One of the things I really love Kharkiv for is its forest park - a very large territory covered with wild trees and filled with life. Nowadays its territory is about 1,900 ha which makes Kharkiv forest park the biggest one in Ukraine. For me, itâs one of the most favorite places to go for a walk and get some fresh energy from nature and it looks absolutely beautiful every time I go there. Here are some photos I made there this weekend, with everything beginning to feel the warm sunny rays and the fresh spring air.
Spring's been fighting cold, rain and wind this weekend. Sunshine makes Kharkiv Organ House (which is also the bell tower for Dormition Cathedral) look much more friendly.
One of the things Ukraine is generously gifted with is its location which a makes it a land with both seas and mountains. Iâm madly and desperately in love with Ukrainian Carpathians and Iâm gonna show you them the way I saw them for the first time when our love took its place in my heart.
This was near Slavske village where Carpathians are not that high as in some other regions of their Ukraininan part. And still they were absolutely breathtaking...
Elmtrees are extremely high and absolutely fairy-tale like. The locals call an elm tree âsmerekaâ and it sounds so natural when you look at this wonderful magnificent trees.
Doesnât it look like a fairytale?
And the reason I went there for few times was not only nature but also music. There was a music festival right in the mountains - Carpathian Alliance Metal Festival and it ws probably one of the best music events I ever saw...
This was love at the first sight whhich will be forever in me.
Iâve to Carpathians after that and I want to return there again and again.
And will you guess where Iâm going to spend my next vacation in a month?:)
Heavy clouds were moving slowly in the dull grey skies. We were walking along a railway line and a stream which divided a small village into two parts in spring but at that moment two steps were enough to cross it. This stream used to be a part of a moat defending a huge and magnificent fortress...
This place is nowadays called Staroe Selo (Old Village) and is located in Lviv region. Staroe Selo could be the same small village as thousands of other but having once seen it I still cannot (and will not!) forget it.
The past is dying here and you see the naked agony of human hands creation which long ago was a powerful fortress. It survived wars but it cannot survive time and it seems it will soon disappear off the face of earth. It seems the skies always look here like a storm is coming, the wind is here always iercing and the grass is dark green. It seems that even though the time is wearing away the ancient stones here it still stops when you enter the castle yard. The walls are dying but they remember those who lived and died here. The walls know their time will soon be over.
The walls are in fact the only remaining part of the fortress. No wonder - the locals say that while building the castle the owner ordered to add eggs to the mortar to make it stronger. The eggs were brought from all the neighboring villages. A nobleman, who was sentenced to death, was given a chance to live, but on condition that he would bring a cart of eggs without breaking any. He succeeded in this and brought a cart of boiled eggs. However he didnât escape execution.
The first wooden fortifications appeared here in thirteenth century. In 1584-1589 Polish princes from Ostrogski family decided to build a stone castle here. Since then it was it was seized, destroyed and rebuilt. One of the longest sieges was held by Bohdan Khmelnitskyâs cossacks in 1648, at that time there were 8 guns, 13 mortars, lots of guns and bladed weapons in the castle.
The castle belonged then to Vladislav Dominic, Ostrogski and Zaslavsky prince. In the 1649-1654 he strengthened the fortress so well so much that in twenty years Staroselsky castle stood a long siege of the Turks. The fortress had a pentagonal shape and was protected by six defensive towers. In the castle courtyard there was a chapel, along the eastern wall there stood a two-stored house of the commandant.
As time went on, Staroselskiy Castle lost its purpose as a fortification and its Polish owners were not very interested in a huge fortress, which began passing from one owner to another. Since 1939, the castle was in possession of Alfred Potocki, who placed there distillery, brewery and warehouses for vegetables, which led to the destruction of the castle. Nowadays festivals for historical reconstruction take place here from time to time and sometimes tourists come to see the ruins. What one can see here most often are local children playing in the yard and cows and horses feeding under the walls.
That's the story of this place ... It could seem that thereâs nothing special about an abandoned and ruined fortress, of which remains almost nothing but the walls and three towers enclosing vast territory. But thereâs a point which makes Staroselski castle rare and even unique - its territory takes approximately 2 hectares - and itâs too much for a building of this type. Even now its walls (which are up to 2 m thick and up to 15 m high) tower above the gardens and houses.
Sitting on the walls and listening to the silence of this powerful place which was once a powerful stronghold and stopped lots of enemies and where people lived and died many centuries ago you canât but dive into its atmosphere. Strange, but the castle seems very calm and peaceful as if time has washed away its pain and let it end its days quietly.Â
This was one of the most atmospheric and energetic places Iâve ever seen and if one day you happen to be in Lviv, take a ride to Staroe Selo and see this giant castle, still beautiful while itâs still frozen in time.Â
Here you can get some brief historical note and coordinates of Staroselskiy castle.
Iâm a young woman from Ukraine, a beautiful country in Eastern Europe and in my blog Iâm going to tell you stories about my life and life in Ukraine. I really love my country and I hope I will be able to show you at least a little bit of my motherland, beautiful, strong and tender.
Are you curious about me? Iâm 25 and Iâm happy to enjoy life everyday. I have a wonderful family and an extremely fluffy cat and I adore tribal fusion bellidance, long walks, sunny weather, laughing and having fun and all the other stuff. Feel free to ask and probably Iâll answer, curiousity killed a cat, but it doesnât kill people:)
So, stranger, I hope weâll make friends together, just tell me about yourself...
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