This historic Ukrainian city has an ornate Assumption Cathedral, busy markets, and two engaging museums exploring local culture and religious history.
Zhytomyr lies 150 kilometers west of Kyiv, where the Teteriv River cuts through granite banks. You can explore the Serhiy Pavlovych Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics to learn about space exploration, walk through the 35-hectare botanical garden, or attend performances by the Oreya Choir at one of the city's theaters. The streets are lined with buildings made from local granite, and you'll find architectural landmarks like the 53-meter-tall Transfiguration Cathedral with its Byzantine-style domes.
Getting Around Zhytomyr
You can travel across Zhytomyr by trolleybus, bus, or minibus. A single tram line runs through the central district, and ride-hailing apps like Uber, Bolt, and Uklon operate throughout the city. Fifteen bridges cross the Teteriv and Kamianka rivers, connecting the city's neighborhoods. Most residents use marshrutkas (minibuses) for daily travel, with tickets costing 14 UAH per ride.
Museums and Cultural Venues
At the Serhiy Pavlovych Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics, you can learn about space exploration through hands-on exhibits. The 600-square-meter Space Technology Pavilion displays equipment from space missions and explains technological developments. The Korolenko Literary Memorial Museum tells the story of local writers, while the city's art gallery, housed in an 18th-century Renaissance-style building (the former Magistrate), displays paintings and sculptures by regional artists.
Religious Architecture
The Transfiguration Cathedral rises 53 meters high, following Byzantine-Russian architectural principles from the 11th-12th centuries. The interior walls incorporate local granite and labradorite. In the Podil district, you can visit the Holy Dormition Bishops Cathedral, built in 1874, with its golden domes and ornate iconostasis. The Lutheran Church on Pushkinska Street represents the German community that once lived in Zhytomyr.
Parks and Rivers
You can walk along paths through Gagarin Park, which runs along the northern bank of the Teteriv River on the grounds of a former aristocratic estate. The Botanical Garden at Zhytomyr Agricultural University grows 200 species of trees and shrubs, plus 750 types of herbaceous plants across 35.4 hectares. Walking trails follow the Teteriv, Kamianka, and smaller rivers, where granite cliffs rise above the water.
Day Trips
You can drive 70 kilometers northeast to Radomysl Castle, where the Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons displays more than 5,000 religious artifacts from the 16th to 20th centuries. The building started as a 19th-century flour mill before becoming a cultural center. Other nearby sites include the Church of Saint Basil the Great in Ovruch, with its medieval stone carvings, and the unusual granite formations at the Stone Village state preserve.
