Подільська

Podilsk grew around Birzula station, which in the 1860s became one of Ukraine's first railway junctions. It was renamed Kotovsk in 1935 and in 2016, during decommunisation, became Podilsk. Today it is a district centre near the Moldovan border, twinned with Hincesti in Moldova. Its railway heritage includes the station and the locomotive depot, while the main thoroughfare, Shevchenko Avenue, leads to the park of the same name, a favourite place for locals to relax. Soborna Street passes St Nicholas Cathedral and old town buildings, and the Podilsk City Local History Museum, opened in 1961, tells the story of the area. The community also includes the villages of Kazbeky, Lypetske and Oleksandrivka. The main attraction of the surroundings is the underground monastery Raiskyi Sad, dug from 1912 by monks led by hieromonk Innocent of Balta; Lypetske preserves the Church of the Archangel Michael with its bell tower, and local cooking keeps Moldovan traditions. City Day is celebrated in early July.