The fate of Dnepropetrovsk was turbulent: several centuries passed before it came close to what Catherine II and Prince Potemkin dreamed of when establishing the city. Today, Dnipropetrovsk has finally become one of the most beautiful, interesting and developed cities in Ukraine, attracting many tourists from all corners of the country and other countries with its numerous attractions.
Despite the fact that the official date of its foundation is 1776, Yekaterinoslav — as the city was called originally and until 1926, in the place where it is located today, began to be born only in 1787.
Like Peter the Great, the Russian empress dreamed of giving Russia a capital named in her own honor. New lands for the construction of the «third capital of the Russian Empire» for Catherine was chosen by her favorite — Prince Potemkin, but his efforts were not destined to succeed: history of Dnepropetrovsk or Yekaterinoslav-I ended in less than ten years — for the city was chosen an unfortunate place at the confluence of the river Kilchen to Samara, annually flooded by river waters. The second Ekaterinoslav was established on the right bank of the Dnieper «on a high hill with magnificent views», as the Empress herself said. On May 9, 1787 Catherine II herself laid the first stone in the foundation of the future main attraction of Dnepropetrovsk — Transfiguration Cathedral. From that moment the development of the present city began.
Nevertheless, this development was short-lived — with the passing away of the Empress and Prince Potemkin, the work on turning Ekaterinoslav into the third capital was suspended. A monument of that era was one of the most beautiful architectural landmarks — Potemkin’s palace in 1790, a decoration of the Shevchenko Recreation Park, built by architect I.Starov in the best traditions of classicism. For a long time Yekaterinoslav was saved from decline only by its provincial status, and its future was not at all bright.
The real blossom in the middle to late XIX, Ekaterinoslav owes A.N. Polya, who practically realized the plans of Catherine II in reality and gave the city a second life. Thanks to Paul, the city turned into a developed industrial center, became a major railway hub, and the history of Dnepropetrovsk, despite many obstacles, still became prosperous.
However, the active development of industry did not prevent the city on the Dnieper from becoming one of the most beautiful and culturally developed Ukrainian cities. Today, guests of Dnipropetrovsk come here for different reasons. Some want to visit the place that was blessed by Catherine II herself, others want to admire the waters of the Dnieper and walk along the longest and most picturesque embankment in Europe, others want to see the most beautiful architectural sights of Dnipropetrovsk and feel its amazing atmosphere. And, of course, many people come here to see the legendary Monastyrsky Island, a former stopping point on the «Way from the Varangians to the Greeks». According to legends, in the IX century there was a Byzantine monastery on the island, where not only Princess Olga, Princes Vladimir the Great, Mstislav, but even the disciple of Jesus Christ Andrew the First-Called found temporary shelter. Today, the Church of St. Nicholas, built in our time, stands here, where pilgrims and believers come.
The most interesting sights are the main city street — the former Catherine Street, and since 1923 Karl Marx Avenue — and its buildings built in the middle to the end of the XIX century. V. Gilyarovsky wrote about it as follows: «The main avenue of Yekaterinoslav with its beauty can compete with the best streets of world capitals…». Among the most beautiful buildings: the English Club built in the middle of the XIX century in the neo-Gothic style, the buildings of the Dnepropetrovsk National and Mining Universities in the Art Nouveau style, the City Duma in the Viennese Renaissance style, as well as the famous throughout the country and beyond Historical Museum, which has the largest collection of beautifully preserved Polovtsian Babas, many of which are more than 4 thousand years old.
Among the oldest religious buildings, admiring their light and splendor, in addition to Preobrazhensky Cathedral: Trinity and Dormition churches of 1845-1855 in the Russian-Byzantine style by architects L. Charlemagne and P. V. Vizhiman.The former Bryansk St. Nicholas Church of 1913-1915, now the House of Organ and Chamber Music, St. Nicholas Church, built in the neoclassical style in 1807 in place of the wooden one.
You can enumerate beautiful places, sights and interesting facts about Dnipropetrovsk endlessly, but the beauty of the city on the Dnieper is better to see with your own eyes — it remains forever in the heart of any guest of the city.