August 27th, 2012 , 07:56 am
Kremenchug, located in the Poltava region, traces its history back to the 16th century. It began with a fortress designed to protect the adjacent territory and the crossing of the Dnieper. Residents most often associate the name of the city with the word “flint”, which confirms frequent use it in local usage. Kremenchug is an industrial city, providing 7% of Ukraine's budget. Local products were known back in the Soviet Union. For example, KrAZ trucks are manufactured here. The presence of a large number of factories has its negative and positive sides for a populated area. The latter, in addition to creating jobs, includes the contribution of enterprises to the improvement of the city. The Kredmash plant planted a new birch grove. 
And at the entrance there is an impressive fountain.
It was installed by the Wheel Factory. As the sellers of the retail outlets in the neighborhood said, the fountain does not have a clear operating schedule, and today, to their joy (splashes are flying at them), it is turned off...
Trade enterprise selling flowers.
There is a small oasis nearby.
In Kremenchug, during the Great Patriotic War, there was a concentration camp for prisoners of war and other categories of people disliked by the Nazis. 97 thousand people died in them. The population of the pre-war city of 115 thousand decreased to 18 thousand by the end of the war.
A new church was built in the park. Or there is a park around the new church.
The belfry is clearly temporary. Although, what could be more permanent than temporary structures?
There is also a monument to Komsomol members of the 30s of the 20th century from Komsomol members of the 60s. Probably quite deservedly so, because... They took an active part in the development of city industry. I wonder if they will remember kind words today's young guys? And for what?
In one of the parks I met an old man, exhausted by time. From his face one could assume that he had once belonged to a culture. Does he himself remember that time? Or does he indifferently wait for the imminent end determined by fate?
I sweep the barns, scrape the bottom of the barrel...
In many places, urban areas are now being actively paving with paving slabs. Especially where the leadership of the locality owns its production. Kremenchug is not lagging behind in this work. Work on the stadium is almost complete. All that remains is to lay a small area in the middle...
In the city you can find panels covering the entire wall of a house left over from the Soviet period.
A fire tower, in the absence of church dominants, is very useful.
House of Culture of the Automobile Plant. Judging by its condition, production continues. Although in Russia the KrAZ is now a curiosity.
In times of office planktonization of the non-female part of the population of civilized countries, strong male hands are becoming a rarity. (This applies, of course, less to Kremenchug, with its considerable share of workers among the townspeople). Those who want to see how they should look and touch their steel muscles can go to the courtyard of the local Vodokanal.
Kremenchuk suffered greatly during the Great Patriotic War. Naturally, after its completion the city was restored.
These houses are similar to those built by captured Germans and their allies throughout the USSR.
The city has attempted to separate waste collection.
But either there are not enough types of bins, or the openings for receiving garbage are too small. Or did some conservative-minded resident make a bunch?
It is unlikely that A.S. would approve of this. Makarenko, a great educator who received his pedagogical education here and began working as a teacher here. Now there is a monument to him and the children in the school yard.
Not far away. In the meadow, in the meadow, in the meadow they are grazing...? (Or rather, lo...).
Quite good Orthodox churches are obtained by simple conversion from Catholic churches.
There are few religious buildings in the city. In this area there was also a chapel near the railway station.
And the new Catholic Church.
I think it’s worth following Taras Grigorievich’s wishes and remembering him. With a quiet word. The man was good. I just didn’t know that his statements would be disassembled into quotes and posted on the streets of all cities of Ukraine. Otherwise I would have prepared more of them.
It’s good that in the current state he has a very productive assistant.
A concert was organized for city veterans.
The military band reminded them of their youth.
Veterans of architecture were less fortunate. Many of them need façade repairs.
But surrounded by dense vegetation, these buildings look more cheerful.
Some old mansions look quite decent.
In a turret similar to the chapel of the Beijing Cafe.
Another shopping establishment with oriental appearance.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin visited Kremenchug.
Academician Vernadsky was here collecting bricks for the foundation of his theory about the biosphere.
Modern students have moved from theory to practice, and maintain an acceptable state of the biosphere by picking up trash for irresponsible citizens on the embankment.
I must say that the embankment in Kremenchug is good.
It is shorter than in Dnepropetrovsk, and not as large-scale, but continues with magnificent beaches.
A park area stretches along the entire length of the Dnieper bank. The scale of what was created along the Dnieper suggests that the Soviet leadership had certain plans for Kremenchug. But something didn't work out. Perhaps we just didn’t have time, because... perestroika has begun...
There are many animals in the dense thickets.
Not all of them managed to get through this difficult period in the life of the country without losses, but one can hope that wisdom “would have been bones (in in this case fittings) - the meat will grow" this time it will work...
The city pike is widely known in narrow circles.
A rare boat will sail to the middle of the Dnieper. But if he swims there, he may find a convenient sandbank there.
The central square is next to the parks. Part of it was given to children.
Vladimir Ilyich thought with satisfaction, “This generation will live under communism.” But, remembering that objective reality depends little on imagination, I decided to add a question mark at the end of the phrase, just in case.
Memories of the first day after the war. Probably, our people never had such happiness either before or after this important event.
Memory of the destroyed cathedral. Perhaps someday it will be restored.
The river station has just been renovated.
There are various sculptures around it. The main theme is female beauty.
Should there be many good people?
Kremenchuk- a city of regional subordination, which is located in central Ukraine, in the Poltava region. It is not part of the district of the same name, but is its administrative center. Most of the city lies on the left bank of the Dnieper, and only a small part of it, namely Kryukov, lies on the right bank.
In Kremenchug there are such districts as Avtozavodskoy and Kryukovsky, and the city consists of left-bank and right-bank parts, which are connected by the Kryukovsky bridge. The Alexandria - Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk - Kyiv waterways also pass through the city. The city itself stretches from south to north, and its width is no more than 8 km.
The Kremenchug region includes 19 village councils.
According to the results of the General Directorate of Statistics, the city's population is 224,997 people, and the population density is 2,460 people/km 2 .
For those who are interested in how the city lives today, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the latest information about Kremenchug:
History of Kremenchuk
Base
The official founding date of Kremenchug is 1571. The Polish king Sigismund II signed a universal document in which he indicated that it was necessary to build a fortress to protect the Dnieper region from constant attacks by the Crimean Tatars. The city's name comes from the Turkish word "Kremenchuk" and means "Small Fortress".
City on the Dnieper
In 1638, a fortress was erected in the town, the plan of which was drawn up by a military engineer from France, Guillaume Levasseur de Bonpland. At the same time, the already mentioned Kryukov arose.
Kremenchug was a trading city, where fairs were held, which were visited by traders from different cities and countries, and also constantly sold grain, timber and salt.
History within Tsarist Russia
In 1764, Kremenchug was part of the Novorossiysk province and in 1765-1783 it was considered its provincial city.
During the Russian-Turkish War (1787-1791), Russian troops were based in the city. It was then that an arms factory was built here with a forge, metalworking, foundry and other shops. And in 1788, the famous commander Alexander Suvorov, who was wounded during the Battle of Kinburg, was treated in the Kremenchug hospital.
Since 1796, the city began to belong to the Little Russian province, due to the disappearance of the Ekaterinoslav governorship. In 1798, Kremenchug got its own coat of arms, and in 1802 it became a district town in the Poltava province.
In 1782, a conservatory was opened here for the first time in the country. The reason for the opening was the visit of Kremenchug by Catherine II. The director of the conservatory was Giuseppe Sarti, a composer from Italy.
Since the connection of Kremenchug with Kryukovsky Posad, it has become the largest commercial and industrial city in the Poltava province. During this time, a cloth and hosiery factory, a tannery and other enterprises were founded here, and the right bank part also became a center of salt trade.
With the development of capitalism in 1861, new plants and factories appeared here, and old ones were rebuilt. In 1873, a railway bridge appeared across the Dnieper. At the end of the 19th century, a railway, a power plant, a library, a district school, a theater, a gymnasium and much more were already functioning, and in 1899 the first tram appeared.
Kremenchuk during the war
In 1941, on September 9, Kremenchug was captured by the Nazis. During the war, all educational and cultural institutions, 93 industrial enterprises, a railway, a power plant, a bridge that crossed the Dnieper, as well as 97% of the housing stock were destroyed here.
In 1943, on September 29, the Fifth Guards Army of the Steppe Front liberated the city from the invaders. It is on this day that residents of Kremenchug celebrate City Day.
Post-war period: restoration of infrastructure and active development of industry
After the war, heavy industry began to actively develop here; 3 Kremenchug machine-building plants were built: a car-building plant, an automobile plant and a road machine plant. In 1959, residents saw KrAZ trucks for the first time.
Over the course of 20 years (1960-1980), a complex of chemical enterprises, the most powerful thermal power plant in the region, one of the most powerful oil refineries in Europe and, of course, new houses were built in the city.
Infrastructure and industry of our time
Today, in the city on the Dnieper there are machine-building and processing enterprises: 11 factories that specialize in the production of carriages, cars, oil refining, wheels, the production of bakery and alcoholic products, processing of meat, milk, etc.; leather and saddlery factory; 2 clothing factories and one tobacco factory; confectionery factories “Lukas”, “ROSHEN”, “Romashka”, etc.
"AvtoKrAZ"
The city has a large port, an airfield, and the Kremenchug hydroelectric power station. There are two railway stations in Kremenchug: “Kryukov-on-Dnepre” and “Kremenchug” - one of the largest stations in the Southern railway. Kremenchug has direct railway connections with Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov, Moscow and other cities.
River port
Sights, education, culture and social sphere
There are many attractions in Kremenchug:
- museums,
- art and picture galleries,
- various monuments (to revolutionary sailors, underground partisans, plumbers, etc.);
- rock “Granite Benchmark”;
- obelisk of the dead;
- stela in honor of the 400th anniversary of the city;
- Pushkin Boulevard;
- Alpine Hill Garden
- pike from Kremenchug and many others.
Museum of Local Lore
The education sector of Kremenchug is represented by the following educational institutions:
- 21 secondary schools.
- Specialized secondary school.
- Night school.
- Educational Association.
- Private school.
- Jewish scientific and educational complex.
- Boarding school.
- 6 lyceums.
- 2 gymnasiums.
- 4 colleges.
- Academy for the Development of Humanitarian Education.
- Higher vocational school.
- College of Railway Transport.
- Pedagogical school.
- 2 vocational schools.
- Kremenchug Institute of Dnepropetrovsk University of Economics and Law.
- 3 universities.
The social sphere includes the central district hospital, two local hospitals and 8 outpatient clinics, and the Verbichenka sanatorium-preventorium also operates in the city. In addition, there are 2 museums and 2 galleries, the City Palace of Culture and 3 youth sports schools.
Famous personalities of Kremenchug
The city can be proud of Ukrainian and world celebrities who were born and raised here:
- Alexey Leonov - first cosmonaut, Hero Soviet Union, honorary citizen of the city.
- Educator and writer Anton Makarenko.
- Singer and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR Leonid Utesov.
- Jewish Soviet writer, critic and publicist Genekh Kazakevich.
- Ukrainian football players Maxim and Pavel Pashayev.
- Israeli children's poet and writer Miriam Yalan-Steklis.
- Poet and prose writer Emmanuil Kazakevich.
- American avant-garde composer and pianist Lev Ornstein.
- Ukrainian professional billiard player Anastasia Kovalchuk.
- Master of Sport, Olympic champion 1980 in shot put, multiple champion of the USSR Vladimir Kiselyov.
- American composer Dmitry Tyomkin.
- Soviet Army officer Alexander Pechersky.
- Professional boxer, WBA world welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko.
- Ukrainian football player, Premier League player Dmitry Lepa.
- Theater and film actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR Vladimir Zamansky.
Background information of Kremenchug
The city on the map is indicated by the following coordinates: 49˚04’39” N. latitude. 33˚25’26”E. Its area is 109.6 km2.
City telephone code: +38005366.
Postal codes of Kremenchug: 39600-39689.
The city is located in the UTC+2 hours time zone (+3 hours - taking into account the clock change to “summer time”).
The building of the Kremenchug City Council is located at the address: 39600, Kremenchug, Victory Square, 2.
Not far from the sensational Gorishni Plavni there is a city on the river - Kremenchug. You won't find it in tourist guides. It’s a rare tourist who makes a special trip from the other end of Ukraine to see the industrial capital of the Poltava region. This is the homeland of KrAZ, Ukrtatnafta, car manufacturers and many large factories. But the city can boast of the proximity of the protected floodplains of the Dnieper - it is surrounded by many green islands.
People often come here on business, to visit relatives and friends. But when receiving guests, the residents themselves often wonder what to show them in their city? Where should I go? And if you are an independent traveler, then finding the answer to this question will be even more difficult. So, what to do if you find yourself in an industrial town? Where to go to have fun spending your leisure time?
What to see in Kremenchuk: interesting places
There are not a lot of historical sights in Kremenchug. This is not Kyiv, not Lvov, not Odessa. The city is not small - more than 200 thousand Kremenchu residents live in it, and it is far from poor. Restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, hookah bars are just on every corner. You can spend a week without leaving bars. And the question of what to actually do in Kremenchug will disappear by itself. However, bars aren't everything. You can take a lot of pictures from Kremenchug with cheerful monuments and breathtaking panoramas.
Photo source: Google Maps, author – Garry Art.
Bridge over the Dnieper
For Kremenchuk, this is the same calling card as the Eiffel Tower for Paris or Big Ben for London. He is in all the paintings dedicated to the city, on all the posters and book covers. Since the bridge connects the main part of the city with Kryukov, in everyday life it received the name “Kryukovsky”.
Photo source: social network VKontakte, author – Stas Osipov.
The bridge is “three in one”: for cars, trains and pedestrians. The walk will take about 20 minutes. Suitable for photographers, romantics and extreme sports enthusiasts. From here they open beautiful views on the river, city beach, green islands. The landscapes at sunset are especially impressive. Well, a little bit of extreme sports to boot: when trains or trucks drive across the bridge, you feel that it is simply “walking” under your feet. This landmark is nearly 70 years old, and there has long been talk of retiring the bridge by building a “twin brother.” But the bridge, like all Ukrainians, decided to increase the retirement age - retirement is not coming soon.
How to get there: minibuses No. 3B, 11.
Kremenchuk embankment
One of the most popular places among city residents. On holidays, sometimes you can’t find a place to sit on the parapet. From the embankment you can see a breathtaking panorama of the Dnieper and neighboring islands. The most romantic island, frozen in the middle of the water surface, bears the elegant name “Fantasy”. In Soviet times, beaches were built on it, but now it is always deserted.
How to get there: minibuses No. 15, 16, 17.
Ferris wheel
An attraction in the Pridneprovsky Park will help you look at the Dnieper from above. The park is located along the embankment.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – Oleg Gersdof.
Monument to the pike
“Swim the pike from Kremenchuk” - the name of the song from Taras Shevchenko’s collection was decided to be immortalized in bronze by the residents of Kremenchuk. And so a monument to the pike appeared on the embankment. Now everyone wants to “hold her in their hands,” at least in a photo. And the newlyweds put their fingers directly into her mouth: it is believed that then their marriage will be happy.
Photo source: zik.ua.
Embroidery on Victory Square
Kremenchug Square was recently “dressed” in embroidered shirts. The fact is that there used to be a monument to Lenin in the center of the main square of the city. The monument was demolished, but the granite pedestal did not give up. And the “glass,” as the Kremenchu residents called it, spoiled the panorama of the square for a long time. This year the pedestal was removed and the square was decorated with Ukrainian ornaments.
Photo source: poltava.sq.com.ua.
Open-air museum of military equipment
Don’t be surprised when you see a real tank and fighter in Peace Park. You have found yourself in the open-air Museum of Military Equipment. Among the exhibits are the famous Katyusha, artillery pieces, a MiG-31 fighter and more.
How to get there: minibus No. 30, stop “Park Mira”.
Peace Gong
Don't rush to leave Mira Park. Note the original gazebo. Inside it is the Peace Gong, donated to the city by its Indonesian partners as a sign of friendship.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – Vitaliy Matyash.
Monument to Plumbers
The Kremenchug Vodokanal immortalized the work of plumbers in bronze: you can take a photo with it on the territory of the enterprise.
Photo source: kremenchug.ua.
How to get there: go to the “Gorvodokanal” stop (almost all minibuses in the city pass through it), then turn into Heroes of Brest Lane and walk about 5 minutes.
Light and music fountain
The most well-groomed corner in the city is the park named after. Babaeva. In summer, this is a wonderful place with immaculate lawns, elegant benches and antique-style lanterns.
Photo source: etozdorovo.com.
The main decoration is the light and music fountain. In the evening it is always crowded: many come to watch the dance of multi-colored jets.
Photo source: social network VKontakte, author – Bogdan Petrenko.
And the park looks so cozy in the fall.
Photo source: kremen.today.
How to get there: minibuses No. 3-b, 11, 28, stop “Center”.
Ostap Bender
Ostap Bender, who, by his own admission, spent a “hungry childhood in Kremenchuk,” became one of the symbols of the city. You can sit on the table and take a photo with it near the Galaktika shopping center.
Photo source: livejournal.com.
How to get there: minibuses No. 11, 15, 17, 16 and walk a little along the main street of the city - Sobornaya.
Stork Grisha
If you are lucky, you will see this winged landmark. Yes, yes, a real stork has become a symbol of the city. For a long time, residents shared joint photographs with Grisha on social networks (why Grisha in particular remains a mystery). Now he is the star of the central beach, now he is walking in the market, now near the city hall, now in the school yard. The stork became so popular that a local political party used his photo for campaigning. But Grisha is still non-partisan, not aggressive and loves treats. Don't be surprised if you meet one.
Photo source: youtube.com.
Where to go with a girl in Kremenchuk
Lovers Island
The city park of Kremenchug recently acquired a charming island, to which an arched bridge leads. Photo sessions are often held in the gazebo rising in the middle of the lake. Romantics are added by black and white swans, gracefully gliding along the surface of the water. Ducks also live in the park. So, when you come here, bring some bread to feed the birds and get to know them better. The fish will also be happy with the crumbs - the lake is simply teeming with fry!
Photo source: Google Maps, author – Sergey Kaptan.
How to get there: almost all minibuses in the city pass through the Gorsad stop. For example, No. 15-b, 15, 3-b, 11, 17.
Sakura Alley
Every spring, a small miracle happens in the city - the cherry blossoms flash pink. Kremenchug Alley is not at all large and is planted along the road. But nearby there is a cozy corner from where it is convenient to admire delicate flowers. Benches hidden in the shadows, unnoticeable to passers-by, and the murmur of the fountain create a charming atmosphere.
Photo source: kremen.today.
How to get there: minibuses No. 15, 17, 3-B, 11zh are suitable. Go to the stop “Memorial “Forever Alive”.
Heart near the Wedding Palace
Opposite the Wedding Palace there is a romantic place where all the newlyweds and simply loving couples take pictures.
Photo source: shukach.com.
How to get there: minibus number 15.
River Station
A beautiful view of the Dnieper opens from the river port. You can enjoy it while sitting on a bench - it’s calmer here than on the embankment. Ships dock infrequently, but occasionally you may be lucky enough to meet a ship. The river station building, designed in the shape of a ship, is also original.
Rock "Granite Register"
Not far from the central embankment there is a geological natural monument -. It’s usually quiet here, and at sunset there are gorgeous views of the Dnieper.
For connoisseurs of beauty: architecture and theater
During World War II the city was practically destroyed. They literally rebuilt it from the ashes. Therefore, there are almost no historical buildings left that would please the eye with elegant forms. But, still, you can find interesting buildings. To do this, it is worth walking through the city center, especially along the main street of Kremenchug - Soborna.
Photo source: 1ua.com.ua, author – vkrutev.
One of the most famous and ancient city buildings has been preserved near Victory Square. It was built specifically for the bank. It has not changed its purpose since then.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – Taras Kushnirenko.
Take a look at Kryukov. There is one of the most beautiful Palaces of Culture in Kremenchug.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – Vadim Novikov.
And nearby, on the street. Prikhodko, the former mansion of a famous Kremenchug merchant has been preserved.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – Wad K.
If you see posters announcing theatrical performances, don’t hesitate. Lots of fun and good mood you are guaranteed.
Photo source: social network VKontakte.
Where to go with a child in Kremenchuk
To the mini-zoo, Sosnovy square
There is no full-fledged zoo in the city, but you will find a lively corner where you can get acquainted with various animals in the Sosnovy park. There is also a spacious playground here.
Photo source: telegraf.in.ua.
How to get there: get to the Gorvodokanal stop, any trolleybus and almost all minibuses will do.
Feed the squirrels in Pridneprovsky Park
Red-haired beauties live in the most famous park of Kremenchug - Pridneprovsky. They are not at all afraid of people and are already accustomed to accepting treats from them. In addition, the park has rides and a huge playground.
Photo source: social network VKontakte, author – Bogdan Petrenko.
How to get there: minibuses No. 15, 17.
Go to the Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics History
How to get there: by any vehicle traveling across the bridge towards Kryukov. Get off at the first stop, then turn left and follow the highway to the gas station. Opposite it you can see a path that goes towards the river. Walk for about 10 minutes.
In summer, you shouldn’t even think about where to spend time in Kremenchuk. After all, it is adjacent to floodplains and islands.
Photo source: panoramio.com, author – uranus 235.
Some of the islands belong to the nature reserve fund. But there are also places where you can go calmly. For example, in the summer the islands of Shalamai and Zeleny are crowded with motor boats, and locals live there all summer long. But visitors to the city will have to puzzle over how to get there. There is no river service in Kremenchug. Therefore, you need to ask at boat stations who will agree to take you on vacation.
Photo source: panoramio.com.
Many Kremenchu residents are avid fishermen. Join us!
Photo source: vkfaces.xyz, author – Denis Zalivchiy.
Boat trip. At the Poseidon yacht club you can book a boat trip and, if you wish, sail to the neighboring village of Keleberda - there are beautiful views there. Price – 900 UAH/hour.
What to do in Kremenchug: go for fun
There are several nightclubs in the city, the most famous of them are “Orekh”, party bar “Vanil”, “Joss”. You can play bowling at the Europa shopping center, and the largest number of billiard tables is at the Grand. To practice skeet shooting or shooting with a carbine, go to the Krechet shooting sports club in the summer. The choice of cafes and restaurants in the city is large. In one establishment, guests are greeted by a pig, in another a pianist “comes to life” in the evenings, in a third the floor is covered with peanut skins... There is a time cafe, a cafe serving Indian, Armenian, Japanese, Belarusian, and Ukrainian cuisines. Craving fast food? McDonald's lovers will find it on the street. Kievskaya.
Photo source: social network VKontakte, author – Alexander Grinchenko.
Anyone who wants something sweet is welcome to the Lviv Chocolate Workshop.
Photo source: kremen.today.
Where to stay
There are at least a dozen hotels in the city. The most expensive of them, “Helicopter”, on its website offers guests flights in an MI-8 helicopter as excursions.
Photo source: hotel-helicopter.com.
The oldest hotels in the city are “Kremen” and “Dneprovskie Zori”. For budget-conscious tourists, there are a couple of hostels in the city, prices start from 100 UAH per night. And a large selection of offers for daily rental housing.
You can find a hotel in Kremenchug by.
To help city guests
- There are trolleybuses and minibuses in the city. Minibuses run almost every minute, fare is 4 UAH. They work all night, but after 23:00 - 7 UAH each. Late at night you can only rely on route No. 17.
- There is a free Wi-Fi network in the city. It covers parks and squares of Kremenchug.
- Laptop dead? Need a computer urgently? You can use it for free in city libraries. Just take your passport with you.
- Stuck on the road? Need help with the car? In the city there is a community of mutual assistance on the road - they help for free. You can find their page on the social network VKontakte.
- It is almost impossible to get lost in Kremenchug. The entire city is concentrated around one long highway.
- The main street of the city is Sobornaya. If you find it, you can easily navigate your further walk around the city. We hope it will leave you with only positive impressions!
Today there are more than 50 churches of different denominations. Among believers, the largest part is Orthodox Church(Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate and Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)). They also own most of the city's temples.
Museums of Kremenchug
There are two communal museums: the Museum of Local Lore and the A.S. Makarenko. There are also 5 public folk museums and the Center for Culture and Leisure, the City Art Gallery, and the Natalia Yuzefovich Art Gallery have opened.
Granite rock on the banks of the Dnieper, a geological natural monument and an ancient geodetic sign (benchmark). It is an outcrop of gray biotite-plagioclase magmatites 2.5-3 billion years old. On a rock rising 5-6 m above the river level, the slope towards the Dnieper is stepped. The levels of the Dnieper floods have been recorded on this slope since the 18th century. The first date is 1787, then 1789, 1820, 1842, 1845, 1877, 1888, 1895, 1915 and the last date is 1942.
Address: Kremenchug, Embankment
St. Timiryazev. At the very beginning of the street near the railway line.
On the other side of the road from the monument to the revolutionary sailors of the Dnieper flotilla, there is a modest obelisk on the grave of bridge builders who died when the ice fields were blown up during the ice drift on the river. Dnieper March 30, 1946 At the cost of their lives, four sapper soldiers saved the railway bridge under construction across the river from destruction. Dnieper, thereby ensuring its speedy restoration. The restored bridge made it possible to open uninterrupted train traffic along the Southern Railway towards Znamenka, Odessa, and from the south - to Kharkov and Romodan.
In September 1971, on Revolution Square, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the city, a stele was erected, representing four 18-meter pylons crowned with a hammer and sickle. The stele is decorated with images of the old and new Coat of Arms of the city. The authors of the monument are Kremenchug artists A. Kotlyar and L. Sidorenko. The pylons, symbolizing four centuries, are lined with stainless steel sheets. The entire structure, directed upward, looks light and solemn and immediately became a symbol of the new Kremenchug, its calling card.
On February 22, 1990, the city executive committee decided No. 137 “On the construction of a monument to T.G. Shevchenko in Kremenchug”, a specific place for him and a memorial sign was installed (Pushkin Boulevard, near Prominvestbank). Fundraising has begun in the city. But the monument was not erected this time. The epic continued: in 1994, the symbolic first stone of the future monument was laid in a different place - on the Dnieper embankment. And only 10 years later, on April 19, 2004, the bronze figure of T.G. Shevchenko was finally identified. Its grand opening took place on the day of the poet’s reburial, May 22, 2004.
It is believed that the genius of Ukrainian and world literature in 1843 and 1845. visited the city. At least, the route of his trip to Ukraine ran in such a way that it certainly had to pass through the city. Evidence of this is considered to be references to Kremenchug and Kryukov in the works “The Maid” and “Captain”.
The museum was founded in 1937. The museum's exhibition was based on the collections of the Teachers' Institute and the Department of Public Education. During the war, the museum building was destroyed and its collections were looted. The museum's exhibitions reopened in 1975 in a reconstructed building. The three floors of the new building housed the departments of nature, the pre-October period and the department modern history cities. In addition, the museum hosts a variety of exhibitions: works of artists, sculptors, embroiderers, and folk craftsmen. Its funds contain more than 60 thousand exhibits: archaeological collections of the Iron Age, early Slavic period, ethnographic collections, ancient books, documents, photographs. The museum's funds are constantly replenished with new exhibits and documents.
From the palace G.I. Petrovsky originates from one of the most beautiful streets of Kremenchug - A.S. Boulevard. Pushkin. The length of the boulevard is 600 m.
In the center of the boulevard there is a square planted with willows, birches, chestnuts, rowan trees, and a large number of rose bushes. The pedestrian area is decorated with fountains, antique lamps and benches. A marble bust of the great poet A.S. was installed on a semicircular square. Pushkin. The authors of the monument are sculptors I. Yastrebov and Y. Shorokhov, architects L. Rasstrygin and S. Tkachenko. The street acquired the name Pushkin in the year of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Sergeevich. Before this, the street had a different name - Gorodovaya. Pushkin visited Kremenchug twice: in May 1820 on the way to Yekaterinoslav and in August 1824 on the road from southern exile to Mikhailovskoye. He stayed in the house of the parents of his friend from the Lyceum A. Delvig. After finishing his studies, Delvig visited the Dnieper city in the summer, spoke warmly about him and invited Pushkin to stay with him in his letters. The residents of Kremen remember and honor the great poet. His memory is immortalized in the name of the most beautiful street in the city.
The city was liberated by the evening of September 29, 1943 after stubborn fighting by the troops of the 5th Guards Army of General A.S. Zhadov, 53rd Army of General I.M. Managarov with the support of aviation of the 5th Air Army of General S.K. Goryunova. The 97th Guards Poltava Division, 6th Guards Airborne Division, 214 fought directly for the city rifle division, 219th Tank Brigade, 469th Mortar Regiment, 1902nd Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, 308th Guards Mortar Regiment. All these formations received the honorary name "Kremenchug".
The Alpine Hill garden is located on the territory of the river station. Numerous rock slides with waterfalls and fountains have been built. Everything is planted with flowers, ornamental plants, and there are paths paved with pebbles. Among this kingdom of greenery and all kinds of colors of flowers, bronze characters from fairy tales flaunt: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Puss in Boots, the crocodile Gena and Cheburashka, the turtle Tortila, Pinocchio with the golden key. Goldfish swim in small lakes. Among the flower beds rise finely crafted models of cathedrals. Children are especially delighted with these miracles: counting the gnomes, sitting on a bench next to the crocodile Gena and Cheburashka, standing next to Puss in Boots, finding a turtle hidden among the grass. Every resident of Kremen has certainly come here at least once, and numerous guests of this city also come.
In 1968, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Komsomol and in memory of tens and hundreds of young patriots from Kremenchuzh, who gave their lives during the Civil and Patriotic War, a monument to Komsomol members of the 20s and 30s was erected in the park on Lenin Street. A marble stele was installed on a platform paved with concrete slabs. On one side of the white stone slab there is a high relief image of Komsomol members and the inscription: “In memory of all who gave us a happy and joyful life, a calm and clear sky, to the Komsomol members of the 20s and 30s, grateful descendants are Komsomol members 60 's years." On the opposite side of the slab is a high relief image of Komsomol members of the 60s. On the protruding end of the stele there is an inscription: “50 years of the Komsomol, 1918-1968.” Blue spruce trees stand in the Guard of Honor at the monument, flowers bloom at the foot - life goes on, the memory remains.
Kremenchug is a huge industrial city (224 thousand inhabitants, and half a million with satellite cities) a hundred kilometers from Poltava, Kirovograd (Kropyvnytskyi) and Dnepr (opetrovsk). It relates to the shown Poltava approximately like Cherepovets with Vologda: there it is an administrative and cultural center, and here it is an economic and transport center. But the uniqueness of Kremenchug is that it stands on the two banks of the Dnieper, approximately in the place where historical Little Russia gave way to historical Novorossia, and this is significant: I heard from my Kiev acquaintances that the results of the elections in Kremenchug accurately predict the results of elections throughout Ukraine. But in terms of attractions here, let’s face it, it’s downright boring...
I traveled from Poltava to Krechenchug on a private minibus, the phone number of which I found out at one of the Poltava bus stations. A movie was shown in the salon, and, characteristically, in Russian. I looked more at the screen than out the window, the minibus was bouncing on the potholes of one of the worst roads I know (not the Lviv Carpathian region, of course, but comparable), but at some point, out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the landscape outside the window had changed:
Kremenchug, unlike almost all the cities shown earlier in this series, did not have an ancient Russian past. But since the 14th century, the victories of Lithuania over the Golden Horde, a fishing farm has been known in this place, near which in 1550 a “river corral” was created (the base of the Cossack flotilla, which kept Tatar crossings under control), and in 1637 - a fortress, along with Kodak (prototype) already holding the Zaporozhye Sich at gunpoint. The Cossacks, of course, were not at a loss either, and in the same year, the Cossack settlement of Kryukov arose on the right bank of the Dnieper, and then the Cossacks completely drove the Poles away. Under the Hetmanate, Kremenchug was already listed as a city, but in fact it remained a remote periphery until 1764, when in Russian capitals it was first said - “There will be a New Russia!” On the lands of the Wild Field, on the Zaporozhye nomads, to which were added colonies of border Serbians, the Novorossiysk province was established, and Kremenchug, as the lowest city on the Dnieper at that time, became its center, and formally remained so until 1783, and in fact until 1796, while Ekaterinoslav was being built further down the Dnieper. Then Kremenchug was completely returned to Little Russia, and in 1802 it became a district town of the Poltava province. But those 30 years were not in vain - the city managed to get rich, acquire connections and traditions, and was in no hurry to give up its position, by the beginning of the twentieth century, with a population of 61 thousand people, remaining the largest city in the entire Left Bank of Little Russia, surpassing the provincial Poltava and Chernigov. But alas, that city was wiped off the face of the earth by war and in late Soviet times it was finally reborn into an industrial giant. In 1958, the famous KrAZ produced its first truck, in 1960 the Kremenchug hydroelectric power station in Svetlovodsk produced its first electricity (then it was called Khrushchev, until Nikita Sergeevich himself abolished this name, obeying the law he himself adopted), in 1966 the largest oil refinery in Ukraine began operating (comparable in power, but it only works now at 25-30%), in 1970 - the Komsomolsk Mining and Processing Plant, the most important along with the supplier of raw materials for Ukrainian metallurgy, for which the city of Komsomolsk was specially built, recently noisily renamed the village of Horishni (Upper ) Plavni. That is, what we essentially have: an absolutely central Ukrainian city in history and location with absolutely Eastern Ukrainian industrial modernity.
I got two walks around Kremenchug - I arrived here at dusk, squeezed everything I could out of them before dark, and took a taxi to a crappy hotel somewhere in the depths of the station industrial zone. In the morning I went for a walk literally with the first rays of the sun - until the evening there was a difficult hitchhiking dash to Kirovograd through Chigirin with walks in three cities, and literally every minute counted. However, I passed the station on both walks, and I don’t really remember which frames show morning and which ones show evening.
The railway came here in 1870, the same one as in Poltava, the Kharkov-Nikolaev highway, and even with the exact same station. Moreover, since 1888 the highway was actually Libavo-Kremenchug, connecting the Baltic not just with the Ukrainian breadbasket, but with the Dnieper and, therefore, the Black Sea. The old station, the same as in Poltava, was destroyed during the war:
Behind the station there are industrial zones, one-story suburbs, distant microdistricts, known under the common sonorous name Zanasyp, and a 350-meter winding overpass leads there from the station square:
Station Square, and once Fair Square, is marked by St. George's Chapel. It was built in 2006 by railway workers in memory of Georgy Kirpa, the Minister of Transport of Ukraine, by origin (Khmelnychyna) and career (Lviv Railway) an obvious Westerner, but at the same time moderate pro-Russian views. It is also indisputable that Ukrazaliznitsa flourished under him, which I myself remember very well from my visits to Ukraine in 2004, and it was built under him - and Russia then never dreamed of such roads, nor such trains and stations. More than once I came across the opinion that it was Kirpa who could be a potential savior of Ukraine, who would ensure development for the country, prevent polarization and prevent the oligarchic game of thrones from running wild. But after the 2004 elections, Kirpa shot himself, and if it really was suicide (which, as you might guess, there are big doubts), then maybe he simply understood what kind of crooked path his country had taken? And how significant it is that he was immortalized with a chapel here in the Median City.
Basically, the center of Kremenchuk looks like this, and frankly, it is one of the most dull cities I have seen. Old city was destroyed by the war, and big industry came here only under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, so the appearance of Kremenchug is determined by five-story buildings and the most primitive version of Stalin, at the foot of which you can now and then come across “district” houses. At the same time, the city is well-groomed, lively (not at 6 in the morning, of course, when this shot was taken) and clearly rich - the local factories, especially machine-building ones, are working properly, and the army was able to at least partially compensate for the loss of markets.
Kremenchug is divided into two districts - Avtozavodsky and Kryukovsky, so different that I would call them separate fused cities. It is most logical to imagine the Dnieper as their border, but no: the Kryukovsky district, in addition to Kryukov across the river, also includes the center of Kremenchug with a station, while Avtozavodsky covers the industrial areas of KrAZ and the oil plant far from the river. Both of my walks started from the station, but in different directions and to different areas.
First walk, evening.Avtozavodsky district.
From the station there is a short, noisy street called Halamenyuk in a straight line, and opposite the station square there is a larger parking lot in front of the Amstor shopping center. Then I bought dinner there, but now on Wikimapia it is marked closed. Further down the street is the Kredmash recreation center, and for a long time I puzzled over what kind of equipment it makes (banking equipment?), until I realized that it means “Kremenchug Road Machinery Plant,” which produces asphalt paving plants. It originated back in the 1870s, then producing, like most engineering factories in the South, agricultural implements. Its small area is right behind the cultural center, and from the façade of the cultural center begins Cathedral Street (at the time of the trip - Lenin), which will be useful to us on our second walk.
On the other side of the plant is the City Garden, laid out by Potemkin in 1787, for the visit of Catherine II to the then center of Novorossiya:
Opposite is the Cosmos square with a simple Trinity Church (1999) and a monument to Komsomol members (1972), I don’t know whether it has been decommunized since then or not.
The church looks much more interesting “in profile” than from the apse, but I didn’t come closer to it. This is the successor to the old Trinity Church (1915), demolished back in the 1930s. Today I came across a phrase from the Trinity Church at the Power Station:
The power plant itself is a little further, behind a tricky five-spoke interchange separating the Avtozavodsky district, into the depths of which the wide and spacious Svoboda Avenue goes, which at the time of the trip was still the 60th Anniversary of the October Revolution Avenue - precisely by this time, judging by appearance, and the region was formed.
And it apparently began with a power plant and a fire station - although the power plant itself looks like the 1920s, and the fire complex looks pre-revolutionary, in fact, all this was built by 1950:
Graffiti on the wall of the power plant with the shadows of people who believed:
Most of Svoboda Avenue looks like this, and the power of Brezhnev's districts in the industrial cities of Ukraine is invariably impressive:
I walked for about 20 minutes to the next square at the fork in the roads to Poltava and Kyiv:
There is a McDonald's here, but I didn't take a picture of it:
Opposite the fountain is the “Forever Alive” memorial (1973) on the site of one of the prisoner of war camps. There were several of them in Kremenchug, and up to 100 thousand people died in them. Here the hero of the plot is a military doctor who secretly treated wounded prisoners in a hospital set up by the Germans, for which he was eventually executed.
By Ukrainian standards, Kremenchug is such a rich city that it can afford to maintain an eternal flame:
The memorial opens Zhilgorodok (1950-52), a kind of historical Center Avtozavodsky district. The typical post-war KrAZ Palace of Culture overlooks the same square:
The industrial buildings of all sorts of old mills and factories look a little more solid:
But of the churches, only the old church (1910) survived, which in the 1990s became the Orthodox St. Nicholas Church:
In one of the courtyards near the main street there was a synagogue, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a remake:
It is not entirely obvious that almost half of the population of the district Kremenchug, that is, about 30 thousand people, were Jews, and among the district cities only Kremenchug could boast of a larger community. There were 3 choral synagogues and 30 houses of worship, but there was no famous Hasidic tzaddik or Yiddish writer, so nothing reminds of the former scale.
And here Orthodox churches in Kremenchug there were few (). For example, the Transfiguration Church (1801-20) among endless blocks of burgher houses:
And although in their place there are now high-rise buildings, from many of the courtyards the completely Chekhovian district spirit has not disappeared to this day:
And here and there there are garbage cans, the appearance of which is most accurately described by the word “ku”:
Now let’s walk towards the Dnieper along the main street - now Sobornaya, under Lenin’s Soviets, and in its time, Catherine’s. A kilometer from the already familiar Kredmash cultural center, it passes between the Stalin-era “gates”:
Next door is a mandatory Stalinist building with a tower in an industrial city:
And further between Sobornaya and Igor Serdyuk Street, parallel to it, lies the former Oktyabrsky Square, which in July was renamed Oleg Babaev Square. The latter, with an absolutely incredible middle name, Maidanovich, is not a hero of the Heavenly Hundred or the ATO, but a local mayor killed by a killer in the summer of 2014, and I don’t presume to guess who exactly he interfered with and how popular he was among the people. In the park there is a monument to the Soldier Liberator, erected in 1949, when charred ruins still lay around:
At the end of the boulevard there is a monument to victims of repression and a couple of old houses: from here to the Dnieper their concentration will be greatest. The shot was essentially taken from their former yard, and I managed to miss the facades facing the parallel Igor Serdyuk Street. The left one belonged to the confectioner Silaev, the right - to the burgomaster Kazachek. But the strangest building of this former courtyard is a turret, similar to a chapel built under the Soviets, now occupied by a cafe:
There is another renovated tower ahead:
Another piece of pre-revolutionary art with a mosaic on the former firewall:
Behind the next intersection is a bank (1900-03):
At first glance, it seems strange that the riverside part of the city has been preserved better than areas away from the Dnieper. But the fact is that most of all the war destroyed the cities on the western banks of the rivers - the Germans marched to the east with a blitzkrieg, retreated to the west, clinging to every inch, and most likely, having lost the fortified outskirts, they preferred to retreat from the coastal ones to fortified positions beyond the Dnieper, not waiting for the Red Army to start drowning them in the river. In the backyard of the bank there is a very touching monument “The First Day After the War”, and the backyard itself faces the deserted Victory Square:
Opposite him before the Maidan stood clearly not the typical Ilyich. The appearance of its “stump” is intermediate between the regional centers (where they are usually painted with plot-based graffiti and painted with poetry) and the outback (where they stand forlornly).
On the left is a monument to the fighters of the Revolution (1938), I don’t know if it’s still there almost a year later. Apparently, the name of the square refers to the victory in the Civil War:
Before the Great Patriotic War, the main temple complex of the district of Kremenchug stood here - the Assumption Cathedral (1808-14) by Giacomo Quarenghi and the winter church-bell tower of Alexander Nevsky (1858-63):
And the Alexander Real School (1878), now a college. In general, one gets the impression that the district Kremenchug was never really beautiful, but was something like Krivoy Rog or Surgut, only in the 19th century - a large and rich city that did not care too much about its appearance. An overview of surviving architectural monuments is available in the Ukrainian Wikipedia.
We are getting closer and closer to the river facade, to the transition from the Left Bank of Ukraine to the Right. Below Victory Square is Pridneprovsky Park, which has many well-kept corners, but I remember more the abandoned cinema painted with mysterious inscriptions. The mysterious inscription “Elephants are not dead” apparently resembles about this episode, when circus elephants were grazing in one of the squares of Kremenchug.
And on the edge of the park are the oldest buildings of Kremenchug, the complex of the Headquarters of military settlements (1853-54) in place and possibly with fragments of even older Government places of the Novorossiysk province:
Fortunately, I came out to the rocky Dnieper bank even before this episode, so I photographed it calmly. The Dnieper here is in its natural channel, and let’s face it, it’s not very wide, God forbid, if it’s half a kilometer. In the middle is the rocky island of Fantasia, where it’s probably good to retire on the side opposite the city:
Under the Dnieper Park there is a granite embankment that does not seem to be from the 18th century, at least in pre-revolutionary photographs it is there:
At the end of which is the Granite Register, that is, a rock on the flat stone of which the flood level has been recorded since the end of the 18th century. There were similar ones in other cities, for example, near Zaporozhye, but most of them, with the construction of hydroelectric power stations, went into the water forever, but this one, on the contrary, will most likely never be flooded:
I went downstream. The river station looks brand new, although there have been no passenger ships here for a long time. Pre-revolutionary Kremenchug was one of the largest ports of the Dnieper, and even the first tram there ran from the station to the steamship pier:
Behind the deserted beach you can see the Kryukovsky Bridge, which means it’s time to cross the Dnieper:
That's what I did on the minibus, taking pictures from its rear window. The bridge was built in 1945-49, and the luxurious pylons at both ends remind you that this is also a monument to Victory. Its length is actually not very long - 1.2 kilometers, but subjectively the bridge seems grandiose. Downstream in the water there are still fragments of the supports of the old bridge, built in 1872 for the Kharkov-Nikolaev railway.
The right bank welcomes you with a monument (1940) to the sailors of the Dnieper flotilla who fought in the civil war, and a poster testifying to the new war.
Kryukovsky Posad took shape opposite the Kremenchug fortress back in the 17th century, and its first inhabitants were the Cossacks, who kept an eye on the Poles, sharpening their sabers and smoking pipes, who kept an eye on them from the bastions of Kremenchug. In 1752-64, the border guards of New Serbia were stationed here, with the abolition of which Kryukov became a town in the Novorossiysk province, and with its abolition, it was included in Kremenchug. They say, in fact local government worked until 1817, refusing to obey the government across the river, but in any case, Kremenchug became the first city on both banks of the Dnieper - it crossed the river only at the end of the 19th century, Kyiv and Zaporozhye were only under the Soviets, and cities on the same bank even now. But Kryukov feels like it’s still a different city, quieter, sleepier and dilapidated than Kremenchug, which is completely regional in its rhythm of life. There is also an industrial giant here - the Kryukov Carriage Works, founded with the advent of the railway in 1768 and over time becoming one of the main ones in the USSR. It stands quite far from the Dnieper, with its façade facing the opposite direction from the center towards the factory settlement of Rakovka, but I didn’t go there anymore, especially since the plant is considered a military plant and I didn’t want to risk burning myself down there either.
From the bridge deep into the narrow triangular Kryukov, the long street Ivan Prikhodko leads, and here the name is to some extent colonial - in honor of the most successful director of the left bank KrAZ: “Kryukov is Kremenchuk!” At its beginning, staliks predominate - here, unlike the center, the riverine part was more destroyed:
And Churkin (1901) with an extremely beautiful lantern:
Not a house, but a gate. Behind the railway there is another Assumption Cathedral (of course, not like the one that died on the Left Bank) and the house-museum of Anton Makarenko, who spent his youth in Kryukov.
But basically Kryukov looks like this:
At Kryukov station, the only thing left from the past is this little house with the windows blocked up:
The old station was clearly typical, but still more interesting than what is in its place now:
The most remarkable building in the area is the Kotlov House of Culture (1925-27) in a belated, pre-Soviet, but completely recognizable Ukrainian Art Nouveau style:
And in general, I agree that I didn’t see much in Kremenchug. But I was in a hurry and tired, and in a situation where this visit to Ukraine could well be my last, I openly regretted the time spent on Kremenchug. Maybe if I had come here leisurely for a day, the impression would have been different, but I remember Kremenchug as the most dull of the largest cities in Ukraine.
At the monument to the soldiers of the Dnieper flotilla, on a quiet street between high-rise buildings and the Dnieper floodplains, I caught a shortcut to the hydroelectric city of Svetlovodsk, which for a long time climbed the hills of the high right bank, from which the blue expanse of the reservoir was constantly opening up behind the trees. In Svetlovodsk, I jumped onto a minibus in the direction of Chigirin, intending to ride it as far as possible and then hitchhike to Chigirin itself. What came out of this is in the next part. The end is already near, and I’m even more tired of this whole topic than you are...
UKRAINE and DONBASS-2016
. Review and table of contents.
Two sides of the same war- see table of contents.
DPR and LPR- see table of contents.
Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye, Dnepr- see table of contents.
Kievan Rus- see table of contents.
Little Russian Ring- there will be posts.
. Child..
. Sobornost Street.
. Center.
. Outskirts.
. In the wake of the Battle of Poltava.
Kremenchug. A city on two banks.
Chigirin and Subbotov. How it all began...
Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi). Big Perspective.
Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi). Streets of the old city.
Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi). Suburb.
Kyiv before and after Maidan- there will be posts.
