"The Capital of the Donets Basin" a Donets'k Travel Page by hunterV

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Czar Cannon in Donetsk

Some History

This is the exact copy of the Czar Cannon that stands in the Kremlin in Moscow.
It was commissioned in Izhevsk, Russia, in 2001 and was presented to the people of the Donets Basin as a symbol of the inviolable friendship of the Russian and the Ukrainian peoples.
The Ukrainian version of the Czar Cannon stands in Artyom Street - the central street of Donetsk.
Who would have thought that copies of the old unique monuments are possible!

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Donetsk, the biggest city in the region, became the capital of the Donets Basin, a big industrial area in the east of Ukraine, with the total area of 60,000 sq.km and with about 400 coal mines.

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Now Donetsk is one of the five Ukrainian cities with the population over a million inhabitants. Donetsk is an important scientific and cultural center of the Donets Coal Basin.
The city consists of nine vast districts. The central street in the city is called Artyom Street (in Ukrainian Artem Street). The main sites are located in this street, among them Opera and Ballet Theater founded in 1941, Lenin Square, "Shakhtyor" ("Miner") hotel, etc.
The city is 120 km away and you can make a day trip to Mariupol, a big port and a resort at the seaside, and enjoy the sun on its beaches or have a short sea voyage.
If you stay a couple of days there, you can get to know a bit of the city's cultural life.
There are three theatres, the Concert Hall, the circus, cinemas, Palaces of Culture and clubs, museums, a picture gallery and a planetarium. Besides, there are architectural monuments of local importance, of sculpture and history, and memorial places. Thanks to the city's remarkable architecture the residents have many places of interest in the city: Artyom Street, Lenin Square, the recreation parks,etc.
The residents of Donetsk have places for rest after a hard working day other than just staying at home. At their service there is Central Park of Culture and Rest and its branches – Lenin Komsomol Park and Shcherbakov Park. On the outskirts of city there are Donetsk Botanical Gardens.
Though Donetsk does look gloomy and gray in winter, as does every large industrial center, a lot of greenery, beautiful buildings, the River Calmius and numerous lakes make the city look wonderful in spring and in summer.

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Ilyich Street in downtown Donetsk

In Honor of James Hughes

Donetsk was founded in 1869 as a coalminers' settlement in a big coal-mining area. It was called Yuzovka in honor of an English enterpreneur John James Hughes who was decisive enough to build a metallurgical plant here. The first blast furnace was put into operation on January 24, 1872.

In 1924, soon after Joseph Stalin came to power, the city was renamed into Stalino by the decision of the Communist party leadership.

In 1961 after after the denunciation of Stalin's personality cult the city was renamed into Donetsk after the River Donets, the largest river in the Donets Basin, that flows across Donets region.

And now Donetsk is one of the largest industrial centers of Ukraine with such highly developed branches of industry as coal, metallurgy and machine building. Coal industry is the leading branch of industry in the city. There are 150 industrial enterprises and companies in Donetsk.
One sixth of all the production of the huge Donetsk region is manufactured in the city.

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Donbass Palace hotel, Donetsk

My Experiences

I studied in Horlivka, an hour's drive from Donetsk and visited Donetsk regularly when a student.
I liked to visit Lenin Square, cinemas, the circus, the Calmius embankment and stores in Artyom Street. There were Soviet movies at one of the city movie theaters called "Chronicle". The movies were dubbed into English in Paris and it was a pleasure for us, students, to see and to understand what the characters said. I also liked to stroll along University Street, one of the longest in the city, famous for its parks and squares.
Profile of Donetsk
About John Hughes
City mayor