Covered with legends and glory, Sumy region is increasingly attracting all those who love active recreation, the beauty of nature, fresh air filled with the unique aroma of flowers and herbs, and want to get acquainted with unique monuments of historical and spiritual culture of this land. The fabulous nature of the region, many winding rivers with picturesque banks and numerous sandy beaches, protected areas of forest and steppe with rare specimens of flora and fauna, unique natural landscapes combined with the exceptionally rich history of Sumy region create perfect conditions for ecotourism and annually attract up to 5 million tourists and vacationers.
Sumsk region is located in the northeast of Ukraine. The territory of the region is 23.8 thousand km2 and is administratively divided into 18 districts, the regional city is the city of Sumy. Sumy region is home to 1.3 million people, 85.5% of whom are Ukrainians. The canopy surface of the region is cut by winding river valleys and gullies. 165 rivers of the Dnieper basin flow through the territory, among which the largest is the Desna with its tributaries Seim, Sula, Psyol and Khorol, there are many lakes, artificial ponds and reservoirs. The climate is moderately continental. The region was formed on January 10, 1939.
The territory of Sumy region was inhabited at the end of the ancient Stone Age period. Archaeologists found flint tools and household items at the sites of ancient inhabitants, whose main occupations were fishing and hunting. At the beginning of the Iron Age (VIII century BC) Sumshchina was inhabited by Scythian farmers, who left behind unique Scythian burial mounds, among which there is the highest on the Left-Bank Ukraine burial mound Elder Grave. The tribes of the early Slavs — the Northmen — appeared on the territory of the region at the beginning of our era. Their first settlements were found in the basin of the Seim and Sula rivers. In the process of historical development, in order to protect themselves from external enemies and to settle relations between themselves, Slavic tribes united into unions of tribes. During the IX-X centuries the modern Sumy region was in the Lipovets Principality of Kievan Rus, and then, in the XI-XIII centuries — in the Chernigov and Seversk Principalities. In the Old Russian literary monument «Word about Igor’s Regiment» the author sang about Putivl, Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavovich, who in 1185 made a campaign against the Polovtsians with his army, and his faithful wife Yaroslavna, who was waiting for her husband from the campaigns. Beautiful climatic conditions, rich in wild animals and birds, lands and forests of Sumy invariably attracted foreigners. Therefore, the population of this region was oppressed by invaders for a long time. During the Mongol-Tatar invasion Slavic settlements were destroyed and the region was devastated for several centuries. In the 60s of the XIV century, the southwestern lands of Sumshchina were forcibly annexed to Lithuania.
Gradual settlement of the territories of the modern region began again at the end of the XV century. Fugitive Ukrainian peasants, burghers, Cossacks, as well as Russian settlers, fleeing from feudal and serf oppression and foreign domination, rushed here to the free lands. Since the XVII century Sumshchina was part of Sloboda Ukraine. It was at this time that many cities, including Sumy, began to emerge and develop. The construction of the railroad led to intensive development of agriculture and industry. Sumy region became an independent administrative-territorial unit in 1939.
The centuries-old history of Sumy region is reflected in numerous unique monuments of spiritual and material culture. Tourists and guests of the region get acquainted with the millennial history of Putivl, Glukhov and Romny, antique monuments and museum exhibits of these cities with great interest. Near Putivl there is Sofronievsky monastery, the size of its caves is several times larger than the caves of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and in the city itself on a hill there is an ensemble of Movchansky monastery. Hlukhov is the former capital of Hetman Ukraine, the residence of Hetmans I. Skoropadsky, D. Apostol and K. Razumovsky, as well as the birthplace of outstanding figures of Ukrainian musical culture M. Berezovsky and D. Bortnyansky. The last koshevoy of the Zaporizhian Sich, Pyotr Kalnyshevsky, was born and grew up in Romny district. The architectural pride of Romny is made up of religious buildings of the XVIII century. Sumy region is the birthplace of many outstanding figures of national and world culture: writers and poets P.Kulish, I.Bagryanyi, P.Grabovsky, O.Vishnya; artists A.Losenko, G.Stepetsko, G.Narbut and others; singers B.Hmyrya, P.Bilynnyk, A.Mokrenko; physicist A.Ioffe and many other personalities that make Ukraine proud.
On the territory of Sumy region there are many unique natural reserve objects. These are: the state steppe reserve «Mikhailovskaya virgin land», which is the only preserved in Ukraine section of virgin land; along the border with Russia there is Starogutsko-Desnyansky National Nature Park; Krasnotrostyanetsky dendropark in Trostyanetsky district; forest reserve «Velikiy Bor» in Shostkinskiy district — a kind of museum of pine trees; world-famous geological-tectonic monument «Mount Zolotukha» and many other natural monuments.
The guests of the region are not left indifferent by interesting exhibits of many local history museums, products of folk craftsmen and souvenirs of Sumy porcelain factory and regularly held festivals «Kralevetski towels», «Boromlya», «Cossack Rodoslav» and others.
Sumy region tourist agencies will offer you the most interesting walking and transportation tourist routes to the historical places of this beautiful people and nature region.