Seven Wonders of Ukraine

Locations of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

The Seven Wonders of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Сім чудес України [ˈsʲim ʈ͡ʂuˈd̪ɛs ukraˈjinɨ]) are the seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine, which were chosen in the Seven Wonders of Ukraine contest held in July, 2007. This was the first public contest of that kind which was followed by the Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine, the Seven Wonderful Routes of Ukraine, and the Seven Wonderful Castles of Ukraine. All nominated sites are publicly owned protected areas of at least regional level, available for tourism.

The voting for all contests consisted of two parts: experts in Ukraine voted for their seven best sites, and internet users voted for their seven favorite sites on the official website.

History

The initiative was started by (one of the) deputy chairman of Verkhovna Rada Mykola Tomenko under the motto "Piznai Ukrainu!" (Discover Ukraine). The initiative was a continuation of numerous preceding public actions that took place in various regions of Ukraine such as "Kupala's games at the native land of Gogol" (Poltava region), "Starry autumn in Kachanivka" (Chernihiv region), "Let's discover island Khortutsia" (Zaporizhia region), "Maslyana in Bukovyna" (Chernivtsi region), "Amber legends of Rivne region", "Day of Europe at the native land of Lesya Ukrainka" (Volyn region), and others.

The next stage of the initiative was the organization of the Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine in 2008.

Organization committee

Among the other members of the organization committee were

• Andriy Pakhlya (head of State Service of tourism and vacation resorts),
• parliamentarian Oleksandr Volkov (5th convocation of VR),
• Kiev city politician Oleksandr Bryhynets,
• deputy head of parliamentary committee Yuri Artymenko
• head of Vekhovna Rada subcommittee Volodymyr Kurinny,
• chief-editor of "Mandry" magazine Volodymyr Ilchenko,
• general director of Ukrainian TV-channel ICTV Oleksandr Bohutsky,
• dean of historic department of Kiev University Viktor Kolesnyk,
• president of the National Radio company of Ukraine Viktor Nabrusko,
• rector of the National university Ostroh Academy Ihor Pasichnyk
• National actress of Ukraine Nataliya Sumska
• Distinguished actress of Ukraine Anzhelika Rudnytska
• rector of Donetsk National University Volodymyr Shevchenko
• chief-editor of informational agency UNIAN Oleksandr Kharchenko

Partners

• Tut i tam - site of the tourism gourmands
• "For Kyiv" - internet-portal
• "Mandry" magazine
• National Radio company of Ukraine
• "UNIAN" information agency
• ICTV - television channel

Selection

Local and provincial (oblast) authorities composed a list of 1,000 possible candidates. An expert council consisting of 100 people, including culturologists, historians, and tourist specialists, chose a list of 21 candidates from which people on the internet could vote.

Voting on the 21 possible candidates was opened on July 7, 2007. A total of around 77,000 internet users voted in the campaign. The voting was closed on August 21, 2007 and the results were officially announced on the same day. The campaign was initiated in May 2007 by Mykola Tomenko a Ukrainian politician and the deputy of the Parliament of Ukraine of the fifth convocation.

Each manager of a winning nomination was awarded a statue of their candidate made out of green marble, matte steel, and gold-mirror acrylic paint.

#	Name	Location	Image
1 / 2	Sofiyivsky Park	Uman, Cherkasy Oblast	The landscape of the Sofiyivsky Park.
	Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves)	Kiev	Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
3 / 4	Kamianets National Historic-Architectural Reserve	Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast	General view of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle.
	Khortytsia	Zaporizhia, Zaporizhia Oblast	View Khortytsia and the nearby Dnieper Hydroelectric Station.
5	Chersonesos Taurica (Khersones Tavriysky)	Sevastopol	The remains of the city of Chersonesos.
6	Saint Sophia Cathedral	Kiev	The Saint Sophia Cathedral.
7	Khotyn Fortress	Khotyn, Chernivtsi Oblast	Panoramic view of the Khotyn Fortress.

Other nominations

Special nominations

Three objects from the nomination list needed a special nomination:

• the Livadia Palace, a monument of modern history, Livadiysky Palace-Museum, Monument of Architecture;
• the Ostroh Castle, a spiritual monument, part of the Ostroh Regional Museum;
• the Pysanka Museum in Kolomyia, a monument of modern Ukraine, part of National Museum of Hutsul-land and Pokuttia folk-art of Yosafat Kobrynsky.

Other contenders

• Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater
• Kamyana Mohyla
• Palanok Castle
• Sviatohirsk Lavra
• Pochayiv Lavra
• Kamyani Mogyly Preserve ("Rock Tombs") in Donetsk Oblast
• Caves of Anthony of Kiev
• Olesko Castle
• Lubart's Castle
• Shevchenko National Preserve (Taras Hill)
• Derzhprom building
• Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi National Preserve

See also

• Wonders of the World
• Seven Wonders of the World
• Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine
• List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ukraine

External links

• "The Seven Wonders of Ukraine are announced". Seven Wonders of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2007-08-24.
• "The Seven Wonders of Ukraine Photoset".