Ukraine, the Graveyard of Europe
While the war in Ukraine is raging on, some people in Europe still seem to be unconvinced as to why they should support the country. It’s not in the EU, and it ostensibly always was a satellite of Russia, so they don’t feel any cultural or historical affinity.
They seem to be unaware of the three points:
1. Some regions in Western Ukraine had nothing to do with Russia before WWII, and for centuries were integrated into European society. They still feel closer to Europe than to Russia.
2. Significant part of Northern and Central Ukraine was also for centuries integrated into the European continuum as part of Poland (within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and before that, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And if we go back even further into the past, Kyivan Rus’ also had strong dynastical and diplomatic ties to European kingdoms.
3. Before WWII, Ukraine — torn between various states and empires — was much more multicultural than it is now, with dozens of ethnic groups scattered about the land.
In the process of its shaping and evolution, Ukrainian culture organically — I could say peacefully, but I have to admit that there were occasional tensions and conflicts — coexisted with those dozens of other cultural layers, absorbed their influences and enriched them in return while also allowing them to preserve their heritage within its realm.
A lot of that heritage was destroyed during WWII — and later by the Soviets, — and now it’s under attack again. As I write this, the Russians keep destroying and damaging historical objects, including those related to the Western heritage.
Below I provide a very brief and sketchy description of 26 cultural layers — European and those that are closely tied to the European history — that can be found in Ukraine, with some examples of where you can see them.
I mainly focus on the most visible pieces — architecture, sculpture, partly museums and archaeological sites, — but you should keep in mind that cultural influences also penetrate language, cuisine, music, literature, and so on.
For the sake of brevity, I mostly use only transliterations of modern Ukrainian names of cities, towns and villages, which in most cases should be enough to find them on a map. For old Polish, German, Russian, Hungarian and other names, just look them up on Wikipedia.
All the pictures used here are from my personal travels between 2016 and 2021.
Do you know which ethnic group was the second largest in Ukraine (after the Ukrainians) in the first half of the 19th century? (No, not the Russians.)
Do you know which group was the second largest in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century? (Not the Russians either.)
Do you know which nation has lived in Ukraine for longer than any Slavs?
Do you know which world-level European writers were born in Ukraine?
Read on to learn these and many other not-so-obvious facts.
Jewish Layer
The Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th century and up to the mid 1920s (before that they were the third largest after the Poles, and after that they were outstripped by the Russians), but they have much longer history in Ukraine, and there is still a lot of Jewish heritage in the country:
1. Synagogues are the first thing to look for when it comes to the Jewish heritage. Multiple historical synagogues have been preserved in Ukraine, from Lviv and Chernivtsi in the west to Kyiv, Berdychiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv. At the time of writing, it is known of two old synagogues in Kharkiv damaged by Russian artillery. Some former synagogues are now used for other purposes like the choral synagogues in Uzhhorod and Drohobych. Some others lie in ruins for decades like the ones in Brody, Dubno, Husyatyn, or Hrymailiv.
2. Cemeteries can tell you a lot about the past, and Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine are silent witnesses of the two nations’ common history. They are especially prominent in the west of the country (Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Kremenets, Buchach, Brody), but a lot of them can also be found in other regions. On May 8, 2022, a Russian missile hit the Jewish cemetery in Hlukhiv, in the northeast.
3. Jews are especially strongly associated with the city of Odesa. Their heritage here is ubiquitous, from old synagogues and other buildings to Yiddish influences on the local dialect of Russian.
4. Hasidism and its founder Baal Shem Tov were born in Ukraine. Medzhybizh and Uman where respectively he and his great grandson, Nachman of Breslov, were buried are important Hasidic pilgrimage sites.
5. Ukraine was a stage of many horrors of the Holocaust, and so there are numerous memorials to the victims of this tragedy, most notably in Babyn Yar in Kyiv.
6. Many famous Jews were born in Ukraine, including the writers Shmuel Yosef Agnon (the Nobel Prize winner born in Buchach, where there’s a monument to him and an art courtyard bearing his name), Bruno Schulz (who was born and died in Drohobych, where there’s his museum and a memorial at the site where he was murdered by a Nazi), and Sholem Aleichem (museums dedicated to him can be found in his hometown Pereyaslav as well as in Kyiv), and others.
7. The Karaites (Karaims) and Krymchaks deserve a special mention. Both groups originated in Crimea and speak their own Turkic languages close to Crimean Tatar, and both are close to extinction. The latter practice Orthodox Judaism, while the former adhere to their own branch known as Karaite Judaism. Significant Karaite communities used to live in some Ukrainian cities and towns outside of Crimea, most notably in Halych and Lutsk. In Halych, there’s a Karaite museum and a Karaite cemetery in the nearby village of Zalukva. Old Karaite temples, known as kenesas, exist in Kharkiv and Kyiv.
8. There are also some other places related to Jewish culture like Yerulasimka, a former Jewish quarter in Vinnytsia.
Polish Layer
Although Polish influences are usually associated with Western Ukrainian regions that were part of Poland in the interwar period, they actually stretch much further to the east where the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used to reach and where many Poles continued to live even after these lands were occupied by Russia.
1. Halychyna (also known as Eastern Galicia) is the region with the longest-lasting ties to Poland, so it’s not surprising that it’s here that you should look for Polish undertones. Lviv, the region’s largest city, is the prime example with its Polish churches and other sights. And one should not neglect Lychakiv Cemetery with its Polish tombs and the memorial to the Lwów Eaglets.
2. Catholic churches and monasteries are the most obvious traces of Polish culture in Ukraine. Outside of Western Ukraine, great examples can be found in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Bila Tserkva, and Kyiv. As with Jewish synagogues, a number of Polish churches now lie in ruins like in Iziaslav, Staryi Vyshnivets, or Pidhaitsi (Ternopil Oblast).
3. Castles and palaces related to both Polish and Ukrainian history are some of the most remarkable tourist attractions in Ukraine. The castles in Zolochiv, Pidhirtsi, Zhovkva, Zbarazh and Kamianets-Podilskyi or the palace in Samchyky are just some of the most obvious examples. Many castles and palaces are in ruins, most notably in Lviv and Ternopil Oblast.
4. The Oleksadriya and Sofiyivka parks in Bila Tserkva and Uman respectively are among the best-known sights in Central Ukraine. The former was founded by Franciszek Ksawery Branicki, and the latter by Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, both Polish noblemen.
5. Adam Mickiewicz is the non-Russian foreigner with the largest number of monuments in Ukraine. There’s a series of historical, pre-1939 monuments to Mickiewicz, most notably in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, but also in Drohobych, Truskavets, Dobromyl, Zbarazh, Kolomyia and elsewhere, and there’s also a new one in Odesa.
6. Juliusz Słowacki, one of the Polish Three Bards, along with Mickiewicz and Zygmunt Krasiński, was born in Kremenets (Ternopil Oblast), where there’s his museum and monument. Another monument to him can be seen in Kyiv.
7. There are also other traces of Polish culture like the works of the architect Władysław Horodecki, most notably the House with Chimaeras in Kyiv, the monument to the creator of Esperanto L. L. Zamenhof in Odesa, or the monument to the chemist Wojciech Świętosławski in Kyiv, to name a few.
German Layer
1. The German layer in Ukraine starts with Magdeburg Rights, meaning that many old Ukrainian cities and towns used to be governed in accordance with the law that originated in Germany. There are several monuments to Magdeburg Rights in Ukraine, most notably in Kyiv, but also in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Vinnytsia, and Hostomel.
2. Chernivtsi is arguably the “most German” city in Ukraine. German influences here are hard to miss: from Deutsches Volkshaus which today hosts a German culture center to the streets that bear the names of Heine, Goethe, Beethoven (with the composer’s statue), and Schiller (plus Schiller Park). Paul Celan, a Romanian-Jewish poet who was born in Chernivtsi and wrote predominantly in German, and Olha Kobylianska, a Ukrainian writer who lived here and wrote her debut works in German, can also be considered part of German literature, and both are commemorated with monuments in the city.
3. Numerous German settlements existed around Odesa. Most of them now bear Ukrainian names that are often translations of their original German toponyms, with two exceptions. Lustdorf is now a district of Odesa, and Liebenthal got back its name in 2016 after it was first renamed to Adolfsthal by the Nazis and then to Leninthal by the Soviets. One can still see some old German buildings in these settlements like the ruins of a Lutheran church in Novohradkivka (former Neuburg) or a former Catholic church now turned into an Orthodox temple in Maryanivka (which used to be called Marienthal and was populated by Germans who mostly came from predominantly Catholic Alsace). And in Odesa itself there’s the magnificent German St. Paul’s Cathedral.
4. Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) is the region with the largest number of Germans who still live in Ukraine today, mostly around Mukachevo, but also higher up in the mountains, in the villages of Ust-Chorna and Nimetska Mokra (Deutsch-Mokra).
5. A lot of Germans used to live in Halychyna, from Lviv (with St. Ursula’s Church as the city’s key German heritage site) to Vynnyky (former Weinbergen, where a German Lutheran church is now used by Ukrainian Greek Catholics), Brody (where there’s still a neighborhood called Shvaby, or Schwaben), Sniatyn (where one of the neighborhoods is still known as Augustdorf), and a few dozen other settlements.
6. Germans used to live in virtually all other regions of Ukraine where today you can still see their historical Lutheran and Evangelical churches, from Lutsk to Kyiv, Dnipro and Berdiansk.
7. Some prominent Germans were particularly important to Ukrainian culture, like Friedrich von Falz-Fein who founded the Askania-Nova nature reserve, or Leopold Koenig who built the famous palace in Sharivka near Kharkiv and reconstructed the estate in Trostianets that was heavily damaged by Russians in 2022.
8. German occupation during WWII brought a lot of destruction, but also left some sites where you can meditate on the vanity of wars like Hitler’s Werwolf bunker near Vinnytsia or the cemeteries of German soldiers in Kharkiv and Sevastopol.
9. Timber framing, an architectural technique known in Ukraine under the German name Fachwerk, is another German influence that can be found in some Western Ukrainian buildings, most notably in the old town hall of Chortkiv and a clocktower in Brody.
10. Various other traces of German culture are scattered around Ukraine, like the statues of Baron Münchhausen in Khmelnytskyi, Kremenchuk and near Odesa, or the statue of the Town Musicians of Bremen in Kharkiv.
Austrian Layer
Austrian influences are mostly concentrated in the western regions of Halychyna, Bukovina and Zakarpattia that were part of the Austrian Empire:
1. The Austrians built a lot of infrastructure. If you visit the historical part of any old town in these regions, especially in Halychyna, there’s a good chance that you’ll see administrative and residential buildings that date back to the Austrian period. They also built railway stations (including the one in Lviv) and viaducts, founded resorts (like in Morshyn or Truskavets), and mined oil (see, for example, the museum of local oil industry in Pniv near Nadvirna, or some old equipment in Skhidnytsia).
2. However strange it may seem, in Ukraine there are five monuments to Franz Joseph I: two statues in Zakarpattia, one in Ivano-Frankivsk, another one in Chernivtsi, plus a memorial to the 60th anniversary of his reign (originally erected in 1908) in the same city. In Zakarpattia, there’s also a statue of his wife Elisabeth (Sisi) in Schönborn Park, a statue of the Empress Maria Theresa in Uzhhorod, and a mini-statue of the Crown Prince Rudolf in Solochyn. Thus, even before 2022 there were more monuments to Austrian rulers in Ukraine than to Russian ones.
3. The German-Austrian Schönborn dynasty deserves a special mention due to its cultural influence in Zakarpattia, most notably in Schönborn Palace near Chynadiiovo and Schönborn Park near Turya Pasika where, among others, there’s a bust of Lothar Franz von Schönborn. A mini-statue of another member of the dynasty, Erwein Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim, exists in Svaliava.
4. Some famous Austrians who were born in Ukraine are commemorated in their hometowns: Joseph Roth has a monument in Brody, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch has a statue and a café bearing his name in Lviv, and a plaque commemorates Ludwig von Mises on the house where he was born in Lviv. And let’s also mention here a mini-statue of Mozart in Uzhhorod, even if he had nothing to do with Ukraine.
5. There are also several Austrian WWI cemeteries like the ones in Zveniachyn (Chernivtsi Oblast) and at the foot of Mount Hoverla.
Greek Layer
Greeks have been living in Ukraine for longer than any Slavs, so if Putin wants to appeal to history, the Greeks should definitely have something to say.
1. A number of Ancient Greek colonies existed along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Today we can still see the ruins of some of them: Chersonesus and Panticapaeum in Crimea, Olbia in Mykolaiv Oblast, Tyras in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, or a nameless settlement excavated in the center of Odesa.
2. Kyivan Rus’ adopted Christianity from Constantinople, and so there are a lot of Greek-Byzantine influences in early Ukrainian churches like Kyiv’s St. Sophia as well as deep spiritual links between Ukrainian and Greek cultures.
3. Greeks have long inhabited the northern coast of the Sea of Azov. Most of them originally came here from Crimea. There are two groups of the Azov Greeks: the Rumai and the Urums. The former speak a dialogue (Ruméika) that is very different from the modern language of Greece, while the latter speak a Turkic language similar to Crimean Tatar. The largest center of Greek culture in the region was Mariupol, which is now completely destroyed by the Russians.
4. Greeks have also been an important community in Odesa. The city has a Greek church, a Greek museum and two monuments to its Greek mayor Grigorios Maraslis, in addition to a number of Greek-related street names.
5. Historical Greek communities also existed in various other Ukrainian cities and towns where today you can still find Greek churches and some other heritage pieces: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Kyiv, Kropyvnystkyi, Nizhyn (“a Greek from Nizhyn” is even mentioned in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment), and Mohyliv-Podilskyi. In Lviv, Korniakt Palace and Korniakt Tower were named after Konstanty Korniakt, a rich Greek merchant who built them.
6. As in many other countries, in Ukraine one can find influences of Ancient Greek sculpture and architecture, most notably in Oleksadriya and Sofiyivka parks that were already mentioned in the Polish section. The latter, among others, has the statues of Euripides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Homer.
Turkic Layer
1. Various Turkic tribes, including the Kipchaks, the Cumans (Polovtsians) and the Pechenegs, inhabited the southern and eastern steppes of Ukraine in the Middle Ages. Their traces are mostly limited to archaeological findings, of which the best known are the so-called Polovtsian babas, anthropomorphic stone statues, often with female features, that today can be seen in museums in Odesa, Dnipro, Luhansk, Poltava, and other Ukrainian cities.
2. Traces of the Golden Horde period are also mainly archaeological (with the exception of some preserved buildings in Crimea including Özbeg Khan Mosque) like the excavated remains of the city of the Seven Mosques and Mamai’s Sarai in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and the khan’s summer headquarters in Luhansk Oblast.
3. The Turkic heritage of Crimea encompasses the period of the Crimean Khanate as well as some earlier and later landmarks. Bakhchysarai (Bağçasaray) and Staryi Krym (Eski Qırım) are the primary tourist destinations when it comes to Turkic heritage, but there are many other historical sites on the peninsula. Since many Crimean Tatars were forced to leave their home after Russian occupation in 2014, they now spread their culture around Ukraine.
4. The Ottoman Empire at some point reached as far north as Southern Podilia (Podolia) and Bukovina. However, there are only isolated traces of that period in Ukraine. Akkerman Fortress in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi got its Turkic name during the Ottoman reign, and the minaret on its territory testifies to it. The former mosque in Izmail is now used as a museum, and another mosque in Ochakiv was rebuilt as an Orthodox church. The column near Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Kamianets-Podilskyi is a trace of the time when the temple was used as a mosque, and the Turkish Bastion in the town is another witness of the Ottoman period. So are the two columns in Medzhybizh and the Turkish Square with the Turkish Well in Chernivtsi.
5. An important figure connecting Ukrainian and Turkish history is Hurrem Sultan, known in Ukraine as Roksolana, the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent. In her alleged hometown Rohatyn in Western Ukraine, there are her monument and museum, and the mosque in the long-suffering Mariupol is named after her and Suleiman.
6. The Lipka Tatars, also known as the Lithuanian Tatars, are mostly associated with Lithuania, Poland and Belarus, but they also inhabited the northwestern Ukrainian region of Volhynia. Unfortunately, most of their heritage is gone, but there is a Tatar cemetery in the village of Yuvkivtsi (Khmelnytskyi Oblast), while in Ostroh, where a significant number of Tatars used to live, there’s still the Tatar Tower and Tatar Street.
7. We’ve already mentioned the Turkic-speaking groups of the Krymchaks, the Karaites and the Urums when we were discussing the Jewish and Greek layers, but another important group is the Gagauz. Although these Turkic-speaking Orthodox Christians predominantly live in Moldova, there are also multiple Gagauz villages in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine.
8. There are also other significant Turkic minorities in Ukraine including the Azerbaijanis and the Uzbeks. It is most often Turkic communities who build modern mosques in Ukraine. Finally, let’s mention the monument to the Turkmen poet Magtymguly Pyragy in Kyiv.
Armenian Layer
1. A great deal of Armenian historical religious and secular buildings and other heritage sites are located in Crimea, including the ancient Surp Khach Monastery.
2. Western Ukraine is also known for its Armenian heritage. The most well-known Armenian churches and entire Armenian quarters can be found in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Kamianets-Podilskyi, and Berezhany.
3. Armenians continue to be an important minority in Ukraine and build new churches in their traditional style like the ones in Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv.
Czech Layer
1. Zakarpattia is the first place to look for Czech heritage in Ukraine. Although the region at some point belonged to Great Moravia, there are no visible traces of that epoch, and so Czech influences here are mostly related to the interwar period when Zakarpattia was part of Czechoslovakia. There are entire Czech-built quarters like Malyi Galagov in Uzhhorod or the so-called “Masaryk’s Colony” in Khust, statues of Tomáš Masaryk, a museum of Ivan Olbracht in Kolochava, and more. Jihlava hedgehogs by Mykhailo Kolodko in Uzhhorod and the symbolic monument to Miloš Forman in Mukachevo are examples of modern Czech influences in Zakarpattia.
2. A lot of Czechs used to live in Volhynia. A neighborhood in Zhytomyr is still called Czech Kroshnia, and there you can see a Czech Catholic church from the early 20th century. In the former Czech settlement Strakliv, which is now part of Dubno, there’s John Amos Comenius Street and a memorial of the settlement’s founding. There are Czech cemeteries in several villages in Volyn, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia Oblasts, a memorial to the Czechs murdered by the Nazis in the village of Malyn (Rivne Oblast), and a Czech museum in the village of Mykolayivka (Vinnytsia Oblast).
3. A number of Czech settlements existed in Southern Ukraine like Bohemka in Mykolaiv Oblast (known for its Czech Evangelical church), Novhorodkivka (Chekhohrad) in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, or Veselynivka in Odesa Oblast.
4. Jaroslav Hašek’s Good Soldier Švejk is the literary character with the largest number of monuments in Ukraine: there are 11 of them that I know of, in particular in Lviv, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, Kyiv, Odesa, and even in the occupied Donetsk. There’s also a tourist trail around the places visited by Švejk in Lviv Oblast (that’s where his adventures end in the book).
5. Other Czech traces in Ukraine include the works of the architect Josef Hlávka in Chernivtsi, especially the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans (where there’s also his monument), and the relief of Vítězslav Nezval in the village of Nahuievychi in Lviv Oblast (as part of the Ivan Franko and World Literature composition).
Slovak Layer
Although Ukraine directly borders on Slovakia, Slovak influences are not as visible as the Czech ones. They can mostly be witnessed only in some villages in Zakarpattia like Storozhnytsia, Huta and Turyi Remety where there are Slovak Catholic churches. Also, it should be noted that some Slovaks used to live next to Czechs in Volhynia.
Hungarian Layer
1. Zakarpattia is definitely the region with the most pronounced Hungarian influences: castles in Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Chynadiiovo, Nevytske and Serednie (the latter two lie in ruins), the palaces of Gabriel Bethlen in Berehove and Zsigmond Perényi in Vynohradiv, Hungarian Reformed and Catholic churches (and even some of the region’s Ukrainian churches imitate their architecture), monuments to numerous Hungarian rulers, poets, artists and other great people, and a Hungarian open-air museum in Tysobyken (Tiszabökény). And even the region’s wines and thermal baths would make you think of Hungary. A lot of mini-statues of Mykhailo Kolodko who now continues his career in Budapest also draw upon Zakarpattia’s Hungarian heritage.
2. Although it may seem not that significant, we can mention Hungarian influences on the culture of the Hutsuls who live in Zakarpattia but also in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi Oblasts, even if these influences are mostly evident in their language and cuisine.
3. There are also some monuments to great Hungarians outside of Zakarpattia, namely Franz Liszt in Chernivtsi and Sándor Petőfi in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv. A relief of Petőfi also exists in Nahuievychi, and another bust of the poet used to stand in Kherson on a street named after the Hungarian town of Zalaegerszeg (it was later moved to a library).
4. You can also come across the names of three Hungarian statesmen in Western Ukraine. In the castle of Berezhany there’s a plaque that says it was here that Francis II Rákóczi ordered Hungarians to rebel against the Austrian rule on May 6, 1703. Near Medzhybizh, there’s an archaeological site (known as the Rákóczi Castle) where his grandfather George II Rákóczi once built a fortress when he was an ally of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Finally, Stephen Báthory, a Hungarian King of Poland, played an important part in the Ukrainian history, and one of the towers in Kamianets-Podilskyi bears his name.
5. In Kyiv, there’s a historical place known as Hungarian Tract. Ancient chronicles say that the Hungarians peacefully stopped over here on their way from the east to what would be later known as Hungary. There’s also a monument commemorating this event.
Romanian Layer
1. Romanian heritage is most evident in Chernivtsi Oblast, known as Northern Bukovina, which was part of Romania in the interwar period. In Chernivtsi you can find a museum of Mihai Eminescu and two monuments to him, Neo-Brâncovenesc villas and a Neo-Brâncovenesc Orthodox church, and many other Romanian traces. The towns of Hertsa and Krasnoilsk, which are mostly populated by Romanians, should be especially interesting for culture explorers. The latter is also known for its winter carnival.
2. Zakarpattia, specifically its part known as Northern Maramureș, is another region with a significant share of Romanian population. The town of Solotvyno and several villages near Khust with their wooden churches in the Maramureș Gothic style are the best places to look for Romanian heritage.
3. A separate ethnic group of Romanian origin known as the Vlachs inhabits northern areas of Zakarpattia. Unlike the Romanians of Maramureș, they speak a dialect that is very different from modern Romanian, and are often confused with the Romani people.
4. As with the Hungarian layer, Romanian culture also significantly influenced the traditions of the Hutsuls.
5. The region of Budjak in the south of Odesa Oblast also used to be part of Romania between the two world wars, but Romanian influences here are much less pronounced than in Bukovina and are mostly limited to some buildings — for example in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi or Izmail — that date back to that period. And in Odesa there’s a monument to Eminescu.
Moldovan Layer
1. The historical Principality of Moldavia included all of Bukovina and Bessarabia (with Budjak), and shortly even Pokuttia (now in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast). The most remarkable pieces of architecture built during this period are the Khotyn Fortress and St. Nicholas Church in Kiliia.
2. Today significant numbers of Moldovans live in the eastern corner of Chernivtsi Oblast (Northern Bessarabia) and throughout Odesa Oblast. The Frumushika-Nova open-air museum in Odesa Oblast is a nice showcase of Moldovan culture for tourists.
Bulgarian Layer
1. Although the First Bulgarian Empire included some Ukrainian lands, the Bulgarian cultural layer in Ukraine is mostly related to the Bulgarians who migrated from the Ottoman Empire to what is now Odesa Oblast in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The unofficial capital of Ukrainian Bulgarians is Bolhrad. In the village of Zadunaiivka there’s a museum dedicated to Bulgarian culture and Hristo Botev and a monument to the poet. Monuments to Botev exist in Odesa, Izmail, and Artsyz.
2. Some Bulgarians moved further east, to the coast of the Sea of Azov (Zaporizhzhia Oblast). There are several Bulgarian villages in the region, most notably Botiieve named after Hristo Botev (and with the poet’s monument, of course). And in the city of Berdiansk there’s a monument to Vasil Levski, a national hero of Bulgaria.
3. Bulgarians also settled in today’s Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad) Oblast, particularly in Vilshanka where, once again, there’s a monument to Botev.
4. Other Bulgarian traces include the monument to Petko Voyvoda in Kyiv and the relief of Botev in Nahuievychi.
Albanian Layer
1. The Albanians moved from the Ottoman Empire to the present-day Odesa Oblast around the same time as the Bulgarians. Unlike most citizens of modern Albania, the Ukrainian Albanians are predominantly Orthodox Christians, and, since they have been living next to the Bulgarians, they are heavily influenced by their neighbors’ culture. In Odesa Oblast, Albanians today are mostly concentrated in the village of Karakurt. In Odesa, there are the streets named Velyka Arnautska (Big Arnaut) and Mala Arnautska (Small Arnaut), where Arnauts is the name applied to local Albanians.
2. Some Albanians followed the Bulgarians to the coast of the Sea of Azov. Before the war, the tourist program called “Azov Albania” was even available here, including several museums and other attractions.
Italian Layer
1. For a start, let’s note in passing that the Roman Empire at some point used to reach the westernmost (in Zakarpattia), the southwesternmost (in Budjak), and the southernmost (in Crimea) points of Ukraine, even if there’s only some scarce archaeological evidence of it. Later subtle Roman/Latin influences, of course, penetrated Ukrainian culture through the Catholic Church and borrowings from classical architecture and sculpture.
2. Multiple Genoese colonies existed along the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Genoese built the fortresses in Feodosia, Sudak and Balaklava (all three in Crimea), and they probably also first built Akkerman Fortress in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (which they called Moncastro).
3. Italians played a prominent role in the life of Odesa in the 19th century. There are Italian Boulevard, Genoese Street, and numerous works of Italian architects such as Francesco Boffo (who, among other things, was responsible for the Potemkin Stairs and the Vorontsov Palace), the Frapolli brothers, and others.
4. Italian architects such as Paolo Fontana, Pietro di Barbona, Paolo Dominici Romanus and others created a lot of masterpieces in other Ukrainian cities and towns, especially in Lviv where there’s a lot of Renaissance architecture.
5. Bona Sforza, an Italian Queen of Poland, also contributed to Ukrainian culture. She owned the castles in Kremenets and Bar, and although they both now lie in ruins, people still call the mount where the former stood Bona, and the town of Bar was christened by the queen after the Italian Bari.
6. Other Italian traces in Ukraine include the statue of Dante Alighieri in Kyiv and his relief in Nahuievychi.
French Layer
1. The earliest connection between Ukraine and France was Anna Yaroslavna, also known as Anne of Kyiv, the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise who became Queen of France. Monuments to her can be found in Kyiv and Lutsk as well as in France.
2. In the 19th century Frenchmen used to live in various regions of Ukraine, but their heritage is mostly concentrated in Odesa. The monument to Duke of Richelieu, one of the city’s founding fathers, is one of its major landmarks. There’s also the Duke’s Garden, Richelieu Street and Richelieu Lyceum. A whole neighborhood in Odesa bears the name of another Frenchman, Comte de Langeron. And, of course, there’s French Boulevard.
3. Honoré de Balzac spent a lot of time in Ukraine. He married Ewelina Hańska in Berdychiv, where there’s a monument to him, and lived with her in Verkhivnia, where there’s now a museum dedicated to him.
4. Other French influences include the statues of Le Petit Prince in Dnipro and Kyiv, the relief of Victor Hugo in Nahuievychi, and the mini-statue of Napoleon in Uzhhorod.
Swiss Layer
In the 19th century, the French-speaking Swiss founded a settlement in the south of today’s Odesa Oblast that is known as Shabo. They were good at winemaking, and today Shabo is one of the best-known wine brands in Ukraine.
Belgian Layer
1. In the 19th century Belgian industrialists settled in Lysychansk (Luhansk Oblast) where they built a factory and a lot of residential houses and other infrastructure. On May 1, 2022, Russians destroyed the Belgian gymnasium in Lysychansk. Other pieces of Belgian heritage are in danger since the town is close to the frontline.
2. In Ternopil, there’s a memorial to Belgian soldiers of WWI.
Dutch Layer
1. The Dutch who were known here as Holendry (“Hollanders”) used to live mostly in Volhynia, but probably also in Halychyna. Not much is left of them except some toponyms like Holendry in Vinnytsia Oblast and Holendra in Ternopil Oblast, a memorial in Zabuzhzhia (Volyn Oblast) and another one in a nearby forest where there used to be a Dutch cemetery of the Zabuzki Holendry settlement, and a single headstone on the former Holendry cemetery in the village of Poliana (also in Volyn Oblast).
2. The 18th-century Dutch architect Jan de Witte created some notable objects in Lviv, Berdychiv and Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Scandinavian/Swedish Layer
1. It is known that early rulers of Kyiv came from Scandinavia and had Germanic names: first Askold and Dir, and then early Rurikids like Igor (Ingvar) and Olga (Helga). Askold’s Grave is now a famous place in Kyiv, and Olga, besides the monuments in Kyiv and Korosten, is venerated in Ukraine as a saint.
2. The Battle of Poltava was an important — albeit tragic — event in the Swedish history. There’s a museum of the battle and several memorials to the deceased Swedes in Poltava.
3. In 1782, Swedes from the island of Dagö (now Hiiumaa in Estonia) founded the village of Staroshvedske (Gammalsvenskby) in Southern Ukraine (now Kherson Oblast). Today it’s part of the village of Zmiyivka together with three German settlements.
Lithuanian Layer
Lithuanian heritage in Ukraine is mostly related to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (let’s ignore those Belarusians who claim that the true heir to the Grand Duchy is Belarus and not Lithuania; so far their country proved to be the true heir to the USSR, if anything). This layer is mainly represented by the castles of this period like the ones in Lutsk, Kamianets-Podilskyi and Medzhybizh (keep in mind that these castles also have later Polish contributions).
Georgian/Kartvelian Layer
From the sheer number of Georgian restaurants and the names of some players of Ukrainian soccer clubs from the 1990s and early 2000s, one can conclude that there are many Georgians in Ukraine. But there are also other Georgian traces in the country:
1. In the 18th century many Georgians settled around Poltava. The great poet Davit Guramishvili was the most renowned Georgian from the area. Today in Myrhorod there’s a museum dedicated to him and Georgian culture in general.
2. There are streets named after Shota Rustaveli in many Ukrainian cities as well as a monument to him in Kyiv and a relief in Nahuievychi.
3. The journalist Georgiy Gongadze, murdered in 2000, played a prominent role in the modern Ukrainian history and in Ukrainians’ fight for freedom of speech. There’s a monument to him in Kyiv, and several streets in Ukraine bear his name.
Serbian Layer
Serbian influences in Ukraine are mostly related to the historical provinces of New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia that existed in the 18th century in Central and Eastern Ukraine respectively. Serbian heritage mostly survives in toponyms like Slovianoserbsk in Luhansk Oblast or Subottsi (after Subotica in Serbia) near Kropyvnytskyi, as well as in scarce remains of St. Elizabeth’s Fortress in Kropyvnytskyi that was built to protect New Serbia, or in a church in Serebrianka in Donetsk Oblast.
Croatian Layer
Croatian layer in Ukraine is mostly related to the so-called White Croats that inhabited Western Ukraine between the 6th and 10th centuries. The main heritage site is the caves of White Croats near Stilsko in Lviv Oblast. There is also a miniature statue of the legendary White Croat King Laborec in Uzhhorod. It is believed that some ethnic groups of Western Ukraine have genetic and linguistic traces of the White Croats meaning that they may have more in common with the modern Croats than with the Russians.
British Layer
1. British legacy of Ukraine is mainly related to British industrialists. In 1869, John Hughes founded a factory, around which soon a city arose that was called Yuzivka (Hughesivka), and now is known as Donetsk. Some buildings of the so-called English Colony still survive in the city, and there’s also a monument to Hughes. The Elworthy brothers built a factory in Kropyvnytskyi which still bears their name (distorted as Elvorti), and there’s also a monument to them in the city.
2. The great English writer Joseph Conrad was actually of Polish origin and was born in Berdychiv where there’s a museum dedicated to him. There’s also the Conrad section in a museum in the nearby village of Terekhove.
3. John Howard, an English philanthropist and prison reformer, made his contribution to the history of Kherson. That’s where he was buried, and there’s a monument to him in the city.
4. We can also mention the statue of Romeo and Juliet in Kyiv and the relief of Shakespeare in Nakhuievychi.
Romani Layer
1. There are multiple Romani people groups in Ukraine, although the most remarkable are those that live in Zakarpattia. To get some impression, one can visit Romani neighborhoods of Uzhhorod (Radvanka), Mukachevo (where there’s a statue of a Romani man), and Berehove. Romani people of Zakarpattia mostly speak Hungarian, but some speak the Romani language or Ukrainian.
2. The Romani people, as well as the Jews, suffered greatly from the Holocaust, and there are several memorials commemorating the victims like the Romani Cart in Babyn Yar in Kyiv.
Conclusion
As can be seen, Ukraine’s European heritage is really rich, but some objects that survived WWII and the Soviet rule have already been destroyed or damaged during this new phase of the war, and many other ones are in danger or became unavailable due to Russian occupation. It remains to be seen how much will survive and how much Europe cares.