Brovary

Brovary is a historic town, first mentioned in 1630. Its name, translated from Ukrainian, means "breweries". The city also houses a railway station. International ill-fame came to the city in 2000 after one of its apartment blocks was hit by a stray surface-to-surface missile launched from a neighbouring army shooting range in Honcharivs'ke. Three people were killed.

Today, Brovary is Ukraine's shoe-making capital with dozens of such companies located here. At Brovary, there is also a broadcasting centre for long and shortwaves. The longwave transmitter, which works on 207 kHz, uses as its antenna two 259.6 m (852 ft) tall guyed mast radiators each equipped with a cage antenna at their lower part. Brovary is also an important sport centre of Ukraine. Several world and Olympic champions were born and/or began their career here. Ukraine's national mint facility is located in Brovary.

Brovary is a district centre in Kyiv region. It is situated 20 kilometers from the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. Brovary district lies in the areas of mixed forests. The climate here is moderately continental with the middle temperature -6 C in January and +19 C in July.

The territory of the region was populated ages ago by the ancestors of the current inhabitants – trypillians, who were the first in Europe to sow seeds of the well-known Ukrainian bread. Brovary was firstly mentioned in 1630. In that time there were only 60 or 70 houses in Brovary, but in 1649 a Cossack sotnya is known to have been formed there. Cossacks took part in Liberation movement under Bohdan Khmelnytsky`s leadership.

The town got its name after breweries where special beer was made. Travellers who went to Kyiv often stopped in Brovary, rested, dined and drank the local tasty beer. Many famous people visited Brovary while travelling to Kyiv. A Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, was among them. He visited this town many times in the period from 1829 to 1847. Nowadays there is a monument to Shevchenko in the place from which Brovary began its history as a town, in its old centre.

The modern centre of Brovary is the newest and the most beautiful part of the town. There, one will find a park with its peaceful alleys. In the central park you can see monuments to the past. There is a plane and a tank. Some shops, offices and cafes are situated there, so the streets are never empty, even in the evening.

Traditionally the town is divided into three parts: the old town, the new town, and the industrial part. There are many plants and factories in the town, producing knitting, furniture, machine tools, plastic materials and other goods. There are ten secondary schools, two music schools, a school of Arts, and three libraries in Brovary. In the city center lies "Prometey", the historical museum in Gagarin street, which attracts many visitors. If you are fond of sports, you may go to the swimming pools or to the "Spartak" stadium, or even enter the sport college.

In September the citizens of Brovary celebrate the Holiday of the Town's Day. It is the time when everyone can watch and listen to concerts of musicians and singers, and see performances by dancers who live in the district. On that day, all the competitions are for show, but Brovary itself is known to be a famous sports town, where a lot of well-known sportsmen have started their career.

Oleksandra Kononova won three medals at the 2010 Paralympic games in Vancouver and became the 2010 Ukrainian sports personality of the year.[2]

• Maria Lagunova, World War II Soviet woman tank driver, honorary citizen of the city
• Oleh Lisohor, swimmer

• Missile blasts Ukraine flats (BBC).
• History of broadcasting in Brovary
• Large collection of free photos of the city of Brovary