Stand at the top of Castle Hill and the Kremenchuk Reservoir opens below you, a wide sheet of water where the Dnieper once ran, with the terraces of the Hill of Glory memorial stepping down the slope in granite blocks. That view is the quickest way to understand Cherkasy: a Cossack city on the right bank of the Dnieper, with a compact historic centre that rewards a day of walking.
Cherkasy suits travellers interested in Cossack history, Soviet-era memorial architecture and the layered architecture of a provincial Ukrainian city — from a neo-Gothic corner house to a hyperboloid water tower. The centre is walkable, and most of what is listed here sits close together along Khreschatyk and the streets around the Hill of Glory.
1. Castle Hill, Hill of Glory
The memorial complex with the "Motherland" monument sits at the top of the former Castle Hill, where an ancient Rus' fort, the remains of the Cherkasy fortress and the Holy Trinity Church once stood. The hill is now a memorial to the city's dead of the Second World War, with terraces laid in granite blocks, a memorial wall bearing the names of residents who perished, and five bronze bas-reliefs depicting the war years. Nearly a thousand soldiers are buried at the top.
Come for the panorama of the Kremenchuk Reservoir, which is the best reason to make the climb. Note that the earlier architectural and archaeological remains on the site were destroyed in 1977 during construction of the monument, so what you see today is the memorial rather than the old fortress.
2. Local History Museum
Cherkasy's regional museum stands in the historic centre near the Hill of Glory, in a modern building, with an exposition spread across thirty halls. The collection covers the nature of the region, archaeology, ethnography, and the history of the region from the 14th to the early 20th century, then modern history from 1917 onward.
Pair it with Castle Hill, since the two are neighbours — see the memorial first, then use the museum to fill in the history behind the city and the oblast.
3. Scherbina House, Wedding Palace
Built by the entrepreneur A. Scherbina in 1892, this was the most luxurious mansion of pre-revolutionary Cherkasy. In Soviet times it was known as the "Palace of Happiness" because it served as the city's registry office, and from 1970 to the present day the building has been used as the Wedding Palace, the civil registry agency.
It stands next to the Puppet Theatre on Str. Lenina, so the two are easy to visit together on a walk through the centre.
4. Goluboi Palace (former hotel Slavyanskiy)
This neo-Gothic building of the 1880s stands on the corner of Str. Dashkovich Ostafiia and Khreschatyk. It is pentagonal, with a high-crowned sharpened tent, and the facade carries numerous decorative details, thin towers with needle-like domes and graceful columns. It had three balconies, one of which projected more than 2.5 metres and rested on thin iron columns.
After January 1919 the building served as the headquarters of the 'red' rebels; later it housed Hotel Dnipro until the mid-1970s, and today it belongs to Ukrsotsbank. Look up at the corner as you pass along Khreschatyk — the decorative detail is the point.
5. "Kobzar" Museum of Taras Shevchenko – Tsybulsky House
This is the only museum in the world devoted to a single book. It occupies Tsybulsky House, built in 1852 and rebuilt in the early 20th century, which once contained an office and loan banks and belonged to the Tsybulsky brothers, the city's first guild merchants.
It sits in the city centre on Baidy-Vishnevetskogo street, close to the former gymnasium building and the School of Music, so it fits naturally into a walk along that street.
6. Cherkasy Art Museum
A large museum on Khreschatyk with two divisions, arts and crafts and fine arts, and four halls on the third floor used for periodic exhibitions. The collection includes folk art of the middle Podniprovya, iconography of the 18th and 19th centuries, and portrait painting of the same period, with a significant part given to contemporary works, drawings and sculptures.
Because the exhibition halls rotate, what is on show varies through the year — build it into a Khreschatyk walk rather than treating it as a fixed stop.
7. Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Monument
Made in 1995 for the 400th birthday of the Hetman, this bronze sculpture stands on a pedestal of stylised processed granite blocks at the corner of Bohdana Khmelnytskoho street and Shevchenko boulevard. On both sides of the pedestal are granite stelae carrying eight boards inscribed with battles: Zhovti Vody, Korsun, Pyliavtsi, the triumphal entry into Kyiv, Zbarazh and Zborov, Berestechko, and the taking of Krakow and Warsaw. Two bronze sculptures symbolising Cossack victories on land and at sea form the base of the podium.
Read the inscribed battle names as you go round the monument — they carry the historical content, and the Cossack gull with a sail on the seaward composition is easy to miss at first glance.
8. Puppet Theatre
The Cherkasy Regional Academic Puppet Theater occupies a building that is an architectural monument of the 19th century, decorated with mosaics showing characters from fairy tales. It stands in the central city on Khreschatyk.
It is directly beside Scherbina House, so combine the two; the mosaics on the exterior are visible from the street.
9. School of Music
The building of the Cherkasy Music School of S. Gulak-Artemovsky was built in 1903 as a men's gymnasium, designed by the Kyiv architect V. Gorodetsky. In the second half of the 20th century, after a modern extension was added, it became the home of a music school.
It stands on Baidy-Vishnevetskogo street, a short walk from the former gymnasium building and the Kobzar museum.
10. The former gymnasium building, Taras Shevchenko Regional Research Library
In 1891 the City Council decided to erect a school building on the estate of the merchant Sokolova, behind an existing two-storey mansion on the steep descent to the Dnieper. The project provided for a two-storey building with thirteen classrooms, offices for teachers and inspectors, and a spacious hall for meetings, and building materials were delivered from various locations in southern Russia. A third floor was completed in 1933, adding seven more classrooms and offices for chemistry and physics. During the Nazi occupation the building was used as a military hospital; today it houses the Taras Shevchenko Regional Research Library.
It is on Baidy-Vishnevetskogo street in the centre, so it slots into the same walk as the School of Music and the Kobzar museum.
11. Hyperboloid water tower
The hyperboloid water tower stands on Hromova street. It is one of the city's distinctive engineering structures and is listed among the sights of Cherkasy.
It is a quick look rather than a long stop; work it into a walk rather than making a separate trip.
12. Monument to dumplings
The first monument to dumplings in Ukraine was installed in 2006 on Frunze street, near the hotel Rosava. The sculpture represents a Cossack Mamaia eating dumplings, with a huge crescent-shaped dumpling placed behind him. The monument stands 2.5 metres high, is made of ceramics, and the dumpling itself weighs about 70 kg.
It is a light stop best combined with whatever else brings you to that part of the city.
13. Mother of God Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God stands on Blahovisna street. It is listed among the city's churches and is one of the religious sites worth including in a walk around Cherkasy.
Dress and behave as you would in any working Orthodox church, and check locally before planning a visit around a service.
14. White Lotus Buddhist temple
This is the only Buddhist temple in Eastern Europe, built in the 1990s and modelled on the famous Buddhist temple in Laos. At the entrance to the cell stand two figures of ancient warriors brought to Cherkasy from Tibet.
Tours are given at the temple, but you must arrange them directly on the site, and visits are by appointment — contact the temple before you go.
15. St. Michael's Cathedral
St. Michael's Cathedral stands in May 1st Park and was built in Byzantine style. It is one of the city's principal churches and sits within a central park, which makes it easy to combine with a walk through the centre.
Pair the visit with the park itself rather than making it a standalone stop.
If you only have one day
Morning. Start at Castle Hill, Hill of Glory, climbing to the Motherland monument for the panorama over the Kremenchuk Reservoir and reading the bas-reliefs and the memorial wall. Then walk the short distance to the Local History Museum on Slavy street and spend the rest of the morning in its thirty halls.
Afternoon. Move into the centre along Khreschatyk. See the Goluboi Palace at the corner with Str. Dashkovich Ostafiia, then the Cherkasy Art Museum on Khreschatyk. Continue to Scherbina House and the Puppet Theatre beside it, then the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Monument at the corner of Bohdana Khmelnytskoho street and Shevchenko boulevard.
Evening. Walk Baidy-Vishnevetskogo street for the former gymnasium building that now houses the Taras Shevchenko Regional Research Library, the School of Music, and the "Kobzar" Museum of Taras Shevchenko in Tsybulsky House. If time allows, finish at St. Michael's Cathedral in May 1st Park.
What is the best single viewpoint in Cherkasy?
The top of Castle Hill, also called the Hill of Glory, where the Motherland monument stands. From there you can see a panorama of the Kremenchuk Reservoir.
Which museum in Cherkasy is devoted to a single book?
The "Kobzar" Museum of Taras Shevchenko, housed in Tsybulsky House in the city centre. It is described as the only museum in the world about one book.
Do I need to arrange a visit to the White Lotus Buddhist temple in advance?
Yes. Visits are by appointment, and although tours are given at the temple, you must negotiate them directly on the site.
Which sights sit close enough to combine on one walk?
Scherbina House and the Puppet Theatre are next to each other on Str. Lenina. The Local History Museum is near the Hill of Glory. On Baidy-Vishnevetskogo street you can combine the former gymnasium building, the School of Music and the "Kobzar" Museum.
Use this list to sketch your route along Khreschatyk and the streets around the Hill of Glory, then check the current visiting arrangements for each place before you set out.