Visiting KHERSON, Ukraine

KHERSON (Ukrainian: Херсо́н) is a city in the south of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Kherson Oblast and an economic center. Designated a city of oblast significance, Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry. The CATHEDRAL OF ST. CATHERINE (Ukrainian: Свято-Катериненський собор, Russian: Свято-Екатерининский собор) is a religious building belonging to the Orthodox faith which is situated within the fortress of Kherson, Ukraine. It was built in 1781–1786, one of the earliest churches in New Russia. It is a domed sandstone structure with a Tuscan portico and heavily rusticated walls. The church was dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of the reigning empress. After the Russian Revolution, the church was turned into a museum of atheism. Most icons were lost, only a few ended up in the collection of a local art museum. The church was reopened by the invading Germans in 1941, only to be s