The central church of the Sviatohirsk Lavra’s convent, erected in the neoclassical style with baroque elements in 2005 in the site of a stone church of 19th century dismantled by the Bolsheviks.
The village of Bohorodychne, located near the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery, got its name from the icon of the Mother of God, ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow.’ According to legend, it miraculously appeared on the water surface of one of the local wells at the beginning of the 18th century. A stone church dedicated to the icon was built here in 1847, along with several buildings, including three schools.
Upon the advent of the Soviet regime in Ukraine, the church fell victim to anti-religious policy: it was closed, turned into a granary, and then completely dismantled in 1938–1939. A cemetery near the church was turned into a garbage dump. Bricks from the church were being used to build a workers’ club nearby. The construction was never finished, however. During WWII, the German occupiers expelled local residents from their homes, while Nazi shelling and bombing destroyed the remains of the church and the old cemetery.
Only after Ukraine regained its independence in 1991 did the religious life of the local community begin to revive. First, the Sviatohirsk Monastery resumed its work, and a few years later, in 2000, the foundations of the Church of the Holy Mother of God were laid in Bohorodychne at the expense of benefactors, worshipers, and local villagers. Five years later, a white and blue five-domed church in the neoclassical style with baroque elements was erected on a high slope in the middle of the village. The church became a convent as part of the Sviatohirsk Lavra.
The church’s facade is decorated with massive baroque pediments, profiled cornices, and arched windows. Inside, it features an iconostasis made of green Indian marble with gilded latticework. Mosaic compositions adorn both the exterior and interior of the church. In 2008, the ancient icon of the Mother of God ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow,’ that heralded the construction of the original church, was returned to this site.
When the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the convent in Bohorodychne became a refuge for local residents who hid in the basements of the church from enemy bombings. Here, the nuns sheltered refugees from other towns and villages. However, the shelter proved to be short-lived: on May 19, 2022, as a result of shelling, the Church of the Holy Mother of God ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’ was completely destroyed.
After decades of oblivion, the rebuilt church also revitalised the history of this region.
However, the site that once held memories has now turned into a memory itself.
Formerly Palace of Culture of the Azovstal plant. The building of the former Continental hotel (1887–1910).
A unique monastery complex of the XVI–XIX centuries with natural caves.
Historical buildings reflecting the Mariupol architecture of the late XIX and early XX centuries before the Bolshevik Revolution.
Donbas Arena is the home stadium of the Ukrainian ‘Shakhtar’ football club, which became the first of the ‘elite’ category in Ukraine and in all of Eastern Europe.
An ancient building of 1902 in the Northern Art Nouveau style, which comprised under its roof the works by respected Ukrainian landscape painters, as well as world-famous marine and realist artists.
Invaluable monumental artworks, created by a group of Ukrainian monumentalists led by Alla Horska, a dissident artist and one of the Sixtiers movement’s founders. These panels incorporated elements of Ukrainian folk tradition, contemporary world trends, and Soviet art.
Formerly prospering trade and then a metallurgical centre of Ukraine that has become the symbol of the bloody Russian invasion of Ukraine and the genocide committed by the Russian army and government.
The only church in the world entirely decorated with Petrykivka paintings, an ancient style of folk Ukrainian decorative painting included in the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
The museum was established at the Faculty of History of Mariupol State University. It has become an important cultural and educational site bringing together students, professors, and citizens around the native land’s history.
The manor of Mariupol City Council’s mayor, having more than 150 years of history behind. Its architecture incorporated elements of the Stalinist Empire, Neoclassicism, and Baroque.
One of the oldest and largest Ukrainian museums, which collection comprised over 180 thousand exhibits, including the monuments and artefacts of world importance.
One of the biggest steam mills in the German Mennonite colony that existed in the Donetsk region at the turn of the 20th century. Built in 1903, this mill had been feeding people of New York and all of its suburbs for decades.
The house was built in the constructivist style in 1929. It has been the centre of the city’s creative life for almost a hundred years.
Former State Bank’s building, constructed at the turn of the 20th century. In 2019, this site housed the city library, which history began back in 1904. An intellectual and educational centre of the city.
A two-storey manor in the classical style with a neo-Gothic tower, built in Mariupol 125 years ago. The state was a property of respected doctors.
Part of the Sviatohirsk Lavra. All the skete’s buildings are made of massive pine trunks. The All Saints Church, the main skete’s sanctuary, used to be the biggest wooden church in Ukraine.
The Azovstal plant in Mariupol was one of the largest iron and steel producers in Europe. In 2022 it became a symbol of resistance to brutal Russian aggression and the incredible courage of Ukrainian fighters.
Educational institution with more than 140 years of history where many generations of Mariupol citizens studied.
Center of spiritual life of Muslims of Donetsk region.
Two buildings are a monument to an entire era. They were the last buildings in Mariupol designed in the Stalinist Neoclassicism style.
One of the oldest theatres in the Left-bank Ukraine.
The mosque was built in 2007 on the site of a mosque built in 1906 and destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1936.
St. Demetrius Church dedicated to the holy martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki is one of the oldest in the region.