The rich culture of Ukraine awaits you in this sweeping immersive online hub

the ongoing war in Ukraine it has made it difficult, and in many cases dangerous, to experience the country’s abundant cultural offerings. Museums, historic buildings, monuments, religious sites, and libraries have been destroyed or damaged.

That’s what makes a sprawling new online exhibition of Ukrainian art, culture and heritage all the more significant. At a time when tourism is virtually out of the question, Google Arts & Culture’s Ukraine is Here initiative allows anyone, anywhere to immerse themselves in the country’s rich culture.

The collection brings to life, in one place, Ukraine’s art, architecture, music, theater, historical monuments and national parks through videos, virtual galleries, immersive 360-degree augmented reality tours, 3D models and Street View images collected above. war.

You can, for example, head to Kyiv for a tour of the House with Chimeras, a unique Art Nouveau mansion that hosts official presidential and diplomatic ceremonies. You can visit Unesco World Heritage sites like the Saint Sophia Cathedral, an 11th-century monument of Byzantine and Ukrainian Baroque architecture, as well as painting and mosaic. (Thankfully, no Unesco World Heritage sites appear to have been damaged in the war yet, according to the United Nations organization.)

Outside the capital city, you can get a panoramic view of the ancient and primeval beech forests of the Eastern Carpathians, which are also home to the largest and oldest oaks in Ukraine. Or climb to the top of one of Yaremche’s highest peaks to enjoy picturesque mountain scenery.

Virtual exhibits highlighting traditional and avant-garde art let you scroll through exquisitely detailed, high-resolution images of paintings like David Burliuk’s richly allegorical early-20th-century creation The Time, in which a passenger on a train leaving goes off its rails personifies a country. in chaos It is located in the Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum in Oblast.

And you can learn all about Ukrainian folk clothing and jewelry and listen to soulful Ukrainian folk music sung by a group of babushkas. There is a poignant addition to their jagged harmonies given the tumult and displacement that has gripped the Eastern European country since Russia invaded in February.

Ukraine is here partners include the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the National Museum of Art of Ukraine and the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine. First Lady Olena Zelenska has also lent her support.

“Our culture is not just ours. This is the legacy of the entire civilized world,” the president’s wife said in a statement. “When a country loses its cultural values, the whole world loses. So let’s preserve, multiply, look, admire, Google Ukrainian culture and thus enrich the world.”

Google Arts & Culture broadens the reach of international culture by digitizing sites of art, artifacts, and cultural heritage from Worldwide. The Google Arts & Culture app is free and available on the web, iOS, and Android.