Kholodny Yar

Kholodny Yar is a unique corner of Ukraine where picturesque nature is closely intertwined with the heroic history of the Ukrainian people's struggle for freedom. The landscapes of Kholodny Yar resemble a small mountain system at the boundary between the Steppe and Forest-Steppe, with its own microclimate and biodiversity. At least 10 species of plants listed in the Red Book of Ukraine have been found here, including the dwarf spindle, the folded snowdrop, and the oak tulip. There are 34 Red Book-listed animal species, including the stoat, the forest polecat, the European mink, Nikolsky’s viper, the black stork, and 3 species of mushrooms. The nature reserve hosts about 150 historical, cultural, and natural landmarks from different eras.

Kholodny Yar covers around 7,000 hectares of continuous forest, crisscrossed by deep ravines and gullies, at the bottoms of which flow streams and rivers that feed into the Tiasmyn. There are more than 220 ravines of various sizes, mainly Kirykyvskyi, Potashnyi, Chervonyi, Sichovyi, Haidamatskyi, and Kholodny Yar.

Kholodny Yar includes 32 villages, hamlets, and towns in the Tiasmyn River basin on the right bank.

Kholodny Yar is a place of strength and spirit for the Ukrainian nation.

The Tower is one of the iconic viewpoints of Kholodny Yar, where one can observe the typical landscape of the region.

ДОДАТИ ЩЕ ТРОХИ ТЕКСТУ (ЯКИЙ ОПИСУЄ ЦЕЙ ТИПОВИЙ ЛАНДШАФТ і де розташована вежа. Також біля вежи є меморіальний камінь - що це за камінь?)

One of the hamlets of the village of Melnyky is called Kreselets. In ancient times, there was a glass factory called a "huta" located under the forest on the riverbank. Small mirrors, which were called "kreseltsa" in Kholodny Yar, were made there. Local girls would come here to obtain this necessary item, which gave the area its name.

Lisnichivka nestled right under the forest – a corner where foresters lived permanently. They guarded the forest reserve and controlled access to Kholodny Yar. Later, a forestry unit was established on this site, named Kreselets Forestry.

Today, the forestry lands belong to the National Nature Park "Kholodny Yar," which was established on January 1, 2022, after the long efforts of environmentalists. The park's office is now located in the administrative building of the former forestry.

On March 3, 1920, at Lisnichivka, in the house of a forester, a meeting of the commanders was scheduled under the leadership of the Chief Commander of Kholodny Yar, Vasyl Chuchupak. When most of the commanders had gathered for the meeting, the Bolsheviks surrounded the area. A firefight ensued. Vasyl, on horseback, broke out of the encirclement, dispersing the enemies with his Lewis machine gun. However, he stopped on a hill and turned back to help his comrades. After firing all the bullets from his machine gun and revolver, he used the last bullet on himself. He died with the words, "Prepare new fighters, Kholodny Yar!"

Even after his death, the enemies brutally beat him and stripped him of his clothes. His mutilated body was tied to a horse and dragged to the village to his parents' house. The entire family was forced inside, and the house was set on fire. The people of Kholodny Yar managed to save the family and extinguish the house. Vasyl was buried on a hill at the central cemetery in the village of Melnyky.

One of the legendary leaders of the haidamaks` uprising was Hnat Holyi. A Zaporizhzhia Cossack from the Medvedivka kurin (unit), he was one of the leaders of the Haidamaky movement in Right-Bank Ukraine during the 1730s and 1740s, particularly in the area of the Chornyi Forest. In 1741, he executed Sava Chalyi, a former Orlyk regiment colonel who had defected to the Polish side.

In 1740, Chalyi raided Zaporizhzhia, causing significant damage to the Sich and surrounding areas. Hnat Holyi requested to be buried in Kholodny Yar, near the Haidamaky Sich. After his death near Cherkasy in 1749, his comrades fulfilled the ataman's wish.

Haidamaky Pond is located in the very heart of Kholodny Yar and is one of its most picturesque and legendary sites. Nearby, there are many historical and archaeological landmarks, including the Holy Trinity Church of the Motronynskyi Monastery and the Motronynske Scythian settlement. The pond is protected by defensive ramparts on both sides.

During the Haidamaky Rebellion, Kholodny Yar became a refuge for the insurgents, who founded the Kholodny Yar Sich here. Before embarking on their campaign, at the end of May 1768, the haidamaks, led by Maksym Zalizniak, gathered at the pond for a prayer service, blessed their weapons for the holy cause, and set off to liberate Ukraine from its enemies.

In 2006, participants in the annual Commemoration of the Heroes of Kholodny Yar, led by Roman Koval, President of the Historical Club "Kholodny Yar," revived the ritual of blessing weapons.

According to one legend, a sincere believer named Onufriy lived in a desert near a cave, where a spring miraculously appeared. Since then, many springs and wells have been named after Saint Onufriy. Another legend from the times of Kyivan Rus tells of a mighty river flowing through this ravine. A voivode named Myroslav returned by boat along this river after freeing Kyiv from the Pechenegs, heading back to his fortress. His wife, Motrona, guarded the fortress with a small detachment. Myroslav decided to test the vigilance of the guards and ordered the soldiers in the first boat to dress in enemy attire and stage an attack. But the defenders on the walls were not asleep – spears, arrows, and stones rained down on the boat. By the time the defenders realized it was only a test, it was too late. Myroslav, severely wounded, died in his wife’s arms. Motrona ordered the ill-fated boat to be sunk and established a men's monastery on the site of the fortress.

The monastery was founded at the highest point of the Kholodny Yar plateau, on the site of an ancient Scythian settlement. The first written mentions of the monastery date back to 1568, but it is believed to have been founded before the Mongol invasion.

In 1620-21, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi granted the monastery land and allocated funds for its support. Over the years, the monastery was repeatedly attacked by enemies but was revived each time. The events of the Koliyivshchyna uprising are closely associated with this monastery.

In 1845, Taras Shevchenko visited the monastery and created a watercolor depiction of it.

In 1911, the monastery became a women’s monastery.

During 1918-20, it once again became a center of the insurgent movement. The main company and the headquarters of the Kholodny Yar Haidamaky Regiment were stationed here, and its main bell became the "summons" for the Kholodny Yar army.

In 1920 and 1922, the Bolsheviks looted and closed the monastery. Later, a commune was established on its grounds.

During the German occupation in 1942, church services were restored, but in December 1943, the Germans surrounded the monastery and executed the worshippers, accusing them of connections with partisans. After the war, the monastery was in a state of ruin.

In 1991, it was returned to the church.

Near the highest point of the Kholodny Yar plateau, there once stood a Cossack cemetery, which was destroyed during Soviet times.

In the spring of 2019, during the annual Commemoration of the Heroes of Kholodny Yar, a memorial was installed to honor the fallen soldiers of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodny Yar." At the end of March 2022, under Kharkiv, Georgiy Tarasenko, the commander of the volunteer battalion "Freikorps," was killed. Following his will, he was buried in the Kholodny Yar nature reserve, on the plateau near the memorial to the fallen.

Following this, it was decided to create a Pantheon of Heroes. Busts of Oleg Kutsyn, Andrii Zhovanyk, Dmytro Kotsiubailo, Taras Bobanych, Yurii Dadak, Yulian Matviichuk, Oleg Sobchenko, Denys Antypov, Pavlo Nakonechnyi, Viktor Sharyi, Oleksii Rubtsov, and Oleksandr Pastukh were installed here.

Kholodny Yar contains a significant number of archaeological monuments from various periods.

The Motronynske Scythian settlement is unique and the largest in the Middle Dnipro region of Right-Bank Ukraine. It dates back to the 7th–4th centuries BC, covering an area of up to 200 hectares, and has an irregular oval shape. At its center was an acropolis, covering 70 hectares. The settlement was surrounded by a triple system of defensive ramparts and had several entrances. In those times, the height of the main rampart from the bottom of the ditch reached 21-22 meters, and its length was 4 kilometers. Around the settlement, there were many burial mounds of varying heights.

During the Koliyivshchyna uprising, a giant oak tree stood there, on which the insurgents hung a large cauldron. By striking the cauldron with a wooden mallet, haidamaks summoned their troops for a council. Likely, it was here that Maksym Zalizniak was elected colonel of the Koliyivshchyna.

Later, this cauldron was used as a bell in the Holy Trinity Motronynskyi Monastery to call the monks to service.

Today, it is preserved in the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.

In the forests of Kholodny Yar, starting in 1766, haidamaks` leader Yosyp Shelest organized a detachment of 300 Cossacks, ready for decisive action to restore the Cossack state. He called for an uprising against the Poles, citing a letter from the Koshovyi of the Sich, Petro Kalnyshevskyi.

In the first decade of May 1768, Shelest captured Zhabotyn and was elected colonel of the insurgents. However, he was soon killed during a dispute. Maksym Zalizniak was then elected colonel of the detachment.

A memorial marker was placed on the ataman’s grave in Boikova Luki in Kholodny Yar by the forester of the Kreseletske Forestry, Oleksandr Naida. He was the first to create a detailed map showing the locations of the main historical, natural, archaeological, and other sites of the forest reserve.

The history of Buda Village begins with Potashnyi Yar, one of the largest ravines in Kholodny Yar. "Potash" is a product made from the ash of burned wood, similar to soda. It was used to produce glass, soap, paints, gunpowder, for washing clothes, and for tanning leather. This type of production was called a "buda."

ДОДАТИ ЩЕ ТРОХИ ТЕКСТУ (наприклад, коли був заснован, або були згадки про нього)

Maksym Zalizniak’s Oak, over 1,100 years old, is a monument of both nature and history. According to legend, Maksym Zalizniak liked to rest under a family of giant oaks, and one of them was named in his honor.

The oak stands 30 meters tall, with a circumference of 9.05 meters, and has witnessed many historic events.

Next to Maksym Zalizniak’s Oak is a mass grave of local residents who were killed by German occupiers on June 18, 1943, during World War II.

On that day, most of the peaceful inhabitants of Buda Village (over 150 people) were deported to Germany, while 82 locals, 4 prisoners of war, and 3 non-locals were shot and buried in a common grave, their murder hidden by the occupiers.