Kherson

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 Dnipro-River from Kherson to Kiev; and the local water lines serve thousands of passengers monthly, especially during the summer.

UkraineTour provides all kind of tour services in Kherson: from car, train or bus transportation from/to Odessa or Kiev to local hotel & apartment accommodation as well as Kherson city tours with local guides and interpreters.

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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 Dnipro 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.

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; and Moscow was called the Third Rome, while the Tsargrad (Konstantinopol) was the Second Rome. It is interesting to know that during the Russian – Turkish wars, the idea to revive Visantija rose among the politicians; and they called it ‘the Greek project’. The aim of that project was to liberate Balkan countries from the Ottomans. The plan was for 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 those ambitious intentions. According to Potjomkin’s last wish, he was buried in Kherson, in the city of his unrealized hopes. His grave is in the Ekaterina’s church in the territory of the Glory Park. There, tourists can see remains of the old fortress: fragments of the rampart, the gate, the well, and the tombs of Russians warriors, killed during the heroic Ochakov’s siege.

Modern Kherson is a large city with a population of over 400,000 people. Kherson has a glorious history and rich culture. The Dnipro River and the wide city’s spacious area of green trees provide Khersoners and guest of the city with a good place to rest. Kherson is one of the most ‘green’ cities of Ukraine.

The nature of the Kherson region is unique. There is the unique nature reserve, Askania-Nova, that is included by UNESCO in the global world network of natural reserves. It is the first natural reserve of Ukraine. The virgin steppe is the greatest value of the reserve. You can still see Scythian monuments there ‘stone images’ and burial mounds. This part of the unique land in the eastern part of the Europe is considered an example of the doughty steppe. 452 kinds of the flowers have been growing there, 50 kinds of the wild hooved animals from all continents live there in the Zoo.  Order private tour to Askania-Nova natural reserve with UkraineTour.