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Sumy
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| Sumy Суми Сумы | |||
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  SumyСуми Сумы Location within Ukraine | |||
Coordinates:  50°55′N 34°45′ECoordinates: 50°55′N 34°45′E | |||
| Country |  Ukraine | ||
| Oblast | Sumy Oblast | ||
| Raion | Sumy | ||
| Founded | 1652 or 1653 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Gennady M. Minaev | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 145 km2 (56 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 283,700 | ||
| • Density | 1,988/km2 (5,150/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+2) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Postal code | 40000-40030 | ||
| Area code(s) | +380 542 | ||
| Twin cities | |||
| • Celle |  Germany | ||
| • Vratsa |  Bulgaria | ||
| Contents |
History
Commemorative coin of Sumy's 350 year history Sumy was founded in 1652 at the bank of the Psel River (a left tributary of the Dnieper) as a Cossack fortress. It was intended to protect Sloboda Ukraine from the Crimean Tatar attacks. After their attacks discontinued and the territory was incorporated into the Russian Empire, Sumy evolved into an important economical centre. During the German occupation of Ukraine during World War II (1941 – 1943), Sumy sustained heavy damage. The war over, destroyed parts of the city were rebuilt anew. Sumy has been a twin town of Celle, Germany since January 17, 1990.The city used to be divided into two city raions (districts): Zarichny and Kovpak. However, they were liquidated in 2006.[1]
Demographics
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1850 | 11,500 | — |
| 1897 | 27,564 | +139.7% |
| 1913 | 50,400 | +82.8% |
| 1926 | 44,000 | −12.7% |
| 1939 | 69,000 | +56.8% |
| 1959 | 98,000 | +42.0% |
| 1970 | 159,000 | +62.2% |
| 1979 | 231,558 | +45.6% |
| 1989 | 293,706 | +26.8% |
| 2001 | 295,847 | +0.7% |
| [citation needed] | ||
- 1897 - 70.53% Ukrainians, 24.1% Russians, 2.6% Jewish, 2.67% others
- 1926 - 80.7% Ukrainians, 11.8% Russians, 5.5% Jewish, 2% others
- 1959 - 79% Ukrainians, 20% Russians, 1% others[citation needed]
From the beginning of 20th century, when in 1901 the Blessed Virgin Mary Annunciation Church was founded in Sumy, the town had become the center of North-East Ukrainian Catholicism.
After its consecration in 1911 and closing down by the authorities in two decades, the temple was used for non-religious purposes. The temple was restored as a Roman Catholic parish in May 1994, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and it was reconsecrated in spring 1998.
Sights
- The city centre is dominated by the large cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration. It is a neoclassical structure of the 18th century, extensively repaired and reconstructed in 1858 and in the 1880s, when the 56 metre (180 ft) high bell tower was added. The interior features frescoes by Vladimir Makovsky and Klavdiy Lebedev.
- The Resurrection Church (1702), the oldest structure in the town, is still in fair preservation, owing to recent restoration work.
- The cathedral of the monastery of St. Pantaleon was erected in 1911 to a design by Aleksey Shchusev and is scored to resemble medieval monuments of Novgorod and Pskov.
- A lovely church of Saints Peter and Paul is in the town’s cemetery. It was built in 1851 on the donations of Sumy citizens. Beside the church there are tombs of the Kharytonenkos and Sukhanovs with artistic monuments by the famous sculptors – A. Croisy and M. Antokolsky.
- The Cathedral of Holy Trinity was built in 1902-1914 on the same pattern as the Cathedral of St. Isaac in St. Petersburg. The author of the design was Sumy architect G. Sholts. It was built at the expense of Pavlo Kharitonenko, the local manufacturer and Maecenas who fulfilled his father’s last will. Icon-painting is by famous artist M. Nesterov. The work on the decorative design was not completed because of the revolutionary events of 1917.
Museums
The Sumy Regional Art Museum was opened in 1920. It was started from nationalized private collections of the town and district. Paintings of Taras Shevchenko, Vladimir Borovikovsky, I. Shyskin, Arkhip Kuindzhi and Tetyana Yablonska are on display, including a beautiful Dutch landscape by a painter of Jan van Goyen's circle. Today the museum is one of the most outstanding art centres which contains unique paintings and works of applied art. The building of the early 20th century originally belonged to the State Bank.
The Museum of Local Lore was opened in 1920. In the years of fascist occupation the most important items of its collections were lost. Today it contains unique collections covering archeology and natural history of the Sumy region. It is located in the building of the 19th century which originally was the seat of the district government. In 1905 it was given to the printing house and publishing house of the first Sumy newspapers. In different years the building was visited by A. Kuprin and V. Korolenko, the famous Russian writers.
The Chekhov Museum, located in Chekhov street is a unique architectural complex representing Lintvarev’s country estate of the 18th – 19th centuries. In 1888–1889 a great writer and dramatist Anton Chekhov was dreaming to settle in Luka forever but his dream did not come true. “Abbacia and the Adriatic Sea are wonderful, but Luka and Psiol are better” – he wrote in his letter from Italy to his friends in Sumy in 1894.
Sports
Sumy was formerly home to the Ukrainian First League football team FC Spartak Sumy (now defunct).
The Ukrainian Premier League football club FC Kharkiv are currently leasing the city's state-of-the-art Yuvileiny Stadium.
Weather and climate
Sumy is located in the northeastern part of Ukraine. So its weather is similar to that in Kharkov. Sumy's climate is moderate continental: cold and snowy winters, and hot summers. The seasonal average temperatures are not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer: −6.9 °C (19.6 °F) in January, and 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) in July. The average rainfall totals 513 mm (20 in) per year, with the most in June and July.
| [hide]Climate data for Sumy, Ukraine | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −2.8 (27.0) | −2 (28.4) | 3.7 (38.7) | 14.0 (57.2) | 20.7 (69.3) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 19.4 (66.9) | 11.7 (53.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | −0.8 (30.6) | 11.9 (53.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −8.5 (16.7) | −8.1 (17.4) | −2.9 (26.8) | 4.7 (40.5) | 9.9 (49.8) | 13.8 (56.8) | 15.0 (59.0) | 14.1 (57.4) | 9.1 (48.4) | 3.7 (38.7) | −1.8 (28.8) | −5.8 (21.6) | 3.6 (38.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 44 (1.73) | 32 (1.26) | 27 (1.06) | 36 (1.42) | 47 (1.85) | 58 (2.28) | 60 (2.36) | 50 (1.97) | 41 (1.61) | 35 (1.38) | 44 (1.73) | 45 (1.77) | 549 (21.61) |
