Kherson is the center of the region in which I live, so many of my friends do not consider it a tourist attraction, some spent their student years here, many went there on business. When I said that I wanted to celebrate my birthday in Kherson, everyone advised other cities for the trip, arguing that there is nothing remarkable and interesting in Kherson. I moved to the Kherson region after my student years were already over, and I was in the city several times.

So, Kherson. Historians suggest that the name of the city comes from Tauric Chersonesus, a medieval settlement in the Crimea, which in Greek means a peninsula. Washed by the waters of the Dnieper and its canal, Koshevoy Kherson looks like a peninsular horseshoe. Kherson went down in history as a city of sailors and shipbuilders, where the Black Sea Fleet was born. The construction was conceived on a grand scale, with a claim to the southern capital of Russia.

The foundation and history of the city is associated with many great historical figures: Empress Catherine the Second, G. A. Potemkin, F. Ushakov, A. V. Suvorov, I. A. Hannibal, A. S. Pushkin, John Howard and many others. This is evidenced by the monuments to great figures and the names of streets, squares, squares, districts of the city. In 1778, by order of Catherine II, a fortress, a shipyard and a city were laid. The founder of the city and its first governor-general was the favorite of the Empress, a well-known political and military figure, Prince Grigory Potemkin. The construction was entrusted to I. A. Gannibal, the great-uncle of A. S. Pushkin, later the poet visited the city, in the construction of which his mother's uncle took part. Now in the river port of Kherson there is a monument to the first shipbuilders of Kherson, which is one of the symbols of Kherson, built in 1972.

When I looked up information about Kherson on the Internet, my desire to visit the city as a tourist not only did not disappear, but even intensified. Genichesk is connected with Kherson only by bus service. I am not a fan of traveling by bus. But lately, I try not to pay attention to some inconveniences while traveling - a not very comfortable bus and bad roads. The main thing is a positive attitude and a desire to see and learn something new.

The weather was wonderful, the mood too, and after a four-hour drive we arrived at our destination. Separately, I want to say about booking accommodation. If you do not make an advance payment for the reservation, then most likely no one will be waiting for you. This applies not only to Kherson, but also to other cities where we were. We managed to quickly rent a place in another place, a small cozy room in Gostiny Dvor in the city center, more expensive than we planned, but the places we were going to visit were within walking distance from the hotel.

It should be noted that extraordinary moments and events are always remembered in life. This time I celebrated my birthday in a different way. It was not a festive feast with friends at home or in a cafe. We snuggled right on the floor for a celebratory dinner. With us was our friend Anya with a guitar, who composed poems and songs and had an amazing gentle voice. She sang songs to the words of Svetlana and her own composition.

In such an amazing creative atmosphere, I celebrated my birthday. And in the evening the theater was waiting for us.

We had a little time before the performance. We walked along Suvorovsky Prospekt, the pedestrian street of Kherson, went into Potemkinsky Square, where the monument to G. Potemkin is located. Catherine the Second ordered to install it in honor of the founder of the city, where he rested, his burial is in the Catherine's Cathedral.

By 18 o'clock we approached the Music and Drama Theatre. When designing the theater, the architect took the Odessa Opera House as a basis. On this day, there was a one-man show "Moment of Kokhannya" with Yevgeny Nishchuk.

In Ukraine, the outstanding actor of the Ivan Franko Theater, People's Artist of Ukraine, former Minister of Culture is well known. The performance was based on the play by Vladimir Vinnichenko. This is the confession of a man who experienced the moment of meeting with love. Before the eyes of the viewer, he experiences all the stages of love at the moment of crossing the border. At the same time, he draws attention to the conventions and boundaries that exist in the relationship between people in the modern world. We were amazed by the performance of the actor. It's amazing how one person can keep the whole hall in suspense for 1.5 hours. He gives his all to the game. Only love can explain everything. A pleasant bonus awaited us at the theater: we bought seats on the balcony, there were several empty seats in the stalls, we were allowed to take them. The interior of the theater, the orchestra in the lobby, a beautiful photo zone and the performance itself created a festive mood.

The audience greeted the actor with a standing ovation at the end of the performance. After the performance, we took a short walk around Kherson in the evening. The next day we decided to explore the streets and parks of Kherson, which were not far from our place of residence. We were interested in a modern building, which is located opposite the theater. On the other side of it, on the ground floor, there are a number of trading establishments, but for what and who built it, we did not find out.

We once again walked along Suvorov Street, one of the districts of the city also bears his name, and a bust of the Generalissimo is installed on the street.

We found such an interesting art object on this street, where an old elm used to grow:

There are a lot of old buildings with interesting architecture on the central streets of Kherson, some of them require restoration.

The street named after Fyodor Ushakov is also interesting, not a single street crosses it, everyone originates from it. We went down to the river port, photographed the famous "Frigate", a cannon, the embankment and the hotel of the same name, located nearby.

In 1790, the first Black Sea cannon foundry was opened in Kherson.

The oldest park in Kherson is Shevchenko Park. The idea to lay out a public park in Kherson belonged to Grigory Potemkin. Just 7 years after the founding of the city, on the high and deserted bank of the Dnieper, a park was laid, which was renamed several times: it was called Denisovsky, Aleksanrovsky, Taraso-Shevchenkovsky, city, named after. Lenin and, finally, Shevchenkovskiy. Pedunculate oak grows here, which is over 100 years old.

An abandoned summer cinema that imitates an old fortress attracts attention in this park.

After walking in the park, we went to the place where the Kherson fortress was built. A resident of Kherson kindly showed us the way. We passed by the Yubileiny cinema, which is one of the symbols of the city.

To this day, the Ochakov Gates and the Moscow Gates, an arsenal and a powder magazine have been well preserved from the structures of the fortress. Here you can see the plan of the fortress.

The Kherson fortress occupied an area of ​ ​ about 100 hectares, 4 times the size of the Moscow Kremlin. During a trip to the south of Empress Catherine Kherson fortress, even foreigners were amazed. This one of the most powerful fortresses in the world has not taken a single battle in its entire history.

Inside the fortress there is an Arsenal and St. Catherine's Cathedral. Prince Grigory Potemkin conceived the cathedral in the classical style, and dedicated it to the saint, whose name was given to the Empress, she herself once was here for worship. Not far from the cathedral rises a bell tower, also built in the classical style, at first it was wooden, later it was rebuilt in stone.

We did not go to the territory of the cathedral due to lack of time. It was necessary to return home. On the way to the bus station, we took a few photos.

This is the Holy Spirit Cathedral - one of the largest Orthodox churches in the city. It is also called "merchant", as merchants provided the main support in its construction.

There is a botanical garden next to the bus station. In winter, it is of little interest. But it houses an exhibition of architectural miniatures of Kherson, Ukraine and the world. I expected to see something bigger, so the thumbnails weren't very impressive either.

In spring and summer, Kherson becomes even more attractive for tourists. This is one of the greenest cities in Ukraine. You can also ride along the Dnieper and make a trip along the Dnieper floodplains. Interesting and beautiful is always with us, you just need to want to see it.