This blog is also available as an RSS Feed
Ukrainian Stamps Accomplish More Than Mail Delivery
Stamp collectors around the world know the value of the little paper square affixed to packages and letters. Stamps connect people living a great distance together, honor and remember a country’s leaders and accomplishments and sometimes can unlock secrets to a culture. The simple act of securing a stamp to a piece of mail is a record of history.
FeaturesDemolition and preservation of Soviet era monuments
Since the age of the Egyptian pharaohs, grandiose monuments have been erected to honor rulers and compel their subjects worship their visages long after their mortal deaths. The Soviet commitment to public demonstration of their iron-fisted power is no more apparent than in the statues and monuments left behind after Ukraine’s independence.
FeaturesCarving God Out of Rock: Ukraine’s Rock-Cut Church
In Europe, men raised their churches knowing many would never see the climax of stone and mortar. In the desert, men came upon their cathedrals at dawn or in the moonlight. Weather built these shrines on dangerous peaks with turrets like elephant’s toes close to the sun. Drawings fade into rock like the apparitions of sleep around the world and in the village of Busha in the Land of Vinnychyna, a certain cave in a rocky gorge still speaks mystery.
FeaturesUkraine’s Capital Gets a Linguistic Facelift
Kiev is now Kyiv, at least according to the US State Department and western Ukrainians are concerned. Kyiv has long been the spelling of Ukraine’s capital for many but for Russian speaking Ukrainians living on the eastern side of the country in particular, the Russian spelling Kiev is correct. About half of Ukraine’s 4.7 million citizens are Russian speakers.
FeaturesNo longer “Little Russia”, Ukraine emerges from the shadows
Coined “Little Russia” by Catherine the Great, Ukraine and the surrounding southern portions of the environs were presented to Russian nobles and German compatriots in an effort to forge a global empire. Orthodox Serbs commandeered Cossack lands with the Tsarina’s assistance and Turks lost the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Empire. Centuries later, Ukrainians still strive to keep Russia at arm’s length economically and culturally. Just as Canada is not America and Scotland is not England, Ukrainians are quick to tell travelers that Ukraine is NOT Russia.
Features< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 >
Bookmark/Search this post with:
- Andriy Shevchenko – Football Star from Kiev
- WTO Membership Means New Rules for Visitors
- The Beautiful Tradition of a Hutsul Wedding
- Zarvanytsia – Home of a Religious Relic
- Natalka Poltavka – A Legendary Tale of Love
- Paul McCartney Concert in Kiev
- Medical Tourism in Ukraine
- Stroll Down Khreschatyk of Kiev
- Fun in the Sun at Arcadia Beach
- Journey Through the History of Andrew’s Descent
