Ukraine borders the Black Sea in Eastern Europe, between Poland and Romania to the west and Russia to the east. Mountainous only in the west and south, fertile plains and plateaus make up most of the country, the second-largest in Europe. The area was the center of Kyivan Rus, the first eastern Slavic state and the most powerful in Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries. Fighting and invasions eventually led to the incorporation of Kyivan Rus into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the end of the 18th century the Russian Empire claimed most of the territory. After the fall of the czar, Ukraine had a brief independence from 1917 to 1920, but the Soviet Union quickly reconquered the country and ruled until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. State control and corruption plagued the country after independence, though the peaceful protests of the “Orange Revolution” in 2004 may be the foundation for a more stable democracy, despite continued difficulties in bringing reform.
Throughout the country, travelers have a wide selection of accommodations, from luxury hotels in the capital of Kiev to youth hostels in other metropolitan areas. Castles, palaces, cathedrals and national parks attract visitors from all over the world. Lviv High Castle on a hill above the city of Lviv in the west was constructed in 1360 as a garrison, treasury and dungeon. St. Sophia’s Cathedral is the oldest in Kiev, constructed in 1037, its 13 domes and exhibits one of the most popular attractions in the city. In Odessa, catacombs make up a maze under the city, miles of tunnels developed over centuries of mining and industrial work.