One feature in Ternopil that no one will ever miss out is the Ternopil Pond (Lake). It divides the city into approximately 2 halves, and is just beside the city centre. For us, in order to reach the city centre from our dormitory, we have to take buses 11, 27 or 30, or trolleybuses 7 or 11, and all these will travel past the lake.
It might not be obvious, but cities with lakes in their city centres are rare. Most cities have rivers passing through them, or are situated along the coast of a sea or big lake, but very few cities in the world can claim that they contain a lake within itself. Europe has only two of such cities. One is the famous Geneva, which you might see on the news or tourist guides often, and the other one is, Ternopil.
This reinforces the stand that Ternopil is unique!
On the southeast corner of the lake is the Ternopil Castle / Zamok (below). It is now a nightclub called Maxim.
Ternopil Castle, Тернопільський замок, was the starting mark of the development of Ternopil city. It was constructed between 1540 to 1548, and was originally where a Polish nobleman, Jan Amor Tanowski, the founder of Ternopil city, stayed. There was originally a moat around the castle, but it does not exist now. In 1675, the Ottoman army completely destroyed the castle, but it was rebuilt in 1840.
It was about -11 degrees Celsius when we visited it, so it is not surprising that the lake surface is frozen and covered with snow.
Parks and forests surround some sides of the lake, while the city centre and residential and industrial suburbs cover the east of the lake. A small forest called Kutkivetskyy is on the northwest, while Zagrebella Park lies on the southwest, not far away from the Economic University (we should take a walk there one day!). Along the road that connects the east and the west of the city, one side is the lake, and the other side is the Topilche Park. Near the castle lies the small Shevchenka Park.
hek.va travelled 