Nova Kakhovka: Art, History and Facades

Nova Kakhovka can be explored through several specific themes: a tourist route with a set length and duration, the city’s history, a diverse art collection and the decorated facades of the historic center. This lets you decide before your trip whether you would rather focus on a route, art and urban history, or architecture.

Routes for Different Interests

Tourist Route No. 7707, “Stone Embroidery,” is two kilometers long; the excursion takes one hour. This gives the route a clearly defined time frame. Another way to explore Nova Kakhovka is the excursion route and ecological education trail “City of a Thousand Springs.” The names emphasize different things: “Stone Embroidery” on the one hand and “City of a Thousand Springs” on the other. If you include one of the routes in your travel plans, check the current access requirements in advance.

Art Collection and Artists

The A. S. Havdzynsky Municipal Art Gallery brings together a wide range of art forms. Its collection comprises 1,039 items: paintings, graphic works, sculptures, decorative and applied art, and photographs. The size of the collection may change over time. Within this collection, 297 paintings and graphic works by A. S. Havdzynsky form a clearly defined group; he donated 237 of them to the city in 1961. The collection also includes illustrations by Ukrainian People’s Artist V. H. Lytvynenko.

The total number conveys the breadth of the collection, while the 297 works highlight a single artist’s body of work. The 1961 donation establishes a specific historical connection between Havdzynsky and the city. You can therefore understand the collection both through its different media and through the contribution of an individual artist.

Urban History in the Museum

The City History Museum dates back to a decision made on January 22, 1985: the executive committee of the City Council decided to establish it on a voluntary basis. The museum opened to visitors on June 6, 1990. The decision and the opening to visitors are therefore two distinct historical milestones.

One part of the exhibition is devoted to the former village of Klyuchove, on the site of which Nova Kakhovka was built. Another hall preserves materials from the construction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, the North Crimean Canal and the city. This creates a thematic arc from the former settlement to the construction of the city. The city’s history thus encompasses both the place before the city was founded and the period when the city and the named structures were built.

Ornaments in the Historic Center

More than 50 ornamental panels by Hryhor Dovzhenko adorn a total of 80 two-story buildings in the historic center. Dovzhenko created them using his own technique of carving into wet plaster. The craft technique and the number of buildings offer two different points of reference for understanding the facade designs.

The facade ornaments are considered a valuable legacy of the students of the “School of Boychukists.” In 2017, “Stone Embroidery” and the entire historic center were granted the status of an urban planning monument of local significance. The year refers to the date of this designation, not to when the ornamental panels were created.

The Palace of Culture is a public building that was commissioned in 1953. Please check current access and program information before visiting.

Discover more destinations: Khorly, Skadovsk, Shchaslyvtseve, Bilozerka, Kherson, Kakhovka, Kizomys, Lazurne

For the regional travel overview: Kherson Oblast.