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Dnipropetrovsk

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Dnipropetrovsk (Дніпропетровськ, or Dnepropetrovsk, Днепропетро́вск; formerly Yekaterinoslav, Екатериносла́въ) is Ukraine's third largest city with 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located south of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country. Dnipropetrovsk is also the administrative center of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (province).

A vital industrial center of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was one of the key centers of the nuclear, arms, and space industries of the former Soviet Union. In particular, it is home to Yuzhmash, a major space and ballistic missile designer and manufacturer. Because of its military industry, the city was a closed city until the 1990s.

Dnipropetrovsk has a highly-developed public transportation system, including the Dnipropetrovsk Metro, which consists of one metro line with a total of 6 stations.

Geography

Climate

During the summer, Dnipropetrovsk is very warm (average day temperature in July is +24 to +27 °C (76 to 80 °F), and in the winter, it is cold (average day temperature in January is −3 to +4 °C (+24 to +39 °F).

The best time for visiting the city is in late spring — second part of April and May, and early in autumn: September, October, when the city's trees turn yellow. Long periods of rain are normal in autumn. Other times are mainly dry with a few showers.

The climate is a mixture of temperate and continental climates and sometimes in the winter it is very cold and snowy (sometimes dropping down to −10 to −15 °C), and in summer, the city is not very hot (up to +29 to +30 °C).

History

The first people appeared in the area somewhere about 150,000 years ago. The settlements of these early people were found in the outskirts of the city and on Monastyrsky Island. This unique island appears throughout the history of Prydniprovye, as a consistent center of events as well as the ancient nucleus of the city. After the last Ice Age—10 thousand years ago—the settling of the Prydniprovye area began more intensely. In ~3500-2700 BC the first farmers lived here (the so-called Tripolskaya culture people).

The mighty, broad Dnieper River (Greeks called it the Borysthenes, 'Borisphen' in local pronunciation) with its picturesque islands and peaceful backwaters, lush flood-meadows and shadowy oak woods stretches along river valleys and ravines. Abundant game and fish in local forests and waters are a result of good climate and vast fertile land... All this attracted hunters, fishers, cattle-breeders and land-tillers to these parts.

3000 years ago, the cattle-breeders came from the East—Cimmerians, written about by Homer and glorified by Hollywood ("Conan the Barbarian").

They gradually overcame the Scythians (~700 BC), who were known for their graceful creations from bronze and named as a frontier area of ancient civilization (Crimea). The invasions from the East proceeded and in 200 BC the Sarmatians came here. They won and assimilated the rests of Scythians.

Most inhabitants of the city and visitors know and like the distinctive features of the small square near the Museum of History—the place where the 'Stony Women' stay (which actually are not females... and are shown in the photo above). The visitors are amazed with the centuries-old natives—their oval forms. They were creations of a steppe nomadic people called the Cumans or Kipchaks and are a modular collection from neighboring barrows. In the past they served as the index points for the steppe inhabitants.

The first century of the new era was marked by fast inhabitation of the Dnieper River banks by Slavic tribes. The rocks of Monastyrsky Island remember well the first time Slavs floated down the Dnieper River to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

On this island in the IX century the Monastery was founded by Byzantine monks (from it the island received its name). It existed until 1240 when it was destroyed by Tatars. The Dnieper River has for many centuries served as a border between East and West and its banks have served as arena of struggle between the Slavs and the Asian nomads.

This situation continued for many centuries until the XV century when there appeared a new force - the free people - Cossacks - Zaporiz'ki Kazaky (Zaporizhya - the lands south of Prydniprovye, translate as "The Land After the Weirs [Rapids]")...

17th-18th centuries

The locale's history dates back to Cossack times.

1775-1917: In the Russian Empire

The city was founded in 1783 as a result of southern expansion of the Russian Empire. One former name, Yekaterinoslav, translates in English to "The glory of Yekaterina" (Catherine the Great). It became the administrative center of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate.

From 1902 to 1933, the famous historian of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Dmytro Yavornytsky, was Director of the Dnipropetrovsk Museum, which was later named after him. Before his death in 1940, Yavornytsky wrote a ''History of the City of Ekaterinoslav’’, which lay in manuscript for many years. It was only published in 1989 as a result of the Gorbachev reforms.

1917-1919: Independence from the Russian Empire

After February revolution in 1917 Ekaterinoslav became a city within autonomy of Ukrainian People's Republic under Tsentralna Rada government. In November 1917 Bolsheviks headed rebellion and got power for a short time. The city experienced occupation of German and Austrian-Hungarian armies that were allies of Ukrainian Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi. During power of Ukrainian Dyrektoriya government with its dictator Symon Petlura the city had periods of uncertain power; at times the anarchists of (bat'ka) Makhno held the city. Military operations of the Red army which was headed from the North brought the city under the Soviet regime.

1919-1991: in the Soviet Union & under Nazi rule

During the German occupation of Ukraine in World War II, the city gave its name to one of the six generalbezirke in which a Nazi Generalkommissar was in charge under the authority of the Reichskommissar in Kiev. Dnipropetrovsk was an important center of Jewish life, and 80,000 Jews lived in the city before the Holocaust, but soon after the Nazis conquered the city on October 12, 1941, 11,000 were shot; in the end only 15 Jews of Dnipropetrovsk survived at the end of the war.

In the 20th to 21st centuries, the economic potential of the city has defined its political importance. Dnipropetrovsk and the surrounding oblast are the birthplace of the so-called "Dnipropetrovsk Clan", an influential informal political group inside the CPSU, members of whom were the industrial and party elite. Leonid Brezhnev, a native of the nearby city of Dniprodzerzhyns'k and later Soviet Union Communist Party General Secretary, founded and pushed the Clan to the highest levels of the Soviet power structure. Its members are believed by many political scientists to have ruled not only the Ukrainian SSR but also the entire Soviet Union up to the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev.

After 1991: Since Ukrainian independence

In 2005, the most powerful representative of that clan is Leonid Kuchma, the former President of Ukraine, previously senior manager of Yuzhmash.

Transportation

Local transportation

Main public forms of transport within Dnipropetrovsk are: trams, electric trolley buses, buses, and route vans (marshrutkas - private minibuses). In addition there are huge numbers of taxis, and many private cars, also some people have bicycles and some of people are walking. Dnipropetrovsk also has metro system, opened in 1995, which consists of a total of one line and 6 stations. Work on other stations was abandoned to a recent time when the city ran out of money for this project; two of these abandoned building works are in the central portion of Karla Marksa Prospekt. Currently project has been renewed. Importance of next two station make city to finish them to make municipal subway system profitable. But finish date still not fix.

Suburban transportation

Dnipropetrovsk has some highways crossing through the city. The most popular routes are from Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia. Transit through the city is also available.

The largest bus station in eastern Ukraine is located in Dnipropetrovsk. It is near the city's Central Railway Terminal. Bus routes are also available to all over the country, including some international routes to Russia, Poland, Germany, Moldova and Turkey.

In the summertime, there are some routes available by hydrofoils on the Dnieper River. Various tourist ships on their way down the Dnieper, (Kiev–Kherson–Odessa) always make a stop in the city.

Railroads

The city is a large railway junction. Daily trains run to and from many parts of Eastern Europe. There are two rapid trains at day time from Kiev to Dnipropetrovsk and there are a few express trains at night. Other trains come from Moscow, Lviv, Saint Petersburg, and other places.

Air travel

The city is served by an Dnipropetrovsk International Airport and is connected to other European cities with daily flights.

Culture

Attractions

The city features a variety of theatres (including a Theatre of Opera), museums, parks, restaurants and beaches, many of which may be of interest to tourists, providing they speak Russian.

The central streets of the city were renamed during the Soviet era in honor of Marxists, the central thoroughfare itself known as Karla Marksa Street. It is a very beautiful, wide and long parkway, which stretches east to west through the central part of the city. It was founded in the eighteenth century and parts of its buildings are the actual decoration of the city. In the heart of the city is Zhovtneva [October] Square, which includes the majestic cathedral founded by order of Catherine the Great in 1787.

On the square, there are some remarkable buildings: the Museum of History, Diorama "Battle for the Dnieper River (Second World War)", and also the beautiful park in which one can rest in the hot summer. Walking down the hill to the Dnieper River, one arrives in the large Taras Shevchenko Park (which is on the right bank of the river) and on Monastyrsky Island. This island is one of the most interesting places in the city. In the IX century, the Byzantine monks based a monastery here. It was destroyed by Mongol-Tatars in the XIII century.

While the compact "old town" does not exist in Dnipropetrovsk anymore, numerous historic buildings still exist. Many historic buildings and churches were destroyed in the Second World War and in Stalin's Communist times in the 1930s.

However, all of Central Avenue, some street-blocks on the main hill (the Nagornaya part) between Pushkina Prospekt and Embankment, and sections near Globy and Shevchenka parks have been untouched for 150 years, retaining their historical character.

The Dnieper River keeps the climate mild and the air fresh. It is visible from many points in Dnipropetrovsk. From any hill (there are 3 in the city) you will find a beautiful view of the river, islands, parks, outskirts, river banks and hills.

There was no need to build huge skyscrapers in the city in Soviet times. Powerful industries preferred to construct offices close to their main factories away from the centre of town. In the last ten years of independence the price of land in Ukraine has grown considerably. All the new office buildings are being built in the same architectural style as the old buildings.

Famous people from Dnipropetrovsk

Sport

The city also houses the Ukrainian Premier League football club, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Sister Cities

References

External links



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Last updated on Saturday February 23, 2008 at 15:51:04 PST (GMT -0800)
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