Cherkasy Oblast

Cherkasy Oblast lies in the heart of Ukraine on the Kremenchuk Reservoir and is closely tied to the national poet Taras Shevchenko and to Cossack history. A travel warning is in effect for Ukraine because of Russia's war of aggression; a trip to Cherkasy is described here as a portrait, for a time when the situation allows it again.

Cherkasy and Kaniv

Cherkasy sits on the banks of the Dnipro, which is dammed here to form a reservoir, with long beaches, pine forests, and a promenade. Upstream near Kaniv rises Taras Hill, where Taras Shevchenko is buried; a museum and a monument make the hill a national memorial site. To the southwest are sites from the Cossack era: in Chyhyryn, Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky had his residence in the 17th century, and in Subotiv stands his family church. The Cossack forest of Kholodny Yar was the scene of numerous uprisings.

In the 19th century, Cherkasy was a trading center for sugar and timber, and it has a small downtown with museums. The town of Smila, a railway hub, and the villages along the Dnipro offer swimming spots and fish restaurants. In the Kaniv Nature Reserve, wooded slopes rise above the river, home to rare plants.

Uman and Sofiyivka Park

Uman is known for two things: Sofiyivka Park, a landscape park laid out around 1800 by the Polish magnate Stanisław Potocki for his wife Sofia, combines grottoes, waterfalls, ponds, and ancient-style sculptures into a romantic ensemble. And at the grave of the Hasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, tens of thousands of pilgrims, mostly from Israel, gather every year for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, an event that takes place even in wartime. In summer, boat tours on the Dnipro offer views of Kaniv.

Food and Getting There

The cuisine of central Ukraine is hearty: borscht, vareniki with farmer cheese, fried fish from the Dnipro, and poppy seed cake. Cherkasy can be reached from Kyiv by bus and train in about three hours, and Uman lies on the Kyiv–Odesa highway. Air raids are possible in this region too; check current advisories before any trip. In peacetime, May through September is the best time to visit.