Lysa Hora (Kyiv)
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Lysa Hora ( uk, Лиса Гора); ("Bald Mountain" meaning barren mountain, featureless mountain) is a large wooded
hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...
in the
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
capital
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, near the confluence of the
Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
and Lybid' rivers. The hill is now a
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
included in the ''Kyiv Fortress'' museum. The mount supposedly takes its name from the fact that its top was (some
slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...
s of the hill are still) not covered by trees. The mount is located in the Holosiiv Municipal District of
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. According to the Slavic legends, the Lysa Hora hill is the largest and most famous location of the mystical "
bald mountain Bald Mountain may refer to: Geographic locations in the United States * Bald Mountain (Heceta Island), Alaska * Bald Mountain (California), a name given to over fifty summits in California ** Bald Mountain (Humboldt County) * , a peak near Littl ...
" - a traditional site of the
witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...
gatherings. Particularly, it is asserted in the works of the Ukrainian writer
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
.


Forts of Lysa Hora

In 1872, a small
fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
(part of the Kyiv Fortress) was built on the hill by the
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
army. However, upon completion the fortress was found to be of little military importance and was converted into the military storehouse. Due to its relatively remote location, from 1906 the fortress was used as an
execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...
place for convicted political prisoners of the Tsarist government. Over 200 people were executed there by hanging between 1906 and 1917, one of them was
Dmitry Bogrov Dmitry Grigoriyevich Bogrov ( – ) () was the assassin of Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin. On Bogrow was sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed on in the Kiev fortress Lyssa Hora. Stolypin's widow had campaigned in vain to spare the ass ...
, the
assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...
of
Pyotr Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian politician and statesman. He served as the third prime minister and the interior minist ...
. The fortress saw fierce fighting during the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when a unit of local defence volunteers resisted the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
offensive on Kyiv. Later, the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
used the fortress as storage area till 1980. An underground complex beneath the fortress is sometimes mentioned, but in fact only old water tanks can be found, still filled with rain water. In the 1980s, a radio
beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
for
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
navigation was built on the Lysa Hora.


See also

*
Lysa Hora (folklore) Bald Mountain ( pl, Łysa Góra, Ukrainian: Лиса гора, ''Lysa hora''; Russian: Лысая гора, ''Lysaya gora'') is a location in Slavic folk mythology related to witchcraft. According to legends, witches periodically gather on the "b ...
*
St. John's Eve (short story) "St. John's Eve" (russian: Вечер накануне Ивана Купала; Transliteration, translit. ''Večer nakanune Ivana Kupala''), also known as "The Eve of Ivan Kupala," is the second short story in the collection ''Evenings on a ...
* Zamkova Hora *
Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Ночь на лысой горе, translit=Noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian ...


External links

* In Ukrainian with English summary and content * (an environmentalist group that started their activities with Lysa Hora issues; includes photos and description of Lysa Hora nature) * * {{Authority control Forts in Ukraine History of Kyiv Tourist attractions in Kyiv Hills of Kyiv