KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine — Many citizens of Kryvyi Rih, an industrial city in south-central Ukraine, never dry their washed clothes on their balconies: The garments turn gray because of air pollution.
One of the main heavy industrial centers of Ukraine, the city is home to around 620,000 residents and is located 420 kilometers southeast of Kyiv in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Kryvyi Rih has never been known as a tourist destination – neither its criminal past nor image made it attractive to visitors. In fact, it’s been little known among Ukrainians in general until the city drew wider media attention when prominent native son Volodymyr Zelensky became president of Ukraine in 2019.
What Kryvyi Rih has to offer to visitors, however, goes beyond industrial landscapes and political associations. And while international travel is largely restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic and many of Ukraine’s residents spend their vacations inside the country, Kryvyi Rih might make a great off-beat vacation.
Introducing the city
Kryvyi Rih has one of the most unusual city names in the country. In the Ukrainian language, it literally means “crooked horn,” even though it’s not very clear where the name originated.
There are two legends about the name’s history. One says that it comes from the fact that two rivers, Saksahan and Inhulets, merge on the city’s territory creating a geographical cape that resembles a horn.
According to another theory, the city was named after its first settler, legendary Zaporizhian Cossack Roh. It is believed that the Cossack had one eye. In Ukraine’s past, people with such disability have often been called “crooked.”
Stretching out for 126 kilometers between its northern to southern points, Kryvyi Rih has the unofficial status of being the longest city in Europe. The locals call it the “life-long city.”
To get about Kryvyi Rih’s central area, visitors should take its main artery — Metrotram, a partially underground high-speed light rail system and the only transport system in Ukraine with left-handed traffic. Locals say that Soviet Union authorities planned to develop it into a full-fledged subway, yet the project was never completed because the city’s population never reached more than a million.
Metrotram, a partially underground high-speed light rail system and the only transport system in Ukraine with left-handed traffic, is the main artery of Kryvyi Rih. (UNIAN)
Another important transport route of Kryvyi Rih is Myru (Peace) Avenue. One of the widest streets in the city, the avenue stretches along three districts. The locals believe the Soviet Union authorities designed the street as a possible airfield in case of war.
As the eighth-largest city in Ukraine and a powerful industrial center, Kryvyi Rih is home to dozens of enterprises in ferrous metallurgy, machine-building, construction materials production, chemicals, printing, woodworking, light, food and other entities.
The city is most famous for its Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin, or Kryvbas, one of the largest iron ore basins in the world that contains nine mines.
All the production inside the city affects the local environment making Kryvyi Rih one of the most polluted cities in the country. The locals say that the entire city is sprinkled with red dust that comes from the mining of a rock that is rich with minerals that give it a reddish color.
But despite its air being heavily polluted, Kryvyi Rih is also a city with bountiful greenery and it has more than 60 parks.
Touch of nature
Kryvyi Rih is a city that entirely stands on quarries, formed as a result of mineral extraction. And these former extraction sites, known as the MODR rocks, became popular sightseeing destinations.
Located along the banks of the Inhulets River in the western part of the city, the formation belongs to one of the protected areas of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Although its highest peak reaches only 50 meters, it’s just enough for a picturesque view on Kryvyi Rih to open up from the top.
The rocks got their name from the nearby MODR residential area, the abbreviations of which in Ukrainian stand for International Organization for Aid to Revolutionary Fighters, a communist organization that claimed to provide aid to political prisoners in capitalist countries.
The MODR rocks, also known as “bald mountains,” are a favorite spot of local climbers, who hold training sessions and competitions there. Meanwhile, the Inhulets River, which flows between the rocks, serves as a location for another extreme sport — rafting.
Visiting the MORD sights is free of charge and they can be easily reached by local transport.
Another natural sight of Kryvyi Rih is Northern Red Gully, a 28-hectare open space reserve of national importance located in the city’s north. The gully is surrounded by abandoned mineral deposits that have turned into red hills over time. And that’s where the gully’s name originated, contrary to some beliefs that the “Red” in the name has to do with Ukraine’s Soviet past.
The reserve offers an unusual landscape with two beams of an unfinished bridge sticking out, which somewhat became a symbol of the city.
Iron heart
Some local agencies decided to turn the industrial image of Kryvyi Rih into its touristic trademark.
One option to explore the city’s mining industry is to take a tour around the operating Hvardiiska mine. The deepest mine in Europe, Hvardiiska reaches the depth of 1,430 meters below the ground.
During the excursion, visitors have the opportunity to observe miners at work, the equipment and machinery they use and an underground laboratory for measuring the percentage of iron in the ore.
To be able to descend into the mine, tourists have to undergo a medical examination and wear special protective gear. The tour costs Hr 850 ($30) for one person, lasts about three hours, and needs to be pre-booked.
Another operating enterprise, the Southern Mining and Processing Plant, offers visitors to view its quarry from the observational desk at the top.
The surface of the quarry reminds of surreal space landscapes from the planet Mars. Because of its heart-like shape, the quarry is often called the Iron Heart of Ukraine.
But it’s not the only reason the view makes visitors’ jaws drop. The tremendous 3-kilometer-wide and 300-meter-deep quarry makes giant trucks and excavators operating inside it look like tiny ants.
The observation deck doesn’t require a ticket and one can visit it at any time.
Zelensky’s neighborhood
Another recent attraction of Kryvyi Rih is the opportunity to see where the incumbent president Zelensky was growing up.
Born in Soviet Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky was growing up in a typical for that time residential area. His childhood home, a 14-floor apartment building, is located at 13 Mystetska St. in the city’s central area.
It’s an ordinary Ukrainian neighborhood, quiet and calm, like thousands of others in the country. There’s a playground for children, grocery stores and the Kryvorizka Gymnasium №95, where Zelensky, as well as first lady Olena Zelenska, studied.
The local residents remember Zelensky growing up in the area and admit to having memories about his wedding with Zelenska, yet are reluctant to share them.
Transport, accommodation
Intercity trains from Kyiv to Kryvy Rih run several times every day and take about six hours one way, and currently average at about Hr 350 ($12) for a ticket. Buses run every day and average at Hr 400 ($14).
Visitors can stay at local hotels or rent an apartment through the Airbnb application. Prices for hotel rooms start at Hr 460 (16$) per night whereas apartments start at Hr 500 (17$) per night.
