Sumy is a city of Northern Ukraine with the population of 282,000. The city is situated on the beautiful banks of the rivers Psel and its tributary Sumka. Although people had lived there thousands years before, Sumy was founded in 1652-1655 as a defensive settlement. In 1656-1658 a fortress was built to defend the Southern borders of Moskow State from the Crimean Tatar invasions. The town grew rapidly and in 1658 it became headquarters of Sumy Cossack regiment. During the Northern War(1700-1721) the headquarters of Russian Army headed by Peter the Great was located in Sumy.

By the second half of the 18th century the fortress lost its defensive role. The city evolved into an important commercial centre. The general outlook of the city changed significantly. A lot of new houses were constructed by well-known architects.

Today Sumy is the biggest industrial and cultural centre of the region. Main industries of Sumy city are machine building, metal processing, hi-tech, chemical industry, sugar refining, production of clothing, footwear and furniture. Sumy is an attractive tourist place because of its green and well-kept streets, professionally reconstructed monuments of the past.The main street of the city, Soborna
Street, is the so-called "stometrovka"("century", hundred meters). One of the main architectural monuments of the city is a small and exquisite "altanka"(pergola, rotunda). Some of the oldest temples are the Resurrection Church and the Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration. The Resurrection Church(1702) is the oldest structure in the city. It is one of the best examples of Ukrainian wooden architecture. It served as a place of worship as well as a defensive structure in the north-western part of the fortress.The Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration dates back to the time of the city's foundation.

It was the central Russian Orthodox temple of the city and is one of its architectural gems. In 1776-1778 its wooden construction was replaced by a stone building. The city is surrounded by thick forest; it is one of the ecologically cleanest cities in Ukraine.