INFO ABOUT NIKOLAEV

The city is situated between two rivers - the South Bug and the Ingul. The city was named by Prince Potemkin in honor of St. Nikolaj 209 years ago. From ancient times Nikolaev has been the center of shipbuilding.

On its wharfs the largest ships of the former USSR were built. In the time of imperial Russia Nikolaev was the headquarters of the Commander-in-chief of the Black Sea fleet. The names of great naval commanders, writers, poets and artists are connected to Nikolaev.

The city is built on territory of ancient antiquity with an unmapped network of catacombs, of an antiquity much older than the famous Odessa Catacombs, near the ancient Greek city-state Ol'viya. Nikolaev has remarkable parks and reserves. The largest zoo has a variety of fauna and is third in size in the territory of the former USSR .

The highest part of the South Bug river is named "Ukrainian Switzerland" because of a beautiful landscape with fast rivers, thresholds and covered rocks as in kazak's legends. The well known artist V.V. Vereshagin lived and worked in Nikolaev.

Presently a lot of the artist's famous paintings are kept here in Nikolaev in a museum that bears his name. In an observatory constructed in 1821 is a unique collection of devices for the observation of celestial bodies. It is a land rich in history and culture which still keeps some secrets. We invite you to come and visit us.