"Both Historical and Modern" Donetsk by hunterV

Donetsk Travel Guide: 26 reviews and 169 photos

Central Club, downtown Donetsk, Rostov region

Through Friends and By Friends

I have never planned visiting this town, but one day a French guy whose ancestors were Russian Cossacks from the nearby village of Gundorovka asked me to help him. He wanted to find some relatives who might still live in that area.
My friends in Krasnodon helped me to contact the Russian Don Cossacks in Krasnodon and they, in their turn, arranged my visit to Donetsk to meet the Don Cossack leaders there.
The Cossack leaders in Donetsk did a great job: they found some people with the same last name as Frederic's, the French guy who had needed my help.
Now Frederic can arrive to Luhansk and I will take him directly to Donetsk to meet his possible relatives and the Cossack leaders who were kind enough to provide us help.
They took us for a drive around the town and to stanitsa itself.
We visited the famous Cossacks cathedral: Holy Assumption Cathedral in Gundorovka (see the page here).
I found out that Donetsk was the nearest city outside my home city where I could go to an Aqua park.
We visited the people’s Cossack museum in Donetsk (not a state one yet) and learnt a lot of history of the area.

The Origin and the Present

The town post office, Donetsk Rostov region Russia

The town of Donetsk appeared on the map in 1955 when the stanitsa of Gundorovka was transformed into a town.
The government began to mine rich deposits of coal in this area and the old Russian Cossacks’ stanitsa was turned into an industrial town.
Now about 45,000 people live in Donetsk.
The town occupies the area of 110 sq.km.
It is located in the central part of Rostov region, about 100 miles from the regional center, Rostov-on-Don.
The town lies on the banks of two rivers: the Seversky Donets (“The Little Don of the Severtsy”) and the Bolshaya Kamenka (“The Great Stone River”).
The Severtsy were the nomadic tribes that used to inhabit the era in the 3rd-5th century A.D.

More About This Town

The Soviet times Lenin monument is still there...

Lenin monument still stands proudly in the middle of the central square of Donetsk. The residents have to bear with it. I wonder what the statue's arm is pointing at. It looks like it is pointing to the city park.
Here are some links (in Russian):

Map of Donetsk Rostov region Russia
Town’s web site
Pictures of Donetsk Rostov region
Donetsk Photo Albums
Video Slides of Donetsk

Pros and Cons

Pros:Aqua park, Russian Cossacks' museum, central alley, old Cossack stanitsa and cathedral nearby
Cons:no time to explore everything in one day
In a nutshell:Russian Cossacks' Glory

Last visit to Donetsk: Jul 2009
Intro Updated Aug 7, 2011
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Reviews (26)

Via Krasnodon Transportation (3)

I found that the best way to get to Donetsk was via Krasnodon. Buses to/from Donetsk leave several times a day. The... more travel advice

Beer Ceremony Shopping (4)

You can buy what we call live beer at some local shops. The beer is brewed in Rostov region. The same shop will seal... more travel advice

Coat-of-arms Favorites (2)

Golden key is the symbol of cognition and discovery. For a town it is a symbol of its independence and... more travel advice

Big Variety Shopping (4)

There are surprisingly many florist's in this town. I liked this one located at the crossing of Lenin Street and Gorky... more travel advice

Travelogues (5)

1 - 4 of 5

Comments (20)

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GentleSpirit Aug 8, 2012 at 10:08 AM

The Cossack museum looked quite interesting. Were they concentrated in this area? That was great that you could help the man looking for help on genealogy. Your pages always send me to find out a bit more, great variety and detail. thank you victor
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balhannah Mar 3, 2012 at 8:46 PM

I would enjoy the Cossack's Museum. Thanks for sharing!
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german_eagle Jun 11, 2011 at 2:48 AM

Very helpful, detailed page. I remember the soccer club Schachtjor Donezk :-)
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Yaqui Dec 2, 2010 at 9:31 AM

Exploring you pages is like looking at history, which I enjoy a lot! Thanks for sharing such lovely details! Excellent page.
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toonsarah Aug 12, 2010 at 7:51 AM

An interesting and varied page Victor, and how nice that you were able to help the French guy trace his roots like this :-)
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HORSCHECK Aug 9, 2010 at 12:21 PM

Victor, fantastic page about Donetsk. Hmm, I often wear a T-shirt underneath my short sleeve shirts, so people would obviously recognise me as a tourist here. The Beer Ceremony seems to be well worth a visit. :-)
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deecat May 30, 2010 at 7:59 AM

Love your new PPP on the home page. Lots of variety and interesting info. This was just a very small page when I was here last. Wow, how much you have added to make it even more powerful.What fabulous travelogues!
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picek Apr 5, 2010 at 4:47 AM

Very interesting, despite not being old city. It would be good to see the Museum for history of Cossacks. Great page :)
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sourbugger Dec 1, 2009 at 5:16 AM

interesting little page
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volopolo Nov 9, 2009 at 5:10 AM

I like the design from your websites, colors and fonts. Nice job also!