Travel Guide Mykolaiv (Миколаїв)

500,000 inhabitants. Founded in 1789 by the prince Potemkinе, the city, which in Russian is called Nikolaev, was named after Saint Nicholas, the protector of the sailors. In fact, in 1788, on St. Nicholas' Day, the Russians had won victory over the Turks by conquering the fortress of Ochakov. In the 19th century it was an important port, the third in the Russian Empire after St Petersburg and Odessa. During the Soviet era, the city became an important naval engineering centre and, despite the difficulties following the fall of the USSR, it remains so today. The city is not very interesting, but if you pass by there, you can stop to visit the Naval Museum, the most interesting of its kind in Ukraine.