UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ukraine

UNESCO's Description

The waters of the Danube, which flow into the Black Sea, form the largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. The Danube delta hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography and geology

Probably 40% of the Delta was built in the last 1,000 years. Finding that was like a eureka moment.

At present, the delta suffers from a large sediment deficit, after the construction of dams on the Danube and its tributaries in the later half of the 20th century. Construction of a dense network of shallow channels in the delta over the same period, a sedimentation enhancing strategy, attenuated the deficit on the delta plain but increased erosion along the coast. The Danube Delta is a low alluvial plain, mostly covered by wetlands and water. It consists of an intricate pattern of marshes, channels, streamlets and lakes. The average altitude is 0.52 m, with 20% of the territory below sea level, and more than half not exceeding one meter in altitude.

History

Recorded history notes that the Dacians lived in the Danube Delta before it was conquered by the Romans. After later invasion by the Goths, the region changed hands many times. During the 15th century, the Danube Delta became part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1812, following the Russo-Turkish War, the borders of the Ottoman and Russian Empires were set by the Kilia and Old Stambul Channels of the Danube, and in 1829 by the St George Channel. The Treaty of Paris of 1856, which ended the Crimean War, assigned the Danube Delta to the Ottoman Empire and established an international commission which undertook a series of works to help navigation.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q184429 (CC0).

Visiting Danube Delta

The Danube Delta (Delta Dunarii) is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Dobruja, in the far eastern corner of Romania, at the border with Ukraine. The delta formed by the Danube River entering the Black Sea, it is world famous for its saline-marine ecosystems.

The largest town, at the head of the delta, is Tulcea, where there is a visiting centre for the Delta. There are ferry services from Tulcea into the delta. Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe are small towns, lying at the end of the Danube, on the Black Sea coast.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Danube Delta (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

The city of L''viv, founded in the late Middle Ages, was a flourishing administrative, religious and commercial centre for several centuries. The medieval urban topography has been preserved virtually intact (in particular, there is evidence of the different ethnic communities who lived there), along with many fine Baroque and later buildings.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q2592613 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans represents a masterful synergy of architectural styles built by Czech architect Josef Hlavka from 1864 to 1882. The property, an outstanding example of 19th-century historicist architecture, also includes a seminary and monastery and is dominated by the domed, cruciform Seminary Church with a garden and park. The complex expresses architectural and cultural influences from the Byzantine period onward and embodies the powerful presence of the Orthodox Church during Habsburg rule, reflecting the Austro-Hungarian Empire policy of religious tolerance.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The buildings originally hosted a substantial theological faculty which continued to function as such when Czernowitz became, after the end of World War I, part of Romania under the name of Cernăuți. It was in the Synodal Hall that on 28 November 1918, Bukovina's union with Romania was ratified. The buildings were looted and considerably damaged by fire during World War II. After the war, when the region came under Soviet control, the theological faculty was closed down; when the buildings began to be restored in 1955, they were transferred to the town's university. In the intervening period, the buildings had been used for storage and many of the murals had been painted over.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q156067 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The Historic Center of Odesa, part of the Black Sea port city developed on the site of Khadzhybei, is a densely built-up area, planned according to classicism canons, characterized by two- to four-storey buildings and wide perpendicular streets lined with trees. Historic buildings reflect the rapid economic development of the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The site includes theatres, bridges, monuments, religious buildings, schools, private palaces and tenement houses, clubs, hotels, banks, shopping centres, warehouses, stock exchanges and other public and administrative buildings designed by architects and engineers, mostly from Italy in the early years, but also of other nationalities. Eclecticism is the dominant feature of the historic city centre’s architecture. The site bears witness to the city’s highly diverse ethnic and religious communities, representing an outstanding example of intercultural exchanges and the growth of multicultural and multi-ethnic Eastern European cities of the 19th century.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Description

The historic centre stands on a shallow indentation of the seacoast about 30 kilometres north of the Dniester estuary. The city was founded in 1794 by a strategic decision by Catherine the Great to build a warm-water port following the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish war of 1787–1792. The new city, built on the site of a Turkish fortress, was initially planned by a military engineer and then expanded further during the 19th century.

Odesa owes its character and rapid development during the 19th century to the success of its port, the favourable policies of its governors, and its status as a free port city from 1819 to 1859. Trade attracted many diverse people who formed multi-ethnic and multicultural communities, making Odesa a cosmopolitan city.