Tunnel of Love

Tunnel of Love is an industrial railway located in Volyn region. It links two

villages Klevan and Orzhiv.
Railway of Tunnel of Love stretches for 5 km. Like every beautiful place this
tunnel has a romantic story about it. It is the legend about a couple who loved each
other but their parents were against the marriage. So, Tunnel of Love is considered
‘’ a place of blessing for couples ‘’.

There are interesting legends connected with the tunnel. According to

one of them, this green corridor existed under the Czartoryski princes, and
once became a refuge for a couple of young people in love - fugitives from
Klevan Castle. No less interesting is another version, about a young Polish
engineer who fell in love with a girl from Klevan and built a railway directly
across the forest to shorten the road from Orzhev, where he lived, to his
beloved woman. Eventually, their lives diverged, and locals say that these
people carried love throughout their lives. An incredible story!

Shypit waterfall

Shypit is a waterfall in the Ukrainian Carpathians. It begins from

underground source ‘’ Sea Eye ‘’. The total height is 14 km. In the spring the
waterfall is especially beautiful due to the melt water.
Since 1993 the informal international festival of hippies and other
subcultures takes place near the waterfall at the beginning of July. The
culmination of the celebrations is Midsummer Night of July 7 th.
There is the legend about this waterfall and its name:
A long time ago, a beautiful girl named Mariika lived in the village
Pylypets, with whom a young person Ivan was in love. Mariika was the
daughter of rich parents, and Ivan was an ordinary poor man. The girl’s
family was against their meetings. The lovers had to meet in a secret place,
on the mountain under the Borzhava meadow. Over time, Mariika's mother
learned about the place of their meetings. She began to curse the young
couple in a fit of anger. From her rage began a big downpour with lightning
and thunder, the tumultuous streams from which descended from the
meadows and they carried Mariika and Ivan away to the abyss. A waterfall
arose on their way to death and it separated the beloveds. They
disappeared into the noisy foam of mountain streams.
Since then, the girl's mother comes to this place and mourns her
misconduct, regretting the ruined life of Mariika. One night on Ivana Kupala,
a woman heard the voice of her daughter, who seemed to whisper the
words of love to Ivan. Hence the unique name of the waterfall Shipot.

Aktov Canyon

This is one of the most beautiful and unusual places in Ukraine. Aktov
Canyon is often called "Devil's Valley". The small river Mertvovod meanders
between high rocks. According to legend, the ancient Scythians sent their kings
down the river on the last journey. The rocks around it rise 50 meters. How and
why such a place arose among the flat steppe is completely incomprehensible. This
is a miniature American Grand Canyon. The landscapes here are incredibly
beautiful, especially at dawn - with the first rays of the sun, the rocks turn peach-
pink.
It is one of the oldest land areas in Eurasia, formed from volcanic rocks. The
sea here dried up 60 million years ago. Aktov canyon is located in the valley of the
Mertvovod River. This is the influx Southern Bug. The entire canyon is about five
kilometers long. The height of the rocks is up to 50 meters. In some places, sheer
stonewalls are formed. Huge boulders lie on the banks.
There is another legend - during one of the Tatar raids, local residents
boiled a poisonous broth and poured it into the river upstream of the Tatars'
camp. The enemies drank the water and died. According to another version,
the river got its name after the terrible battle of the Zaporozhye Cossacks
with the Turks, after which the river water was not visible because of the
bodies of the dead.

Oleshky Sands

It is the huge desert that spreads over several districts of the Kherson region.
The sands, located near the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, have existed
for many centuries, but the desert – in form that we know it today – appeared
relatively recently. This sand area used to be covered with plants, which prevented
the sands from spreading.
In order to prevent the whole Black Sea region from turning into one big
desert, in the 20th century, artificial forests were planted around the sands. Today,
spread over a territory of 100,000 hectares, these forests are the largest artificial
forests world!
The fact that during Soviet times, a military base was located here adds
mystery to the Oleshky sands. Pilots from Warsaw Pact countries trained here. Up
to this day, the huge dunes sometimes reveal shells and airplane wrecks hidden
under the sand.
The sand here is very fine and light, which means that the wind can easily
raise it in the air. The sand storms and tornados that begin in the sands sometimes
reach Kherson, located 30 kilometers (19 miles) away.
As any desert, the Oleshky Sands have their own oases. There are dried up,
wet, and mineral lakes among five-meter (16 foot) high wandering sand hills,
covered with grass and bushes. And 400 meters (1310 feet) underground is a fresh
lake with incredibly pure and delicious water.
In recent years, this amazing place has become more and more popular with
tourists. And no wonder: endless golden sand dunes, against the background of
unbelievably blue sky framed by green pine forests, are like a scene from a
fairytale that came to life. Nobody wants to leave this beautiful land!

Tarakaniv Fort

Aristocratic Tarakaniv fort (the new Dubno fortress) resembles

British colonial architecture with its exquisite lines, the same flow of the
outline, a great number of arcades and architectural decoration. An
excellent landmark of the fortification art of the 19th century located in
the suburbs of Tarakaniv village, Rivne oblast, is abandoned today, and
thus is the most mystic destination in Ukraine.
Tarakaniv fort was constructed to guard the borders of the Russian
Empire in the latter half of the 19th century. The new system of
defensive lines was designed by prominent military engineer, Eduard
Totleben. According to the plan, one of the most important fortified
strongpoints on the border with Austria-Hungary had to be a
construction to defend Dubno and a section of Kyiv-Lviv railway track.
The construction works upon Eduard Totleben’s project started in 1873.
66 million rubles were allocated for the building from the imperial
treasury. The construction was only completed in 1890 since the
engineer passed away.
Legends and pitfalls of Tarakaniv fort
 According to the long-livers’ legends, during World War II
the Germans elaborated secret weapons in the fort.
 They say some people disappeared in the fortress. One
wall in the fortress features the list of surnames of the people who
didn’t come back from the fort in the latter part of the 20th century.
 The ghosts of the Austrian soldiers who found their last
shelter in the suburbs of the construction are said to wander around
the fort at night.

Pidhirts Castle
Pidhirtsi Castle is a residential castle-fortress located in the village
of Pidhirtsi in Lviv Oblast (province) western Ukraine, located eighty kilometers
east of Lviv.
It was constructed by Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan between 1635–1640
by order of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's Grand Crown
Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, on the place of the older fortress.[1] The castle was
then part of the Kingdom of Poland and it is regarded as the most valuable of
palace-garden complexes in the eastern borderlands of the former Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth
Today, it is part of the Lviv National Art Gallery.
It has not been established who designed the complex, that, most probably,
was planned by Italian architect Andrea del Aqua,[2] who also designed the fortress
in nearby Brody for bellicose Koniecpolski.2 The castle had a great history.
In February 1956 the castle almost completely burned down, including
valuable paintings; the fire lasted for three weeks, leaving behind only walls and
$12 million in damages.[8] In 1997 it was purchased by the Lviv Gallery of
Painting, which turned it into a museum.
The castle, despite all the damages rendered during the Communist rule,
always was an interesting and attractive architectural object. Several movies were
made in Pidhirtsi, including shots of Potop.
Ghosts of Pidhirtsi Castle
 The history of the famous palace has many mysterious pages. There are many
incredible rumours about one of the owners of the castle, a politician Seweryn
Rzewuski, because of his rather peculiar hobby. They say that in his secret
alchemical laboratory, Rzewuski was making a magical longevity potion and was
searching for a philosopher’s stone to create gold. He conducted these experiments
and organized treasure hunting, to attempt to improve the financial situation of the
family. Today in the dungeon of the castle you can find an alchemical workshop.
In the dusk, among the magical items, you can immerse yourself in the mysterious
past of the castle.
Another legend is about the ghost of White Lady, whose mysterious figure
emerges from the misty darkness of the dungeon together with a terrifying melody.
The origin of this mystical image is associated with a real dramatic story that took
place in the castle in ancient times.
The young wife of the elderly owner of the castle, having become a victim of
her husband’s jealousy, was, by his order, walled up alive in the walls of the
palace. Since then, the spirit of a young woman wanders restlessly through the
castle corridors and park alleys. Believe it or not, but not only castle inhabitants
and residents of Pidhirtsi witnessed unusual phenomena in the palace.
Interesting facts

In different years the castle was visited by the Austrian Emperor Franz
Joseph, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, Ivan Franko, Fyodor Glinka, Jan
Matejko, Alexei Tolstoy and many other prominent personalities. The inn of
the castle (which, by the way, is quite well preserved) remembers the French
writer Honore de Balzac, who stopped in Pidhirtsi on the way to meet his
beloved Ewelina Hanska. A 700-year-old linden tree is considered a unique
natural monument of the park.

Optimistic Cave

Optimistic Cave is a gupsym cave located near the Ukrainian village of

Korolivka, Ternopil region. It is the longest gypsym cave in the Eurasia and the
fifth of word. The length of its passageways is about 255 km. But the cave ilstlf is
much longer. There are 15 undegraund camps.
Optimistic cave – one of very few not fully explored places on the Earth.
Discovered in 1966.
Since 1967 apart from Ukrainian speleologists, speleologists of many
countries of the world: Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, France,
England, Russia an Byelorussia worked in Lviv expeditions in Optymistychna
cave.