But there are those who choose to go to a place away from home, sometimes far from their usual surroundings. Among these adventurers was a group of ten people, including an ethnographer from New York, a journalist and a photographer from Lviv, Ukraine, and a TV crew of seven from Poland, who went to a village in the Carpathians at Christmastime.

We landed in the village of Kryvorivnya, in the heart of the Hutsul land, to attend the Christmas service at a small seventeenth-century wooden church on a mountain slope. Kryvorivnya, a former retreat for intellectuals and artists, is in fact the focal point of Hutsul culture. Here, their ancient traditions are maintained, religious feasts and holidays are celebrated as they were hundreds of years ago, and life in general seems to have hardly changed.

A Journey to the Past

In the early twentieth century, intellectuals and bohemians from Halychyna, in Western Ukraine, would spend their summers in the Carpathians. The village of Kryvorivnya attracted literati, while artists mostly chose Dzembroni. The mountains attracted with their scenic beauty, proximity, affordable lodging, and the unique culture and traditions of the Hutsuls, the indigenous people who have lived in the Carpathians for centuries.

The Hutsuls worshipped Nature and believed in God, the Creator of Nature. Their lifestyle included grazing sheep, making brynza (local cheese), weaving woolen blankets called lizhnyky, and crafting wooden utensils, all with their own unique designs. Their self-sufficient realm remained isolated from the pressures of the outside world, attracting those who sought a retreat into the past and authentic traditions.

Past in the Present

Even today, there are Hutsul villages that remain largely unchanged. Many homes lack gas, running water, sewage, and electricity. Roads are scarce, and people rely on the same age-old churches their ancestors did. But at Christmas, Hutsuls living abroad come back to celebrate with their families and reconnect with their heritage.

During the Soviet era, Hutsul culture and traditions faced repression. Despite efforts to assimilate them, the Hutsuls held fast to their faith and traditions, repairing churches, donning traditional attire, and celebrating religious holidays as their ancestors did. Today, you can see young and old alike in their finest Hutsul dress, reasserting their identity and pride.

God, Aridnyk, and Nyavka

The Hutsuls’ spiritual beliefs blend Christianity with ancient mythology. They believe in Aridnyk (a devilish character), nyavkas (forest maidens), and other mythical beings alongside Christian figures. Hutsul legends feature unicorns, mythical creatures, and forest monsters, creating a rich tapestry of folklore that enhances their sense of identity and connection to their land.

Lizhnyk – A Hutsul Craft

A lizhnyk is a type of blanket or rug made from sheep wool, unique to Hutsul craftsmanship. The wool is woven and then washed in a mountain stream to compress the fibers. Lizhnyks are valued for their warmth and are used as blankets or rugs, showcasing Hutsul patterns and designs.

This traditional craft is a prime example of the unique, self-sufficient lifestyle that Hutsuls have preserved for centuries, making it an intriguing souvenir for visitors to the Carpathians.

Hutsul Seasons

Hutsuls joke that the warm season in their region lasts only from “Ivan to Petro and Pavlo,” referring to the week between the feasts of St. John the Baptist and St. Peter and St. Paul in midsummer. Houses in Hutsul villages are spread far apart, making winter visits challenging. At night, people stay indoors to avoid wolves—or perhaps to steer clear of nyavkas, the mythical forest maidens with dual, deceptive natures.

The harsh Carpathian winters add to the mystique of these mountains and the resilience of the Hutsuls who call them home.

Christmastime in the Carpathians

A week before Christmas, Hutsul women begin to prepare by cleaning their homes and yards. Christmas Eve, known as Svyat-vechir (“Holy Night”), includes a feast of twelve traditional dishes —kalachi (festive bread), varenyky (dumplings), holubtsi (cabbage rolls), uzvar (dried fruit compote), and more. This dinner is purely a family occasion, though strangers are welcomed to join.

After the church service, families go to the cemetery to place candles on the graves, a touching tradition that connects them to past generations. They believe the spirits of their ancestors visit their homes at Christmas.

During Svyat-vechir, a spoonful of kutya (a dish of boiled wheat, honey, and raisins) is thrown towards the stove to ensure prosperity for the household. The twelve dishes represent the twelve months, symbolizing the cycle of life.

Celebrate Christmas with Green Ukraine

Would you like to experience the magic of Christmas in the Carpathians firsthand? Join Green Ukraine on a unique journey to the heart of Hutsul culture. Our tours offer a deep dive into Hutsul traditions, authentic cuisine, and the warmth of local hospitality, providing an unforgettable holiday experience.

Green Ukraine organizes guided Christmas tours, allowing you to immerse yourself in the rich culture of the Carpathians while experiencing the holiday spirit in one of the most scenic regions of Ukraine. Book your tour today to witness the beauty and history of Christmas in the Carpathians.

Despite the challenges of the ongoing war, we are committed to making your winter trip to the Carpathians possible. Contact us, share your ideas, and we’ll find the best way to bring them to life. Our team is dedicated to ensuring your safety and comfort so you can experience the enchanting Ukrainian Christmas in the heart of the Carpathians.

Pysanka (in Ukrainian the word “pysanka” is derived from the verb “pysaty”, that is «to write» or “to paint”) is an egg painted with bright colors in geometrical patterns or stylized figural, animal and floral designs. The tradition of painting chicken — or some other birds’— eggs is so old that no one would be able to tell when it started.

Christianity adopted this pagan tradition and Easter eggs have become an indelible feature of the feast commemorating the Resurrection of Christ.

Pagan Origins: The Symbolism of the Painted Egg

In many parts of the world one finds ancient myths in which the Egg features as a symbol of the Sun, Spring and Revival of Nature. Ethnologists of the 20th century have [discovered that the ancient beliefs of many peoples regarded the Egg of Light as a source from which the world had sprung, developing from Chaos to Order. In Ukraine the tradition of painting eggs goes back at least thirty-three hundred years — clay eggs, once evidently painted and dating from the 13th or 12th century B.C., were unearthed by archaeologists in the vicinity of the village of Pistynka at the Dnister River. Painted eggs must have been used as charms guarding against evil. There were pysankas of many kinds to fit many occasions. For it to have magic powers, a pysanka must be painted at a specified time, in certain colors and patterns and chants must be sung while it was being painted. It was also very important to give it as a present to the right person.

The Ritual of Pysanka Painting: Tradition and Beliefs

Pysankas were mostly painted elderly women, late at night, after everything had grown quiet. It was desirable to do it at the end of the day which had passed without any rows, scandals or emotional upheavals. It was a sort of a ritual in which one had to observe the rules whose origins had long been lost in the mists of time. One had to be very careful in preparing the paints and “pysachok”, that is a small wooden stick with a foil spiral on the end to be used for painting the egg. (Now, of course, paint brushes are used but you can’t create a “real” pysanka with a brush). The egg itself had to be either a fertilized one, taken from under a hen, or if the fertilization could not be ascertained the egg to be painted had to be sucked out. To do it one has to make two tiny holes with a needle at the opposite ends and then by a sucking it is possible to empty the egg of its contents. The symbolism of colors, patterns and designs varied from area to area but there were certain patterns and designs which were of a more universal character. It the colors, patterns, chanting and other things were right, if the eggs had been properly chosen and threated before being painted, if the time of the day when the painting was done was correct, then the painted eggs were believed to be powerful charms against fire, lightning, illness and other mishaps.

Aesthetic Pleasures and Hidden Meanings: Exploring Pysanka Patterns

Christianity imbued the painted egg with new meanings transforming it into the Easter egg and giving it a new symbolism but it could not eradicate the elements of pagan beliefs associated with the painted egg. Easter eggs, blessed in church by a priest, were continued to be used as a sort of charms for many different occasions: to be placed under the corner stone of a house; to help making bees to give more honey; to guard against misadventure on a journey; to secure happiness in marriage; to promote multiplication in the animal, flora and human worlds, to name but a few of its functions.

By the end of the 19th cent the art of painting eggs began to decline through Ukraine and unfortunately very few of the eggs dating from the 19th or earlier times have been preserved in private collections or in museums. Now, a certain revival of pysankas is observed. Hopefully it is part of the general revival of interest in the Ukrainian national traditions many of which go down into a very distant past.

Symbolism and Tradition: Interpreting Pysanka Designs

Looking at pysankas one can derive purely aesthetic pleasure from the colors and patterns. One can marvel at the skill and ingenuity of the artists (absolute majority of whom are, of course, amateurs) who have painted them. But it’s a much greater fun to know the hidden meaning of the combination of colors used, of patterns and designs. Some of the signs seem to be obvious but even the more obvious, like, say, all kinds of crosses, have meanings that go beyond their Christian significance.

Experience painting an Easter egg on our tour while living with a real Hutsul family.

Controversies and Changes: Evolution of Pysanka Patterns

Rings painted on pysankas were believed to bring concord and conciliation into family life; representations of birds were painted on the light background (pink, light green and blue) if the pysanka was meant for children and on the dark background if it was to be given to grown-ups; «belts» were against unfaithfulness; floral patterns helped gain success. About a hundred patterns and designs were used and in the times of old it was strictly forbidden to change them to suit one’s artistic whims. But in our times new patterns and designs have begun to creep in. It is still a controversial issue. If one cannot change the words of an established prayer, can one change the patterns and designs that have long been established by tradition as the only acceptable ones.

Ancient Symbolism: Unveiling the Meaning Behind Pysanka Patterns

Some of the patterns and sighs on pysankas have symbolism that has come down to us probably from the pre-historic times. Wavy patterns symbolize rain; dots — grain which is about to sprout; squares and rhombi — earth and its fertility; the Greek cross — the Sun, and originally a god of the Earth; a zigzag with rounded angles — the snake which was a symbolical representation of a god of the Nether World; a tree — the sacred Tree of Life; a female figure — the Great Goddess, Goddess of the Sky, Protectress of all Life on Earth; a fish — health, fertility, life and death; birds — creatures that are able to fly high and thus carry messages to the gods; oak leaves — Perun, god of Thunder, of human and solar energy, of life, all the figural representations, of course, are highly stylized.

Pysanka in Ukrainian Culture: From Charms to Aesthetic Treasures

Pysankas and krashankas (eggs uniformly painted in one color, with no patterns or designs) used to be an important element in the Ukrainian country life. A lot of their symbolic meanings have been forgotten, they are not used as universal charms as much as they used to be. But they remain a joy to the eye and an exciting field for ethnographic studies. And for very many people pysankas, no doubt, have retained their special significance as an integral feature of Easter. Even those who do not care for pysankas pre-historic and Christian symbol is m ca n not help enjoying pysankas art.

Lavra Monastery

The Pechersk Lavra Monastery (Pechersk stands for pechery, that is “caves” which are to be found in its territory and which early monks used to live in, and Lavra an honorific title given to a monastery of extra-size and religious importance) came into being in the eleventh century and for nine centuries its territory was expanding with new buildings being added to it through the centuries. The architectural complex of the Monastery the way it looks today is truly grandiose. On a sunny day one is almost dazzled by the reflections from the innumerable golden domes above churches mid belfries. Most of the buildings in the Monastery date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are excellent examples of Ukrainian Baroque style in architecture and there is only one church in the Monastery that has been preserved from the twelfth century with very few architectural changes introduced since then. The church sits above the main entrance gate of the Monastery and is consequently called Nadvratna — “the one above the gate”. The full name of the church is Troitska Nadbramna Tserkva – “The Holy Trinity Church above the Gate”. It is almost a miracle it has survived as the Monastery itself was throughout its history the object of so many enemy attacks, of devastating fires and of other crippling misfortunes.

12th century construction

It was. built in 1106-1108 as a defensive tower above the main entrance gate of the Monastery. The church proper was on the second floor, right above the gate. The heavy pillars divide the interior of the church into three naves, each of them with a rounded apse at the eastern side (the apses are seen only from the inside — the exterior wall is flat). Built-in hollow spaces in the walls made the acoustics better and the whole structure lighter. Several narrow windows, piercing the walls, and the general visual upward movement of its architectural shapes create a feeling of uplifting lightness. The church in its design bears a clear imprint of the typical church construction of the eleventh-twelfth centuries widely spread throughout. Kyivan Rus-Ukraine. At the end of the seventeenth and in the course of the eighteenth centuries it went through a considerable renovation after which it acquired its Ukrainian Baroque look. The changes introduced a new pear-shaped dome, new decorations and new wall paintings. The original ascetic look was superseded by Baroque playfulness.

18th century fresces

In the 1730s-1740s a group of painters from the Monastery’s icon school of painting decorated the church with frescoes in tempera and oil. The subjects for all of the wall-paintings were taken from the Bible but ornamentation and color arrangement were definitely influenced by the Ukrainian folk art traditions. The painters’ names had remained unknown for a long time and it was only recently that study of the archives revealed them.

Among the frescoes four merit a special attention because of their high artistic quality: Saints Marching into Paradise at the entrance way, the Nicene Council on the western wall; Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple above the entrance and Baptism of an Ethiopian by Apostle Philip on the northern wall.

Through the entrance way one walks into the church and since all parts of the church have some symbolic meaning the entrance way is not an exception – it symbolizes the road that takes one to God. The fresco on the wall depicts the march of the Righteous into Paradise. They are led by the flying and trumpeting angels who are encouraged to do so by God the father depicted on the ceiling. Paradise is shown as an imaginative landscape through which peacocks, elephants, camels and other exotic animals roam freely.

The fresco in the central apse of the church is devoted to the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) which established the Nicene Creed and opposed Arianism. In the very center of the composition made up of many figures one can see Emperor Constantine surrounded by church hierarchy. The painters didn’t care to grab all the personages in appropriate historical clothes but painted them dressed in the costumes of the eighteenth century instead. On the left- hand side one can see Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky depicted in the fresco.

Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple above the entrance has a highly dynamic composition with the merchants, being expelled by Jesus Christ, running towards the real door in the wall.

Iconostasis

Iconostasis is the partition with doors, adorned with icons, which separates the beam of a church from the central nave. The iconostasis of the Trinity Church above the Gate was carved out of lime-tree wood in 1734 and gilded. The gilt in combination with ornate ornamentation creates a festive mood in the church. The icons were painted in the style that reflects the style of the frescoes, and follow the lines set by the Monastery: the faces of the holy personages and saints must show profound wisdom, heavenly inspiration and unearthly serenity.

Virgin with Child, one of the central icons in importance and place, is full of poetic tenderness and happy love of mother for her child. The Archangels, the Holy Trinity and the Savior are to be seen on other icons, executed in the same (sure hand. A big sixteen-candle chandelier, cast in 1725, is a valuable addition to the harmonious arrangement of the interior. When you enter the church, you feel as though you have come home – so cozy it is. The church seems to be an artistic and spiritual link between the past and the present.

There is a place in the Chernihiv Oblast’ (about 250 kilometers from Kyiv and about the same distance from the town of Cherni­hiv) which is called Kachanivka. It used to be a sprawling estate of the Tarnovskys of exceptional beauty and now it is a park (of­ficially: “National Preserve”, maintained and protected by the state of Ukraine. The park happens to be not only one of the big­gest in Europe but also one of the oldest surviving parks, and one of the most beau­tiful. Of course, “beautiful” is a very subjec­tive category, especially applied to a park but no one who visits the park fails to be enchanted by it. In the 19th century the es­tate of Kachanivka was regularly visited by many prominent, and untold numbers of not so prominent, musicians, painters and poets, among who one finds figures of world fame: the composer M. Hlynka and the writer M. Gogol. Taras Shevchenko, a leading figure in the Ukrainian culture of the first half of the 19^th century, was a guest of the Tarnovskys, the owners of the Kachanivka estate, on many occasions. It was in Kachanivka that he met a woman who was believed to have been the greatest love of his life. Travelling to Ukraine.

Harmony of Architecture and Scenery

The central architectural landmark of the estate was and is a majestic palace built in the classicist style of the early 19th century. It is a two-storied structure of eighty rooms and spacious halls with wonderful views opening from all the windows. Two smaller I buildings on the north and on the east sides of the palace form a huge inner yard sepa­rated on one side from the park with a cast- iron lattice-work fence. There is a lovely, ty­pical early-nineteenth century church that stands some distance away from the palace, right opposite It, at the end of a treelined lane. In the vault of the church mem­bers of the Tarnavsky family used to be burled, A number of gazebos, belvederes and summerhouses used to grace the park at many places, of which but a few have re­mained standing until now. One of them, known as the Hlynka’s Gazebo, commands an exciting view of ponds and lush vegeta­tion. Of several stone bridges only three have been preserved and they, together with “romantic ruins” add to the general emotionally uplifting atmosphere of the park. Other buildings of the estate used to house offices; among outbuildings there were, of course, a coach house, a kennel, a cow shed, a gardener’s house. All these buildings are now occupied by the curator and manage­ment of the Kachanivka Preserve, a library, a sort of a hotel. Among the irreparable los­ses, particularly damaging to the overall impression once created by the estate are a green house and a lot of pieces of marble and cast sculpture (only one has miraculous­ly survived). Visitors to the park in the twen­ties of this century reported having seen pi­les of broken sculpture in many parts of the park.

Unfortunately, Kachanivka has suffered not only architectural and sculptural lasses in the 20th century, A considerable number of age-old trees was chopped down in the twenties for timber but the damage was not too great and the park was not denuded of its abundant vegetation. One of the most attractive features of the park are its nume­rous ponds. The park was arranged in such a way so as to provide changing views when one took a walk or a horse ride through it. These views, changing virtually with every step, produced different impressions which, in turn, created various moods. The lanes and paths ran and meandered among the low hills and climbed on top of them. Some of the paths took one to the dark, shady places roofed with branches and crowns of mighty trees but only a few more steps would take one to a summit dominating a sunlit panoramic view. There were gazebos to watch the sunups from, and the ones to sit in and watch the sunsets. One of the hills, situated in the part of the park that used to be known as “Switzerland” provided a view with “three waters,” that is three ponds on three different sides of the hill, each of the ponds with its own special mood.

The trees themselves, of which there were many species (and to a large extent still are) no doubt contributed to the creation of the general impression of the park by the diffe­rences in color of the verdure, texture of the bark of the boles. In one part of the park, for example, a sort of mournful mood was created by a raw of dark firs planted in front of a grove of trees with leaves of much lighter green color. The loss of the Tomovsky owners of the pork in the late 19th century called it “Edem” (“Eden”) and made a pur­poseful effort to create on earth something that could by rights be called a paradisia­cal garden which would afford an elevation of spirit and return of physical energies to anyone who sought such revitalization.

History of Kachanivka

In the early 18th century there was a khutir (a very small village or a farmstead) sitting at a very picturesque place at the river Smosh. It had belonged to a succession of owners before it was sold, in 1744, to Fedir Kachenivsky, a man of presumably noble birth and a singer of the Imperial choir of Her Imperial Majesty Elizabeth Petrivna, the Empress of Russia (Ukraine at that time was already a part of the Russian Empire). Because of the new owner’s name the place soon got renamed to “Kachanivka”. In 1770 Kachanivka was bought on the order of Catherine the Great for her favorite, the Held Marshal Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky and consequently “given” to him as a present. Though there was a garden laid there and a big stone house built, the Field Marshall did not come to Kachanivka to stay for any considerable length of time. The estate was passed on to his son and it was sold to a new owner in 1808. The estate changed hands a couple of times before it came into the possession of Hryhoriy Tarnovsky. It is with Tarnovsky that the fame of Kachanivka began. Tarnovsky had a palace built and a huge park laid out. He was a patron of arts and financially backed painters, poets and musicians. In the thirties and the forties of the nineteenth century the Kachanivka estate was visited, among so many others, by the poet Shevchenko and the musician Hlynka. Tarnovsky had an orchestra at Kachanivka which was the first to play some of the musical pieces, created by Hlynka in Kachanivka.

In 1853 Hryhoriy Tarnovsky died (his wife died on the same day and they had no children) and the estate was inherited by his close relative Vasyl Tarnovsky, Sr. He continued improving the estate but his main preoccupation was with public affairs. It was after 1866 when the estate passed after his death on to his son, Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr., that Kachanivka went through its most flourishing period. Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr. was a man with very colourful and controversial personality who combined a great love for the Ukrainian heroic past and for collecting all kinds of Ukrainian curios with an equally great passion for women. He was a petty tyrant and at the same time it is thanks to Mm that a lot of things connected with Taras Shevchenko have been preserved for the grateful posterity. A stream of poets, writers, musicians and painters who continually kept coming to, and staying at Kachanivka turned the estate into a veritable art center. His collection of precious items from the Ukrainian past, of paintings, manuscripts and arms could rival that of a good-sized museum. The Russian painter Repin who was among the guests at Kachanivka, made sketches there for his famous painting The Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan. Tarnovsky, who loved his park dearly, devoted much of his time and a great deal of his seemingly inexhaustible energies to turning it “into a paradise on earth.”

In 1897 Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr., realizing he had been financially ruined by the expenses that the upkeep of the park and his collection required, sold Kachanivka to Pavlo Kharytonenko, an Industrialist. Tarnovsky had willed his collection to a museum and many items from it have survived and are kept in the museums of Kyiv and Chernihiv. Kharytonenko did not neglect his duties of an owner of a unique estate and enlarged the park, renovated the palace and improved the general maintenance of the place. It continued to attract numerous intellectuals from Ukraine and from St. Petersburg in Russia.

Later the estate passed on to Kharytonenko’s daughter Olena and her husband Mykhailo Oliv. Kachanivka was paid a visit, among innumerable others, by two distinguished painters of the time -Dobuzhynsky and Petrov-Vodkin.

The time of cruel trials arid tribulations for Kachanivka came after 1917 when the | Revolution had swept through the land. The | owners of Kachanivka had to flee to save |their lives, the estate was ravaged. What could not be carried away was destroyed. | The palace was used as a shelter for home| less children, then it was converted into a rest home, then a hospital. But by the decree of fate, or by God’s intervention Kachanivka has been preserved more or less intact as far as its park and major architectural landmarks are concerned. No new big ugly houses have been built, most of the trees have been preserved, the ponds have not been drained. The palace has lost all its furniture but has remained standing,

It seemed for a time that a gloomy, prophesy, made once by Taras Shevchenko when on a visit to Kachanivka, had begun to come true. Speaking to Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr., who was a great admirer of the poet, Shevchenko, looking at the gorgeous, paradisiacal park, said wistfully: «Vasyl, delay will come when everything here, at your estate, will become overgrown with thistles and nettles and grazing cows will look Into the windows of your palace.”

In 1981 Kachanivka was given the status of “the State Historical and Cultural Preserve” which has saved if from further ruin. A much greater effort Is needed though to keep maintaining It at a decent level of preservation, and still greater effort will have to be Involved In turning It into a major tourist center. The place has an enormous tourist potential.

Tarnovskys and Shevchenko

The Tarnovsky were a large family of people whose origins could be traced seve­ral generations back into the seventeenth century. Each of the three Tarnovskys, successive owners of Kachanivka, was a powerful personality indeed, with conflicting traits of character united in one person. Each of them cared for the arts, music and literature and at the same time enjoyed pleasures of the flesh. All these characteristic features of the Tarnavskys were revealed with a particularly stunning force In Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr. He had three driving passions: his park, his collection and sex, probably in this order of precedence. His Shevchenko memora­bilia collection alone had a half thousand items in it!

He was a gourmet and dined and wined his guests sumptuously. He enjoyed a good drink but admitted that his father beat him at it by far, claiming that Tarnovsky Senior had been so thoroughly «alcoholized» that his body after his death and burial in the family vault in the local church had not de­cayed but remained mummified and could be exhibited as a «saint, miraculously pre­served^ On his wedding day Vasyl Tarnovsky, Jr., had a pipe laid extending from a local vodka distillery to his park and a foun­tain was spouting vodka for a couple of days. Dozens and dozens of peasants from nearby villages, men and women alike, con­gregated at the fountain, drinking and filling vessels of every description. The place was described as looking like a battlefield with bodies strewn all around. Some did die of excessive drinking. Vasyl Tarnovsky was a man of violent temper and at least on one instance was known to have shot a man for trying to chop down a tree in his park. A lot more could be said of Tarnovsky along the same line and it makes him a person of many dimensions, but for us he remains primarily the creator of «a little paradise on earth. »

Taras Shevchenko, whom Tarnovsky greatly revered and loved as a poet, has usually been put forward as a sort of a clas­sical figure to be studied at school and ad­mired for His refusal to accept suppression of freedom and social injustice, a poet who poeticized Ukraine and her enchanting land­scapes. But he was also a man, a human being of flesh and blood, eager to Love and to be loved, and not only in a lofty spiritual way. It was in Kachanivka that Shevchenko met his, probably, greatest love of his life, Nadiya Tarnovska. She was a relative of the Tarnovskys and with her four sisters lived for a stretch of time in Kachanivka. Shev­chenko was introduced to Hryhoriy Tarnovsky by his friend, the painter Shternberg back in 1838. At that time, she was 18, not exactly beautiful but very attractive in a quiet way, with an excellent voice and a general womanly irresistible charm. Alas for Shevchenko his love was not reciprocated. He kept coming back, kept pressing her into accepting his love, marrying him but she refused to have an affair with him and rejected his proposal of marriage as well. Shevchenko grew very bitter and wrote one very angry and somewhat indecent poem but never had it published. Only two lines in an album at the Tarnovsky’s house are known to have been written by Shevchenko about Kachanivka and the person he cared so much for, who lived there:

And the path which you have trodden

Has overgrown with thistles…

She never married and destroyed all her correspondence, so there is only one letter preserved from Shevchenko to her which shows the depth of his tender feelings.

Kachanivka has opened new dimensions in many people, inspired love and poetic expressions, has been painted by many a pointer. And hopefully will continue to do so in future.

Hutsuls: the name

There is no consensus as to the origin of the word Hulsul. Originally, the people who are now known as Hutsuls called them­selves Irslens. Some ethnographers — and they are in a minority — claim that the Hut­suls formed into a separate ethnic group as a result of several ethnic groups mixing together, with Ukrainians, Rumanians, Polovtsi, Pecheneh and other nomads and ethnics contributing their shares. Other ethnographers and historians — and they are in a majority — argue that the Hut­suls are basically of Ukrainian descent with an admixture of some other bloods who, because of their relative isolation in the mountains, have developed their traditions and culture which distinguish them from Ukrainians in other parts of Uk­raine. Hutsuls speak Ukrainian, though with an easily identifiable accent; there are many words in their speech which can be regarded as specifically Hutsul. Their way of life, volatile temperament, customs, habits, traditions, dress and food bear distinctive Hutsul traits — and yet, unbia­sed observations reveal the basic, under­lying features which are common to all the Ukrainians.

There is a theory that says that every nation or an ethnic group has o potential for active development which is called “passionateness”.  This passionateness manifests itself in various ways at various stages of the nation’s or ethnic group’s development. It may find a violent release — then such a nation or ethnic group beco­mes aggressive and tries to conquer others. It may have an artistic or whatever other release it may happen to be. In Ukraine, this theory can be applied to the Cossacks in the south and to the Hutsuls in the west of Ukraine. It is a nice theory but it hardly explains anything.

The Hutsuls are freedom-loving people. They never allowed any ruler to turn them into slaves or serfs. Compared to the rather docile Ukrainians of the central parts of Ukraine, the Hutsuls may seem passionate, or even violent.

There are various theories that seek to explain the origin of the name Hutsul. Ac­cording to one of such theories, the Vo­lokhs, the Hutsul neighbors in the times of old (now they are better known as Mol­davians and Rumanians), used to call their restless neighbors Hots, that is bandits. It is true that there were many “Robin Hoods” among the Hutsuls. Oleksa Dovbush being the most famous — or noto­rious, depending on how you look at it — among them. They robbed the rich (foreig­ners who were the oppressors) to give the loot to the poor, but most of the Hutsuls minded their own business and just wan­ted to be left alone.

The first written mention of Hutsuls has been discovered in a Polish document that dates to 1754. The document says that a Hutsul woman was accused of setting fire to a landowner’s house and found guilty of arson, for which crime she was sentenced to death and executed.

Another theory of the origin of the word Hutsul worth mentioning links to the Tur­kish word “hutsul” that means “a horse,” but not any kind of horse but the one that got adjusted to life in the mountains. It is one of the sturdiest horses in the world, small in stature, not very handsome but tireless and requiring little to eat. It was an ideal horse for the Carpathians with their severe conditions. It not only survi­ved the rigors of the climate but helped the people to survive. It was thanks to these horses that Irsten settlements which star­ted to be established in the valleys, gra­dually moved up the slopes, climbing hig­her and higher. And also, it is thanks to these “hutsul” horses that Irstens got a new name — Hutsuls.

Still another theory says that the word “Hutsul” is a derivative of the word “kuchul”, which means “a nomad”. Irsten men made seasonal “migrations” — with the advent of spring they drove the sheep and cattle up the mountains to the alpine meadows with their luxuriant grasses, and when the colder autumnal days came, they returned to the valleys, back to their homes and families. In fact, not much has changed since the times of old — Hutsul men still do the same now as they did hundreds of years ago.

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The Volokhy (Rumanians of the Carpathians) and the Hutsuls live as peaceful neighbors, now separated by the border but sharing a lot of cultural traditions. Rumanian horses and cows freely walk across the state border into Ukraine to graze; and after getting their fill, they go back home. Both Rumanian and Hutsul shep­herds know for sure that stray horses and; cattle will always return safely home.

Hutsuls: a bit of history

By the virtue of their natural conditions, the Carpathian mountains were a place to which the oppressed and persecuted fled seeking and finding refuge there. It all began back In the Roman limes, when Da­cia (now Rumania) was a Roman province.

The old name for the area where the Hutsuls live is Halicia, or Galicia, which may suggest that at some lime in the past it could have been Inhabited by the Celts must have been later supplanted by the Slavs who, nevertheless, have retained a number of place names and words which can be supposedly traced back to the Cel­tic roots.

A less bold and much more accepted theory suggests that some time in the first millennium BCE, a Slavic tribe of Ruthenians migrated from elsewhere to the area now occupied by the Hutsuls and settled down, gradually developing into an eth­nic group, the Hutsuls of today.

Ethnographic studies of the Hutsuls began at the end of the eighteenth century and continued in the nineteenth, culmina­ting in a monumental work, Hutsulshchy­na, by V. Shukhevych published in 1899— 1908 in eight volumes. A number of Uk­rainian writers, Ivan Franko and Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky among them, described the Hutsul life in fiction. Kotsyubynsky’s novel, Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, was even made into a very successful film by the director Serhiy Paradzhanov in the nineteen-sixties.

Over the centuries, the Land of Hutsul­shchyna (‘Galicia’) changed hands; from the end of the eighteenth century and up to 1918 it was under the domination of the sprang up in part of Hutsulshchyna. The Hutsul Republic with the center in the town of Yasynya existed from November 1918 to June 1919. It was included into Ukraine only in 1939.

Hutsuls: way of life

The Hutsuls, living in relative isolation from European civilization and from the rest of ‘Great Ukraine’ developed, as we have already mentioned, a way of life distinctly their own. Life in the mountains breed stamina, endurance and skills necessary for survival. Strangers and out­casts find it extremely difficult, or actually impossible, to get adjusted to or be ac­cepted by the Hutsul community. On the other hand, the Carpathian mountains in Hutsulshchyna are of such an overwhelming beauty that those who are born there find it extremely hard to leave the native land or change their way of life.

Summers are the time of hard work — tilling the land and taking care of the sheep, cattle, horses and other domestic animals. But the surrounding natural beauty helps to make hard life more endurable. Win­ters are the time when holidays and feasts can be celebrated with abandon, when new dresses can be made, when needlework can be done, rushnyky (decorative towels) embroidered, when pysanky can be painted, when stories and fairy tales can be told, when wood can be carved, and many other useful and useless things can be done. It has been going like this, with little changes, in the Land of the Hut­suls for centuries.

If you are a traveler, you will be accor­ded a warm welcome. You will be dined and wined, you will be told stories, true and tall, and nobody will ask who you are and where you are from; they will wait until you tell your story yourself. But this hospitality will turn into hostility if you make an attempt to become part of their life — the Hutsul community rejects strangers. And you cannot do anything about it.

If generalizations are possible, then we can say the Hutsul men are tall, with Roman noses, black hair, not unlike that of horses’ tails, dark — sometimes blue — eyes, long legs, long arms and long hands with long fingers. Women are mos­tly of short stature; slim, full of pep, viva­cious and beautiful. They talk fast, they do things fast, they are clever with their hands. And they are always dressed in great taste, in a remarkable, traditional Hutsul way.

In general, the Hutsuls like to be dres­sed well, and take great pains with their attire. Men like bright decorations on their clothes. In the olden days, when clo­thes were very expensive, they were pas­sed from generation to generation (not everyday clothes of course — we are tal­king of Sunday clothes). There were even murders committed over dresses.

Hutsul men used to carry weapons with them, pistols and axes on long handles. If a Hutsul had only two pistols stock into his bell, he was considered to be poor. Hutsul men have retained their love of weapons but they do not exhibit if so openly.

Hutsuls like to be showing off. When they take a walk, they want others to see how well they are dressed; when they dance, they do their best to show that they dance well; when they work, they want others to see how well they can work.

Some of the Hutsul houses seem to be kept primarily for the guests, with the inte­riors decorated with embroidered rushnyky, carpels, and wood carving. Such Hutsuls live in a little house in the backyard which they call litnya kukhnya, summer kitchen.

Hutsuls are freedom-loving and inde­pendent people, full of dignity. Sometimes better suited for life and conditions in the mountains than jeans. Cars are no good in the mountains either — Hutsul horses are a much more reliable means of transportation in the forests with no roads and high in the mountain slopes. Winters will never become summers and long win­ter nights will continue to be filled with embroidery, painting pysanky, handicrafts and music, even though some of the instru­ments will surely be more sophisticated than they used to be. Summers will require much work on the available land and shepherding in the mountains. Tourism is not likely “to spoil” Hutsuls either — it gives Hutsuls another chance to show off before the visiting tourists. Hutsul applied and de­corative art is in demand — many of the Hutsul works of decorative art have found their way to private and public collections in many countries of the world.

Hutsuls also remember well that the geographical center of Europe is situated in their land, in the town of Rakhiv, and being right in the center of Europe, they are not in a hurry to leave their mountains.

The Museum of Historic Jewellery of Ukraine, a branch of the National History Museum, is housed in a building that dates from the 17th-18th centuries and is situated within the walls of the sprawling Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Monastery. This museum is not the only one on the territory of the Lavra. The museum was moved to the building it now occupies, next door to the ruins of the Cathedral of Assumption, in 1969 (the Cathedral was ruined in the Second World War).

The Museum of Historic Jewellery of Ukraine traces Ukrainian history in gold and silver; some of the artefacts date back to the Bronze Age.
The Museum houses a collection of over 55 thousand exhibits which include costume adornments and decorative accessories for weapons, riding tackle, ritual objects and everyday tableware.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Museum of Historic Jewellery of Ukraine is a treasure-house with world acclaim. Many foreign guests visit the museum every year. Many more visited its numerous exhibitions, which were organized abroad in Poland, Hungary, the USA, France, Italy and Germany.

Precious ancient objects which once formed the core of the present collection, come from the collection of Bohdan Khanenko, one of Kyiv’s patrons of the arts, well-known in his time. M. Bilyashivsky, an archeologist and the first curator of the museum, worked hard to preserve and enlarge the museum collection. D. Scherbakivsky, V. Khvolko, and many other enthusiasts of Ukrainian culture went out of their way in search of valuable ancient artefacts. Whatever they could find and purchase they gave to the museum. Unfortunately, a lot of precious ancient objects had been damaged beyond repair or simply melted down and then shaped into gold and silver bars.

Treasures Beyond Measure: A Glimpse into Ukraine’s Golden Legacy

When an object of art becomes an exhibit at a museum, it acquires a spiritual value in addition to its actual value which cannot be translated into its price in dollars, francs or any other currency.

The collection of the Scythian art objects is given a prominent place in the museum. The Scythians were nomads but in the 7th-6th centuries B.C. they seem to have settled down and formed a loosely bound state on the territory of Ukraine. Excellent pieces of antique jewellery have survived from the Scythian times; among them The Gold Pectoral from the Tovsta Mohila Burial, The Silver Cup from the Haymanov Burial and The Gold Helmet like object from the Peredriy Burial.

When we look at the tiny statuettes that decorate the three tiers of the pectoral — a fine, ritual adornment of the Scythian King — we can imagine the lyrical world of the Scythian mythology. The scenes depicted by the master of the 4th century B.C. tell us about the vernal equinox holiday and ritual murder of a sacrificial horse that personified the King. The eternal fight of Good against Evil is reflected in the scenes of fighting animals, which are characteristic of the Scythian art. The effect produced is one of uneasy admiration. Two confident, well-dressed Scythians, depicted on The Silver Cup from the Haymanov Burial, make a different Impression. Their features underline the individuality of each character. Maybe the master wanted to portray prominent Scythian personalities in a realistic fashion. Unfortunately, we can learn something about the Scythian mythology only by examining the surviving Scythian artefacts and from the books of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Here is one of Herodotus’ stories about the Scythians. Herodotus says that the Scythian men went away to conquer lands in Asia and after 28 years of wandering they came back to their country; upon arrival they found that the Scythian women had lured the slaves into their beds and a new generation of Scythian warriors had just arisen. This new generation, having ascertained their origin, rose in arms against those who had returned from the battles with the Medeans, and many battles were fought between the sons of slaves and the old generation of Scythian warriors.

Global Acclaim: The International Reach of Ukraine’s Jeweled Heritage

It is possible that one of such battles between the old and young Scythians is depicted on the gold object from the Perederiy Burial. The Sarmatians were the people that came to inhabit the steppes north of the Black Sea In the 4th century B. C. Their language and the way of life were close to those of the Scythians.

The burial place of a woman from the Nogaychynsky barrow in the Crimea dates from the 1st century B.C. It Is clear that this woman belonged to the Sarmatian nobility. The barrow was examined by A.O. Schepinsky in 1971. Two golden bracelets decorated with pearls and precious stones attract special attention. Their ends bear the representation of a couple in love. A bright yellow, precious stone was used to decorate the fastenings.

The museum displays decorations made from precious metals and stones that have come down to us from the Avars, Pechenegs, Polovtsys, Mongols, Huns, that is, from all those nomadic invaders whose hordes had once passed through Ukraine.

The jewellery of the Eastern Slavs and people of Kyiv Rus’ comes out to the fore in the enamel objects. The influence of the Byzantine culture, the most advanced in Europe at that time, is felt here. But when in the 11-12th centuries this technique declined in Byzantine, the Kyiv jewellers adopted it, simplified it and produced many beautiful adornments. Diadems and barmies for royal attire were made, and they were made to order. Probably, the word barmy comes from the Swedish word «barm» which means «chest». This term may have come into the language of Rus’ in the 11th century, when the noble Vikings were invited to stay at the courts of Kyiv Princes. Prince Yaroslav’s wife was Ingigerd, the Swedish King’s daughter. Harold the Severe, who was in love with Yaroslav’s daughter Elizabeth, wrote poems in which he praised himself but finished every stanza with the following words: «Only the maiden with a golden grivna (necklace) oh her neck ignores me.»

Guardians of the Collection: Preserving Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage

The barmies from the Museum of Historic Jewellery of Ukraine were found in 1900, near the village of Sakhnivka among the treasures of a prince, which included ornaments and a gold diadem. Depicted on them are Christ, the Virgin and the Saints. They are framed II by pearls and multicoloured precious stones, which were meant to harmonize with the bright golden cloth of the prince’s regalia.

The cross that comes from B.l. Kha-nenko’s collection is a very interesting object. In the middle of it there is a golden plate with the image of Mariya Oranta in the enamel technique of the Byzantine masters of the 11th century. But the cross itself is a wonderful Byzantine stylization, though it is decorated with real diamonds, rubies, emeraids and sapphires. The frame that looks like a cross was made at the end of the 19th century, maybe by Y. Marshak’s jewellers.

The Ukrainian jewellers inherited the skills of Kyiv Rus’ jewellers, The works of Ukrainian goldsmiths of the 17-18th centuries are characterized by refined taste, perfect forms and excellent technique. The fine mitre of Kyiv and Galitsiya Metropolitans, who in accordance with the tradition were at the same time abbots of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, was made in the first half of the 18th century. Enamel medallions, framed by pearls offer examples of a pictorial enamel art. Antony and Theodosius, the founders of Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery, are depicted on one of them. The precious stones to decorate the me* dallions were chosen with great care.

The mitre is decorated with 539 diamonds, 167 rubies, 54 emeralds, 13 sapphires.

Former Soviet republics, as well as traditional Jewish cuisine, have adopted borshch, but the soup whose base is a broth of beets and other vegetables originated in Ukraine. A Ukrainian woman’s cooking is often judged by her borshch. There are endless regional variations of borshch: the broth may be clear before the customary dollop of sour cream is added and muddies it; or the soup may be thick like’stew and overflowing with ruby-red beets, onions, cabbage, carrots, beans, and potatoes, each depending on local availability and tastes. Some borshch has a hunk of meat tossed in for flavoring. There are hot and cold varieties of borshch, as well as green borshch. Garlic and dill are especially popular seasonings in Ukraine and are used to flavor its national soup. Parsley is often added. Vegetable-based kvas is used extensively as stock for soups, stews, and sauces; and kvas from beets lends a delicious tangy flavor to borshch.

Borshch is a first course in Ukraine, not an entree. It may follow appetizers or be served in place of them. Pampushky are often served with borshch; these are fresh rolls, sometimes resting soggily in a saucer of crushed garlic and oil. It is especially delicious when the garlic mixture is served on the side in a gravy boat. A pampushka can also be a jam- or fruit-filled roll.

Like beet kvas, fermented cabbage is another staple in Ukrainian kitchens because of its tartness, texture, and storage capability. Kapusta means “cabbage,” and kapusniak is a cabbage soup with many variations. Made from fresh or brined cabbage, it might be thin like broth or thick like stew.

Wheat is concentrated in the central steppes of Ukraine, but buckwheat is especially popular in the north. Kasha is porridge made from buckwheat. Buckwheat is actually a fruit, but it is generally prepared like grain. In the higher-altitude Hutsul and Boiko regions, corn and barley are harvested, and they influence regional diets. Potatoes are commonly associated with Ukrainian cooking, but before the 19th century the potato was scarcely used.

Another popular soup is solyanka, which is typically thick and mildly spiced. Myasna and ribna (meaning “meat” and “fish,” respectively) are typical solyanky.

In the northern part of the island one can see rock outcrops with many caves and grottos. Some of the huge rocks rise to a height of 30 meters above the water. They even have names given to them at various times in the past. Many of these rocks are connected in some way with events of the Cossack times — Duman Rock. Vyshcha Holova (Highest Head) Rock; Chorna (Black) Rock; Sovufyna Rock; Duma Rock, to name but a few. One of the ca­ves, Zmiykova (Snake’s) is said to have been a place the great ancient Greek hero Heracles spent some time in, consorting with a minor goddess and siring three sons.

The central part of the island is flat but not featureless. Ravi­nes, depressions and low hills enliven it, and many of these fea­tures also have names — Naumova, Kostina, Hromushyna, Korniyeva, Zmiyivka, to provide some examples. Botanists found there over 600 species of various kinds of plants, many of which are on the list of the endangered species. 50 species of fishes live in the many lakes and babbling brooks of the island, and over 200 species of birds can be spotted in the marshy meadows.

The island’s geographical position greatly contributed to its naturally becoming the crossroads on the trade routes from the north to the south and from the east to the west. Archaeologists unearthed enough evidence to suggest that human settlements appeared on the island in the distant past, at least 35 thousand years ago. In historical times, the first written mention dates from one of the early chronicles, Povist mynulykh lit (Story of Bygone Years) of the late eleventh or early twelfth century: “…and they [grand dukes with their warriors] went down the river, some in boats, others on horseback along the banks, and got around the rapids, and made camp in Protovche and in the Island of Khortytsya.” The dukes mentioned were gathering forces to deal with the imminent invasion of the Polovtsi nomads.

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People of various ethnic backgrounds used to live in Khor­tytsya — Scythians, early Slavs, Turks and Slavs again. Some of the places’ names in Khortytsya reveal their Turkish origin.

It is known that in the nineteenth century there were over a hund­red burial mounds preserved from much earlier times in the is­land; by now, their number dwindled to about fifty.

The most interesting part of Khortytsya’s history are, of course, the Cossack times of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first known fortified Cossack settlement in Khor­tytsya dates from 1556; two centuries later, the Zaporizka Sich Cossack centre was disbanded by the Russian imperial order.

The Museum of History of Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, which was opened in 1983, contains over 30,000 artefacts and other items connected with the history of Khortytsya from the earliest times, through the Cossack times and up to the nineteenth century. Many of the items were donated to the Cossack Museum by other museums of Ukraine.

In 1958, Khortytsya was given a status of a local natural preserve, but it was only in 1993 it was granted the full status of the National Cultural and Historical Preserve.

In 2004, an architectural complex, Zaporizka Sich, began to be built in Khorty­tsya; the construction began on the Day of Pokrova (religious feast of the Virgin’s Veil) of the Mother of God Virgin Mary the Protectress. The complex which will occupy a territory of three and a half thou­sand hectares is located in one of the most scenic parts of Khortytsya on its south­east coast. Wooden and other houses, close replicas of houses erected in the Cossack times, are to be built there to re­produce Cossack kureni (dwellings), otaman (military leader) houses, the chancel­lery, a school, a smithy, a tavern and buil­dings used for other purposes. A church, Pokrovy Presvyatoyi Bohorodytsi (Church of the Veil of Virgin the Protectress), is plan­ned to be built too. The construction of some of these buildings will be completed by the end of 2006.

Khortytsya is a major tourist attraction, with thousands upon thousands of people from all over Ukraine and abroad coming to see it every year. With the new architec­tural complex that will recreate the hou­ses of the Cossack times completed and with a new tourist infrastructure establi­shed, the number of tourists is likely to grow considerably.

No one who has ever been in a smereka forest in the Carpathians remains indifferent to its beauty. No wonder, smerekas have been sung by poets; smerekas feature in many songs as well. Smereka is a species of the fir tree, which is indigenous to the Carpathian Mountains. It is not only a very handsome tree — its “exhalations” kill all the germs around it and thus just sitting down under a smereka and spending some time in meditation is good for your health.

I hail from the Carpathians and I am enamored of the mountains. Though now I live elsewhere, my love for the mountains never wavers and remains as strong as ever. Whenever I go back to the Carpathians, I feel, both physically and emotionally, better than anywhere else. People who hail from other places in Ukraine or beyond its borders, and who come to the Carpathians as tourists, or for visits to relatives and friends, say that the mountains bring serenity to their souls and health to their bodies.

My brother Mykola still lives in the Carpathians, in the village of Roztoky, close to the River Cheremosh. He offers accommodation in his wooden house to tourists from various pans of Ukraine, and from abroad as well. He says he has already had tourists from France, Japan and Poland. And everybody felt great in that native place of mine.

It grieves me and pains me so much to see the destructive results of excessive deforestation that is taking place in the Carpathians — without its trees, the mountains will lose their magic spell. Most of the trees in the Carpathians are coniferous, with smerekas being the most conspicuous and majestic among them. The coniferous forests occupy 262,000 hectares in Ivano-Frankivsk; soft-leaved forests occupy only 16.000 hectares, and hard-leaved forests occupy over 164,000 hectares; in other words, over 60 percent of forests in that region are coniferous, with dark-green smerekas being in the lead.

Smerekas begin to grow in the Carpathians at an altitude of 800 or 900 meters above the sea level, and spread as high as up to an altitude of almost 1,700 meters. Smerekas do not require too much light and are rather highly resistant to all kinds of weather conditions, but they don’t like dry conditions or excessive warmth.

Smereka forests offer much more than scenic sights — they create a healthy microclimate, they make the air salubrious; the fragrances in a smereka forest are soothing, the sounds are soul- comforting. In fact, the health-improving properties of the smereka forests have been confirmed by medical researchers, both Ukrainian and foreign.

Even without having a medically confirmed proof of the restorative properties of the smereka forests, many distinguished personalities of Ukrainian letters and scholarship of the nineteenth and early twentieth century spent considerable amounts of time in the Carpathian Mountains. Among such personalities were Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrayinka and Hnat Khotkevych.

Even the sounds that trees in the forest make turn out to be good for your health. The level of noise in the forests is estimated to be about 20 or 30 decibels, and such levels have been shown to produce a tonic effect upon the nervous system, the muscles and endocrine glands, and there are no natural sounds that forests make, which can be harmful to your health. The other way round — unpleasant or harmful man-made sounds get muffled and absorbed in the forests, and about a hundred meters from the source of such sounds they will completely lose their pernicious effect and will be heard no longer.

Another great thing about forests — they absorb all sorts of pollution that is thrown into the air by the industries, cars and whatever else produces them. One hectare of coniferous trees can absorb up to a ton of noxious gases a year, up to 35 tons of dust and purify 18 million cubic meters of air! Have a good look at these figures available thanks to scientific research.

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Walks through the smereka forests are great for health improvement. The air is permeated with ozone and wonderful fragrances. After spending only an hour in a smereka forest, you may feel sweetly sleepy – don’t gel alarmed! It’s a reaction of your body to your lungs being filled with fresh air. The longer you stay there, the more your whole organism will be cleansed of harmful substances and bacteria that invade it in urban settlements. One cubic meter of air in a city contains 30,000 to 40,000 bacteria and other hazardous microorganisms; a cubic meter of air in a city park will have up to2,000 such microorganisms, and in coniferous forests their presence in the air is minimal.

The recreation and health-improvement potential of the smereka forests in the Carpathian Mountains is worth much more than the market value of all the timber that can be obtained from them.

Only 0.3 hectares of a forest produces enough oxygen for a human being to breathe for twelve months: forests absorb carbo­nic acid gas and exude aromatic, resinous substances, which are good for health — they produce positive effect on the brains; the level of sugar in the blood goes down and the level of oxygen in it goes up. And you begin to feel really good — much better than before!

Smerekas of the Carpathians produce the greatest amount of ionized oxygen and of germ-killing substances, but other trees that also grow in the Carpathians add their good share too. In this respect, the Carpathian trees are particularly active from July up to the end of August, but even in the dead winter the air in the Carpathians is balmy.

It has been established that in addition to the air and other things in the Carpathian Mountains that are good for your health and mental state, even the color scheme of the Carpathians produces a salubrious effect. The green color helps stabilize your blood pressure, dilate your blood, relieve the eye strain: the green of the forest in combination with the blue of the sky brings peace to your nervous system – no wonder many people like to lie down on the ground and look up at the blue sky through the green tops of conifers.