The first Ukrainian cultural monuments were listed in 1990 at the 14th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Of these, 6 were included in the list based on cultural criteria and 1 object was included based on natural criteria.
Kyiv. St. Sophia Cathedral and adjacent monastery buildings
Creation time: 1018
Year of listing: 1990 (minor changes in 2005).
St. Sophia Cathedral is a monument of Ukrainian architecture and monumental painting of the 11th–18th centuries, one of the few surviving buildings from the time of Kyivan Rus. It is one of the most important Christian shrines in Eastern Europe and the historical center of the Kyiv Metropolis. The temple complex includes: St. Sophia Cathedral, bell tower, Metropolitan's House, refectory, Brotherhood building, bursa, consistory, Southern entrance tower, Zaborovsky gate, cells, Monastery hotel. About 260 m 2 of mosaics and 3000 m 2 of frescoes have been preserved. Of great value are the 11th-century mosaics placed on the central dome and the main altar. The image of Oranta - the figure of the Holy Virgin Mary, whose hands are raised in prayer - placed in the central apse is considered a work of mosaic art. The height of the mosaic is 6 m. The uniqueness of this mosaic is that when viewed from different angles, it seems that Oranta is depicted in different poses: sitting, standing, bowed in prayer, or kneeling.
Lviv. Ensemble of the historical center of Lviv
Time of creation: 13th–18th centuries.
Year of listing: 1998 (minor changes in 2008).
The Old Town, or the Historical Center of the City, is the first district of Lviv. The political, economic and cultural life of the city was concentrated here. The ensemble is located on 120 hectares of the medieval part of the city and on the territory of the Cathedral of St. George on Svyatoyurska Gora. On its territory there are many historical buildings that amaze with their beauty and "tell" their history to anyone who is willing to listen.
Struve geodesic arc
Time of creation: 1816–1855.
Year of listing: 2005.
The Struve Arc is a chain of triangulation points, 2,820 km long, located across the territory of ten European countries from Hammerfest (Norway) to the Black Sea. It was laid out in the period from 1816 to 1855 by the astronomer F. G. V. Struve. With the help of this object, it was possible to make the first reliable measurement of a large segment of the arc of the Earth's meridian, which made it possible to establish the size and shape of our planet. Initially, the "arc" consisted of 258 geodetic "triangles" with 265 main triangulation points. 34 such points are included in the world heritage. They are marked on the ground in a variety of ways: hollowed out in rocks, created depressions, installed iron crosses, made pyramids of stones or specially installed obelisks.
Transcarpathian region, Rakhiv and Tyachiv districts. Beech forests of the Carpathians
Year of inclusion in the list: 2007 (expanded in 2011).
The Carpathian Beech Forests are a transnational natural site consisting of ten massifs located along an axis of 185 km. It extends from the Rakhiv Mountains and the Chornohirsky Range in Ukraine westward along the Polonyn Range to the Bukovsky Mountains and Vyhorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The Ukrainian-Slovak site "Carpathian Beech Forests" covers an area of 77,971.6 hectares, of which 29,278.9 hectares constitute the reserve core, and 48,692.7 hectares are the buffer zone. Almost 70% of the territory is part of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, and the rest is part of the Uzhansky National Nature Park, and only a quarter of it is located within Eastern Slovakia. This site is a model of intact natural complexes of temperate forests and an example of a complex complete ecosystem.
Chernivtsi. Residence of the Metropolitans of Bukovina and Dalmatia
Time of creation: 1864–1882.
Year of listing: 2011.
The residence of the metropolitans of Bukovina and Dalmatia is an architectural masterpiece of Western Ukraine, a sample of post-Romanticism in architecture, built in the eclectic style. It consists of 3 monumental buildings: "Metropolitan", "Seminary" and "Monastery". From the outside, the complex resembles a medieval castle. The courtyard is closed on three sides by buildings that form a ceremonial courdoner, resembling a kind of baroque ceremonial courtyard. The complex successfully combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, Moorish, Gothic architecture. And all this is successfully decorated with carvings and paintings in the Hutsul style.
Sevastopol. Tauric Chersonese and its choir
Time of creation: 4th century BC–12th century AD
Year of listing: 2013.
Founded in 422–421 BC by Greek immigrants from Heraclea Pontica. It was a Greek colony on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Located in the southwestern part of Crimea, near the Quarantine Bay. Now the Tavrian Chersonese National Reserve is located on the site of ancient Chersonese. The museum's collections include about 200,000 exhibits from the 5th century BC to the 15th century (over 5,000 in the exhibition). The reserve has many attractions, including: the basilica, Zeno's tower, an amphitheater, the Temple with the Ark, the Uvarov Basilica, the Underground Temple-Mausoleum, the mint, etc.
Wooden churches of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine
Time of creation: 16th–19th centuries.
Year of listing: 2013.
In Ukraine, about 2,000 objects of wooden sacral architecture have survived to our time. Poland and Ukraine submitted a joint cross-border application for recognition of wooden churches as a monument worthy of the UNESCO list. The complex includes 8 churches from Ukraine and Poland. The churches represent the following types of architecture: Hutsul (2 in Ukraine), Galician (4 Ukraine and 2 Poland), Boyko (2 in Ukraine and 1 in Poland) and Lemko (5 in Poland). These churches present the cultural features of 4 ethnic groups, show authentic architectural traditions.
Also, 16 more candidates have been submitted for consideration by the commission. Among them are: Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Chernihiv, the Askania-Nova Reserve, Sofiivka Park, Bakhchisarai Palace, the Genoese (Sudatsk) Fortress, the historical center of Odessa, Eski-Kermen, etc. However, it is not known when they will be included in the UNESCO heritage list.
Write a comment