Park. You can see many sculptures in the park. They are about 16 meter high.

Gorky Park

You can arrive at the park by subway. You can take a walk in the walking-tracks of Gorky Park which are connected by trees parallel to eachother. Or you can spend some time in the funfair in the park as I did. There is a huge ferris wheel. The cityscape is really worth seeing. You can also take the telpher which leaves from Gorky Park. It may be an old one but it can still be an interesting experience.

After touring Kharkiv streets, I return to the hotel. I have a plane tomorrow early. It costs about 150 Grivnis if you want to go to the airport from the city center by taxi. You can also prefer bus 115E. It is possible to go to the airport by buses which leaves from Sumska Avenue.