"Ukraine's Far East" Top 5 Page for this destination Luhansk by hunterV

Luhansk Travel Guide: 412 reviews and 2,076 photos

Where the Sun Rises in Ukraine

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Luhansk is the easternmost city of Ukraine located 850 km (528 miles) to the east of the nation's capital Kiev. The city was founded in 1795 as a working settlement for the iron foundry. Luhansk has held municipal rights since September 1882.
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At present Luhansk is a big city stretching for 20 km (12.4 miles) from southwest to northeast along the River Luhanka. Two other rivers flow within the city boundaries: the Olkhovka and the Seversky Donets. The latter is the left tributary of the Don, a large Russian river flowing to the Sea of Azov.
The city covers the area of over 270 square kilometers (104 square miles).
As of December 1, 2012, the city population comprises 465,000 inhabitants.
According to the official information, the city consists of more than 1,100 blocks, squares, streets, side streets and lanes. You might not believe, but the specialists have made the conclusion that the total length of all the streets and lanes of Luhansk comprises about 900 km (559 miles), which is more than the distance from Luhansk to Kiev!
Luhansk is a member of the World Federation of Twin-Cities and has several twin cities, among them Cardiff in Great Britain, Saint Etienne in France, Lublin in Poland, Pernik in Bulgaria.
Luhansk is perhaps one of the few cities in the world that was renamed four times within 55 years.
On November 5, 1935 by a decree of the Communist party Politbureau signed by Joseph Stalin the city of Luhansk was renamed into Voroshilovgrad in honor of Clement Voroshilov (1881-1969).
Voroshilov was a five-star general, who had lived and worked in Luhansk in 1917 - 1918 and got the highest military rank, Marshal of the Soviet Union, in 1935.
On March 5, 1958. after the denunciation of the Stalin's personality cult and the so-called "anti-party group" of ardent Stalinists that included Clement Voroshilov as well, the city got back its historical name by the decision of the Communist party.
On January 5, 1970 after Marshal Voroshilov's death Luhansk became Voroshilovgrad again by the decision of the Communist party leadership.
On May 4, 1990 the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the resolution on returning the historical name to the city.
This stormy history of the city name could also be represented in the following way:
Luhansk (1882-1935);
Voroshilovgrad (1935-1958);
Luhansk (1958-1970);
Voroshilovgrad (1970-1990);
Luhansk (May 4, 1990 -)
So for 43 years of its existence the city bore the name of Clement Voroshilov, a close associate of Joseph Stalin

An Important Center

A view of "Luhansk" hotel

Luhansk is a large administrative, industrial, scientific and cultural center of Eastern Ukraine.
The city is divided into four administrative districts: Lenin District, October District, Artiom District and Stone Ford District.
October District is called in honor of the October Communist revolution of 1917, Artiom (Ukrainian - Artem) District is called in honor of Fyodor Sergeyev (1883-1921) whose revolutionary name was Artiom and who was the Prime Minister of the Donetsk and Kryvyi Rih Socialist Republic (DKSR) in 1918. He used to stay in Lenin Street in Luhansk, too. Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev (Artiom) became the Chairman of the Council of the People’s Commissars (the Prime-Minister) of Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Socialist Republic (DKSR).
This "ghost republic" existed in the stormy minds of the Bolsheviks and on the map from the end of January until the middle of March 1918. It was a part of the Russian Federation and included Kharkiv Region, Yekaterinolav Region, a part of Kherson Region and the areas of the Russian Don Cossacks.
This "republic" became a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic on March 19, 1918 with the capital in Kharkiv.
After Kharkiv was occupied by the German army the government of DKSR moved to Luhansk and remained here from April 7 till April 28, 1918. Artiom stayed here at 7 Lenin Street.
So Luhansk was the capital of a republic for several days in 1918.
By May 1918 all of Ukraine was occupied by German troops according to the Treaty of Brest, a separate peace treaty between the Bolsheviks and Germany.
On February 17, 1919 DKSR was abolished by the government of the Russian Federation.
Stone Ford District is named in honor of the ancient Cossack settlement of Stone Ford that was located on the River Luhanka.
Reports of Luhansk International Tourism Department mention that only a few foreigners visit Luhansk region now. So Luhansk region is not a major tourist attraction in Ukraine.
They say the main reason for such a small number of foreign visitors is the present ecological situation in the region. In my opinion the local leaders have not done everything to make the stay in the city enjoyable for foreigners. Foreign visitors of the city who do not speak any Russian cannot do without the friendly help of the locals when they need:
- to find the right places to send a telegram or to call home, institutions and hospitals, if need be;
- to dine at the city cafes and restaurants that may have good cuisine, but no menus in English;
- to buy tickets, order a taxi, etc.
The absense of the International Tourism Bureau can also be a problem for a foreigner in the city. Also, not every local speaks English, and if anybody does, the knowledge is limited to a couple of phrases from books or movies.
I think even just adding English to the street signs and restaurant menus would be a huge help to foreigners.

The Cultural Life of the City

A bird

Some statistics about Luhansk
for you to have an idea of the city size:
All in all the city has 1,676 apartment houses, among them 141 condominiums.
The highest of them is 16 storeys tall. Now there are plans to built a 22-storey apartment house in Luhansk.
October District has the largest number of apartment houses of all the city districts: 685, among them 83 condos.
The city has:
- 28 hospitals and clinics at its disposal,
- 65 public schools and several private schools.
- 43 cultural institutions such as:
museums, theaters, libraries and concert halls.
There are four universities, four colleges and dozens of technical and vocational schools in the city.
The three theaters:
- the Russian Drama Theater,
the Ukrainian Drama Theater
and the Puppet Theater,
the concert hall, the circus, the conference centers and cinemas play a significant role in the cultural life of the city.
The two centuries of Luhansk history are reflected in the exhibits of the city museums: Vladimir Dahl's House,
the museum of local lore,
the fine arts museum
and the city history museum.
The 450 memorials, monuments and historical sites tell us about the city's history.
So there are lots of things to see here and a great number of different attractions, cafes and restaurants to visit.
Enjoy your stay in Luhansk, fellow travelers!

Pros and Cons

Pros:Good city planning as for the layout of the streets, friendly people that are not prejudiced against any foreigners, beautiful women, lots of inexpensive shopping opportunities at small local markets, modern cafes and restaurants, good cab service.
Cons:Air and land pollution from coalmines, poor quality of roads and sidewalks, no English road signs, no International Tourism Bureau to help foreign travelers, high prices at the lavish stores and restaurants.
In a nutshell:Both an industrial and a cultural center, one of Ukraine's "white spots" yet

Last visit to Luhansk: Mar 2013
Intro Updated Mar 9, 2013
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Reviews (357)

Frontier Guards memorial, Alexeyev Park - Luhansk

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Travelogues (14)

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Comments (254)

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nasir_acc80 Mar 17, 2013 at 10:11 PM

Great updates....
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Kuznetsov_Sergey Feb 3, 2013 at 9:26 AM

Great updates in TTD and RT here since December of 2009! I liked best of all the memorial to frontier guards with a service dog and the unique monument to Vladimir Dahl.
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  hunterV Mar 11, 2013 at 11:05 AM
  
  Sergey, you are welcome!)
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  Kuznetsov_Sergey Apr 8, 2013 at 8:37 AM
  
  Great updates in Favorite and Transportation tips! Loved the monument with MIG-15 rushing to the skies to new victories.
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Nemorino Oct 19, 2012 at 1:50 PM

I’ve just been looking through your large and varied collection of Local Customs tips. It’s nice that so many people like to sing and dance in Luhansk.
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  hunterV Oct 20, 2012 at 2:12 AM
  
  Indeed, it is a great tradition everywhere here...I saw nearly the same in Germany too...
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Nemorino Sep 12, 2012 at 8:10 AM

I’m glad to see that you still have trolleybuses in Luhansk.
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  hunterV Sep 12, 2012 at 8:16 AM
  
  Oh, yes, practically in all big cities here....
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Pomocub Aug 14, 2012 at 11:51 AM

Great page. I think I will take a trip to Luhansk one time. It looks very 'soviet' and the night time views look amazing.
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Nemorino Jul 13, 2012 at 10:27 AM

The last time I looked at this page was in January 2006. Since then you have added lots of new tips and updated most or all of the rest. It is interesting to learn that the name of the city has been changed twice from Luhansk to Voroshilovgrad and twice back again from Voroshilovgrad to Luhansk. Too bad the Eternal Flame is not so eternal any more now that the gas price has gone up. I have only looked at your new and revised Things to Do tips this time, but I’ll be back again at some point to read more.
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Jerelis Apr 2, 2012 at 1:30 AM

Some very nice updates here! Always a joy to read your quality tips and great pictures!
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glabah Jan 31, 2012 at 1:07 PM

It is always a pleasure to see what people write about their own city.
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nicolaitan Dec 20, 2011 at 1:59 PM

decided to check out some of your newer material on luhansk while in the neighborhood. always great reading, nice pictures. n.
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GentleSpirit Sep 28, 2011 at 3:38 PM

Victor, I just read through most of your local customs pages...how fascinating! I am quite amazed at how complete your pages are and how keenly you are noticing things that a lot of people might just think of as too ordinary to mention. I'm enjoying learning:)