Vylkove

Coat of Arms of Vilkovo

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}Vilkovo (, , Romanian: Vâlcov) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, at utmost South-West of Ukraine, in the Kiliysky Raion (district) of Odessa Oblast (province).

History

Vylkove was founded in 1746 and assigned the status of "town" in 1762.It is the last settlement on bank of the Danube before the Black Sea. This town is also known as "The Ukrainian Venice" thanks to a number of channels excavated inside its territory – that's why a boat here is more common vehicle than a car. The population is about 11,000 (last population census in 2001). About 70% of population - Russians, ~25% - Ukrainians, the rest – Moldovans, Gagauzians, Bulgarians ets. The main confession is Christian Old Believers (Lipovans) (about 70%, mainly Russians), the rest are the members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There are three churches in Vilkovo: two belong to Old Believers and one to Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Since Vilkovo is located inside the Danube Delta marshlands, grain growing here is impossible, and the main occupation of the local people is the fishery in the Danube, delta lakes and in the Black Sea. Besides its fishery business Vilkovo is famous for its viticulture and cultivation of strawberries at islands in the river delta.Here, in Vilkovo, the administration of the Ukrainian Danube Biosphere Reserve is based (participant of UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites). The territory of the Reserve includes the islands upstream and downstream the Danube, reedbeds to north from Danube, delta water bodies and adjacent area of the sea (2 kilometers from the coast).