Explore Ukraine: Gusinskiye Plavni
The year turned out to be difficult and unusual. Who could have imagined that the borders would be closed? What will stop air traffic between countries? What people will be afraid to travel? And who knows how long we'll have to wear masks and sanitize our hands? All this is sad. . .
And I want to travel! Yes, and most of the summer is already over.
Tourists' eyes turned towards unexplored places in their countries.
Hoping for the July weather, we also went on a short trip - in terms of time and distance.
A good minibus with air conditioning, an excellent guide who is in love with the history of his region, a little sun and hospitality. And most importantly - a good company! And positive impressions are just a sea! Sea of Kanev!
As you may have guessed, we went to the Kanev Sea. Or rather, in the Gusinsky floodplains.
Gusinsky plavni (photo from the Internet)
But first things first.
In the morning it was raining unexpectedly in Kyiv! All forecasts promised him the next day, but the rain did not listen and decided to hurry a little. In urgent gatherings, clothes, shoes were changed, umbrellas and raincoats were taken.
Our first stop was Maiden Mountain in Trypillia.
The rain stopped half way to this place.
We have already visited the mountain as part of another excursion, but do not sit on the bus! Of course let's go! Moreover, the views from it are wonderful!
Devich Mountain is considered a "place of power". Women who have difficulty in childbearing continue to believe in the help of this place. In support of what has been said, all the bushes on the mountain are tied with ribbons with requests.
After the descent we go to the town of Rzhishchev, to the Lime Alley.
This is all that remains of the Dolgoruky-Fadeev estate. On the hill at the entrance to the city, the remains of the Lipki park, where the Decembrists gathered, have been preserved. Then the estate became the property of the Fadeev family (their grandchildren were E. Blavatsky, S. Witte).
Now this place is interesting for its views of the Kanev reservoir.
Next we go down to the old River Station, where the boat picks us up.
The boat takes the group to the most tempting attraction of these places - the flooded church of the village of Gusintsy.
In 1972, the village of Gusintsy was flooded by the waters of the Kanevsky reservoir. Local residents were settled in the surrounding villages, and everything else simply died under water. Of course, the Soviet government paid compensation, but only after people had to destroy their houses with their own hands and cut down all the fruit trees. The flooding did not happen immediately (from 1972 to 1978), so every year the former residents arrived in their village, dug up the remains of their relatives from the graves and reburied them in another place.
On the edge of the village of Gusintsy there was a church that miraculously survived, and to this day it now stands in the middle of the Dnieper, on a small island.
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior (Gusinsky Church or the Flooded Church) is an architectural monument of the 19th century. This is one of the most interesting and striking sights, which is located near Kyiv. It was built in 1812 by the local landowner Gusinsky in the Ukrainian baroque style. It has a cruciform shape and three entrances. There is a bell tower nearby.
The temple was built to last: they took a brick that was made at a local factory, and eggs were added to the mortar for strength.
The building impresses with its architecture. It was able to resist, despite the wind, frost and water. This is the only memo that has been preserved and reminds of the old days. Locals say that underground passages from this church led to the right (high) bank of the Dnieper.
For many years, the ruins of the church stood alone above the water.
Photo from the Internet
To be honest, it made a very depressing impression. It gradually collapsed, it was destroyed by the weather and vandals, who even managed to carve the faces of saints from its walls.
Photo from the Internet
And so, in 2008, a charitable foundation initiated the restoration of the church. The petition was also signed by local residents.
First of all, they fixed the foundation, washed the island (400 tons of sand were brought in for this) so that the temple would no longer be flooded. . .
Photo from the Internet
. . . the domes, exterior and interior decoration have been restored.
And in 2011, a small bridge was built that leads to the church.
The bridge is narrow, for the most part pedestrian, but it was over it that a small bulldozer transported sand, which was poured into the foundation of the church. Traces of moisture still appear on the walls and columns of the church.
Moisture, as it were, sneaks inside, not letting you forget about the difficult past of the church.
The temple is now active.
Services, weddings and baptisms are held there.
The beautiful, light construction of the church seems to be floating above the water, surrounded by water lilies and water lilies!
Can you imagine how beautifully and romantically the bride and groom swim up to the church in boats, and behind them the whole wedding procession? Or how, holding the godson in their arms, godparents and guests of such a joyful event swim up to the church? And how beautiful it must be when parishioners with Easter baskets are drawn to the temple from all sides! And all this to the sound of bells!
The church really needs tourists! Each purchased candle, each ordered prayer service brings funds for the restoration and maintenance of this temple.
He has seen and experienced a lot during his existence, so you can't let him die now.
And another mystical place awaits us - the real Bald Mountain. We swim up and immediately see how people crawl up it, like ants to an anthill.
The modern city of Rzhishchev and the territory occupied by the village of Gusintsy, which is now buried under the waters of the Kanev reservoir, is considered one of the most energetically powerful places in Ukraine. In pagan times, priests chose a mountain with a small amount of vegetation, located near settlements, to conduct rituals. Moreover, lightning often fell into such treeless mountains, and the main pagan deity was Perun - the lord of lightning, thunder and thunderstorms. Interestingly, the Bald Mountain in Rzhishchev is located on the same meridian as the Egyptian pyramids.
Once on Bald Mountain, people experience strange emotions. Someone sees strange things, others are healed, and some just feel bad, but everyone feels the connection of the energies of earth and sky.
Climbing the mountain is difficult - the degree of elevation is significant, it is hot, the legs crawl back along the hot sand.
But it's worth it! From the height of Bald Mountain, we can clearly see the very church that we just visited. And as far as the eye can see - the vast Kanev reservoir.
At the top of the mountain, our guide laid us all down to meditate. You need to lie correctly, in a strict arrangement on the cardinal points.
Despite the heat and fatigue, after five minutes of lying down, my head stopped hurting, which had hurt even before I got up. The energy of the mountain must have healed me.
After descending, we get into the boats and move to Gusinsky Plavni for lunch.
Local residents have equipped small bridges and beaches in the floodplains. . .
. . . as well as sheds for vacationers, where they feed delicious fish soup from a fire and fried carp. Oh, for a long time we city dwellers have not had to eat such a delicious fish!
After lunch, the mood of the company of vacationers improved. People sang, met and had fun. Many swam - the water in the floodplains is cool, springs beat from below. But clean!
The time of our excursion came to an end, but then the Kyiv thunderstorm caught up with us.
The boat was delayed for an hour and a half, it was dangerous to cross the reservoir in a thunderstorm. When he sailed for us, the storm front gave a 15-minute respite, and we were able to cross safely to the right bank. But the extreme was still enough: we are sailing to Rzhishchev, and at this time lightning strikes almost in the area of the river station! That's exactly where we're going.
But everything ended well! With new strength, a healthy head and wonderful impressions, we returned home.
P. S. Contacts of the guide, as well as the hostess who fed us deliciously, are available. If anyone needs it, write in private messages. It's a great idea to celebrate a birthday, for example. Take your company, minibus, guide and a great mood, and most importantly, you are guaranteed to have fun.
