Portal talk:Ukraine/Did you know

[edit] Older Entries

...that the legend of the Gold of Polubotok says that Cossack Pavlo Polubotok deposited 200,000 gold coins at the Bank of England in 1723 and that the money owed to Ukraine is supposedly valued at twenty times the world's gold reserve? (picture)
...that the Swallow's Nest, constructed in 1911-1912 and located on top of a 40 meter cliff in Crimea, Ukraine, is a medieval-type castle which has survived an earthquake measuring 6-7 on the Richter scale? (picture...)
...that Vasyl Karazin, the founder of Kharkiv University, was not allowed to attend the opening ceremony?
...that the Zymne Monastery in Volynia is believed to have been named after a winter palace of Vladimir the Great that formerly stood on the spot?
...that the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater, in Lviv, Ukraine combines details of the Renaissance and Baroque?
...that the 1710 Bendery Constitution by Hetman Pylyp Orlyk was one of the first state constitutions in Europe?

...that when the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine issued the decree to construct the Donetsk Metro in 1991, the completion date was set for 2002, but due to the unstable economic situation of the city, it is still not complete?
...that St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev may have been the first Russian and Ukrainian church to have a golden dome, now so typical of vernacular church architecture?

...that the Potemkin Stairs (pictured) located in Odessa, Ukraine create an optical illusion, where either the landings or the stairs are invisible depending on an observer's vantage point?
...that the Kiev tram was the first electric tramway in the Russian Empire, and the second one in Europe after the Berlin Straßenbahn?
...that the Lviv tram, opened on May 5, 1880 in Galicia (then part of Austria-Hungary), is one of the last urban transit systems in the former Soviet Union to still use grooved rail?
...that with some 150,000 customers per day, the Seventh-Kilometer Market outside of Odessa, Ukraine, is among the largest markets of the world and consists almost entirely of shipping containers?
...that tickets bought for the ceremonial opening of Kiev Republican Stadium scheduled for June 22, 1941 were still valid 7 years later, as the event was "postponed until after the Victory" due to the Nazi invasion to the USSR?
...that the statues of St. Andrew and Samson from the Fountain of Samson in Kiev were stored in a museum before the beginning of WWI, saving them from destruction by the Bolsheviks?

...that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kiev on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
...that the neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building in Kiev features a hundred-tonne glass dome over the chamber where the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convenes to enact legislation?
...that the statues of St. Andrew and Samson from the Fountain of Samson in Kiev were stored in a museum before the beginning of WWI, saving them from destruction by the Bolsheviks?
...that at its first years Kiev Zoo had to move its animals into the food storage of the main Kiev railway station for the winter?
...that the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
...that among many historic landmarks at the Andrew's Descent in Kiev, there is a medieval Gothic style castle that locals call the "Castle of Richard the Lion Heart" due to the legend the 12th century King of England had visited the building?
...that the Kryvbas economic region in Ukraine is one of the largest iron ore and steel industry centers in Europe?
...that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
...that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?