Dnipropetrovsk (Ukrainian: Дніпропетровськ, Dnipropetrovs’k; Russian: Днепропетро́вск, Dnepropetrovsk, formerly Екатериносла́в, Yekaterinoslav) is Ukraine's third largest city[1] with 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-central section of the country, south of Kiev on the Dnieper River. Dnipropetrovsk is also the administrative centre of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
A vital industrial center of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was one of the key centers of the nuclear, arms, and space industries of the former Soviet Union. In particular, it is home to Yuzhmash, a major space and ballistic missile designer and manufacturer. Because of its military industry, the city was a closed city (no foreigners were allowed there without official permission) until the 1990s.
Dnipropetrovsk has a highly-developed transportation system, including the Dnipropetrovsk Metro, which has one metro line with 6 stations.
The city also contains a Ukrainian Premier League football club FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
ClimateDuring the summer, Dnipropetrovsk is very warm (average day temperature in July is 24 to 27 C (76 to 80 F)), and in the winter, it is cold (average day temperature in January is −3 to +4 C (24 to 39 F)).
The best time for visiting the city is in late spring - second part of April and May (nice nature and fresh air), and early in autumn: September, October (beauty of yellow town's parks). Long periods of rain are normal in autumn. Other times are mainly dry with a few showers.
The climate is temperate, continental and sometimes in winter it is very cold and snowy (down to −10 to −15 C), and in summer is not very hot (up to 29 to 30 C).
17th and 18th century until 1775: Cossacks, rivalry of Poland, Turkey and Russia in the regionThe locale's history dates back to Cossack times.
In the Russian Empire: 1775 - 1917The city was founded in 1783 as a result of southern expansion of the Russian Empire. One former name, Yekaterinoslav, translates in English to 'The glory of Yekaterina' (Catherine the Great).
From 1902 to 1933, the famous historian of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Dmytro Yavornytsky, was Director of the Dnipropetrovsk Museum, which was later named after him. Before his death in 1940, Yavornytsky wrote a History of the City of Ekaterinoslav which lay in manuscript for many years. It was only published in 1989 as a result of the Gorbachev reforms.
1917-1919: times of revolutions, first German occupation and civil war 1919-1991: in the Soviet Union & under Nazi ruleDuring the German occupation of Ukraine in Wold War II, the city gave its name to one of the six generalbezirke in which a Nazi Generalkommissar was in charge under the authority of the Reichskommissar in Kiev. Dnipropetrovsk was an important center of Jewish life, and 80,000 Jews lived in the city before the Holocaust, but soon after the Nazis conquered the city on October 12, 1941, 11,000 were shot; in the end only 15 Jews of Dnipropetrovsk survived at the end of the war.
In the 20th to 21st centuries, the economic potential of the city has defined its political importance. Dnipropetrovsk and the surrounding oblast are the birthplace of the so-called 'Dnipropetrovsk Clan', an influential informal political group inside the CPSU, members of whom were the industrial and party elite. Leonid Brezhnev, a native of the nearby city of Dniprodzerzhyns'k and later Soviet Union Communist Party General Secretary, founded and pushed the Clan to the highest levels of the Soviet power structure. Its members are believed by many political scientists to have ruled not only the Ukrainian SSR but also the entire Soviet Union up to the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev.
After 1991: Since Ukrainian independenceIn 2005, the most powerful representative of that clan is Leonid Kuchma, the former President of Ukraine, previously senior manager of Yuzhmash.
TransportationThe city is served by an Dnipropetrovsk International Airport (IATA: DNK) and is connected to other European cities with daily flights.
By train
The city is a large railway junction. Daily trains run to and from many parts of Eastern Europe. There are two rapid trains at day time from Kyiv to Dnipropetrovsk and are few expresses at night. Other trains come from Moscow, Lviv, Saint Petersburg, etc.
By bus
The largest bus station in Eastern Ukraine is in Dnipropetrovsk. It is near the Central railway station. Bus routes to all over the country, including some routes to Russia, Poland, Germany, Moldova and Turkey are available.
By car
Dnipropetrovsk has some highways crossing through the city. The most popular routes are from Kyiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya. Transit through the city is available.
By boat
In the summertime, there are some routes available by hydrofoils. Various tourist ships on their way down the Dnieper River, (Kiev - Kherson - Odessa) always make a stop in the city.
Urban Transport
The Dnipropetrovsk city has comprehensive transportation network. There are 20 trolleybus, 16 tram, more than 150 bus routes, 6 stations of the Dnipropetrovsk Metro, and more than 30 stations of Suburbs Railway network.
Places of interestThe city features a variety of theaters, museums, parks, restaurants and beaches, many of which may be of interest to tourists.
The central streets of the city were renamed during the Soviet era in honor of Marxists, the central thoroughfare itself known as Karl Marx. It is a very beautiful, wide and long parkway, which stretches east to west through the central part of the city. It was founded in the eighteenth century and parts of its buildings are the actual decoration of the city. In the heart of the city is Zhovtneva square, which includes the majestic cathedral founded by order of Catherine the Great in 1787.
On the square, there are some remarkable buildings: the Museum of History, Diorama 'Battle for the Dnieper River (Second World War)', and also the beautiful park in which one can rest in the hot summer. Walking down the hill to the Dnieper River, one arrives in the large Taras Shevchenko Park (which is on the right bank of the river) and on Monastyrskiy Island. This island is one of the most interesting places in the city. In the IX century, the Byzantian monks based a monastery here. It was destroyed by Mongol-Tatars in the XIII century.
The compact 'old town' does not exist in Dnipropetrovsk anymore. Many historic buildings and churches were destroyed in the Second World War and in Stalin's communist times in the 1930s.
However all of Central Avenue, some street-blocks on the main hill (the Nagornaya part) between Pushkina Prospekt and Embankment, and sections near Globy and Shevchenka parks have been untouched for 150 years, retaining their historical character.
The Dnieper River keeps the climate mild and the air fresh. It is visible from many points in Dnepropetrovsk. From any hill (there are 3 in the city) you will find a beautiful view of the river, islands, parks, outskirts, river banks and hills. There was no need to build huge skyscrapers in the city in Soviet times. Powerful industries preferred to construct offices close to their main factories away from the centre of town. In the last ten years of independence the price of land in Ukraine has grown considerably. All the new office buildings are being built in the same architectural style as the old buildings.
Famous people from Dnipropetrovsk
