UKRAINE VAMPIRE, WITCHES, WEREWOLVES 8 DAYS

Of course, Lviv has much more to offer. We will drive to the Pidzamche and the High Castle – the oldest parts of Lviv, dating to the 5th century, from the top of which you will enjoy a marvelous look over the city. Not only will you admire the city, but also listen to some legends about the High Castle and its surroundings. Not far from the High Castle we will visit Lysa Hora – a mysterious hill, where according to legends ravens, black eagles, witches and other paranormal creatures periodically gather for their «Sabbath». Walking around the city, witches and magicians could steal keys that inattentive owners forgot in the door. In the house where the key disappeared  strange things began to happen. Troubles, quarrels, diseases and other disagreements pursued owners of such houses. Someone has once told that each society is worth exactly as much as it commemorates its dead. To prove it we offer you to visit Lychakiv cemetery. In an easy way you learn a lot about important personalities who had been writing the history of Lviv for centuries. After dinner we have prepared for you one more interesting excursion called «Mysterious Lviv», during which you  will discover Lviv’s mystifying underground world and listen to some beliefs, superstitions and spooky legends from city’s history about ghosts, witches, vampires, alchemists and other evil creatures.

The Olesko Castle, the oldest in the Galicia region, rises on a 50 m high hill. While strolling through the castle`s halls you will listen to a fabled story of the birth of a Polish king. Olesko Castle is also full of interesting legends and secrets. Some people say ghosts roam around the castle. According to one legend, the spirit of Jan Casper, a Czech monk, appears outside the castle. Once upon a time in the day of St. Anthony the monk committed suicide jumping in front of a thousand pilgrims into the well. Brothers in faith believed that God would forgive him this sin because Jan was mentally ill. But till today, his soul wanders, searching for eternal peace. According to another legend, there was a girl Marianne, the daughter of the owner of the castle Ivan Danylovych, and the son of the hetman, who fell in love with this girl. But the father didn’t want him to be a husband to his daughter and that’s why the guy thrust a knife into his heart. His ghost is still searching for his bride in the neighborhood of Olesko. The castle in Pidhirzi would obviously be a splendid piece in the Galician crown, if it were not in a bit neglected condition. In its times, the castle did not need to hide from his Western European brothers. The castle was often the scene for amusing events, celebrations and permanent entertainments for the local nobility. The legend of a brutally murdered young lady and her white shadow, which always comes back at full moon, gives the castle a proper mysteriousness. Over the centuries Zolochevsky Castle was a fortress, a royal residence, a manor, a prison, an institution. The castle became a place of grief and suffering with the arrival of Austrian troops on the Galician lands. They arranged a prison in the courtyard of the beautiful palace, which walls saw a lot of blood. Strange stones with a manuscript that nobody has ever managed to read were brought to the castle during the restoration. People say a ghost of a man began to wander at the territory of the castle with the appearance of these stones. The ghost wears a long cloak, holds a reed in his hands, and has a hat on his head. In the evening we arrive in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Ivano-Frankivsk  – the former Stanislav  – is named today after a  famous Ukrainian poet, thinker,  translator and writer Ivan Franko. We will have a short excursion around the city during which you will learn about rich history and traditions of the biggest city of Subcarpathia region. We also visit the cemetery on the Kiev Street that functioned from the beginning of the last century. However, this mysterious place became famous after its closing by the Soviet authorities in the mid 70’s. There are legends that once there was buried a vampire. In 1974 people began to find corpses with strange traces of bites on the neck. Of course, the Soviet authorities claimed that no vampires could exist. But the “vampire grave” was burnt by a military flame weapon. After that, strange deaths ceased. However, the Kiev cemetery is still a place of pilgrimage for mystic’s connoisseurs. An incredible natural wonder is situated in the canyon in the Ivano-Frankivsk region – Manyavsky Falls, one of the highest in Ukraine. The sun in this region peers rarely, and it seems that there are present some supernatural forces. And the locals say that in this place there are nymphs and mavkas (mythological Ukrainian female figure, tall, round-faced, long-haired, and sometimes naked, represent the souls of girls who had died unnatural deaths), and if you spend the night at the waterfall, you can hear the singing of mythical creatures. Maybe the invisible forces don’t want to share with the travelers the magic of the waterfall? In the afternoon we drive to Yaremche. We will enjoy real green paradise, spending our time relaxing in the open air and hearing about the mavkas and other mythical creatures. You hear the stories about the girls protecting the native land at a waterfall “Girl’s tears”. Already by the name it is clear that “Girl’s tears” are not just streams of boiling water, this waterfall is made of hundreds of thin crystal clear streams on the bank of the Strip River in Yaremche. And although its height is not more than a meter, there are more stories and legends about it than many other spectacular waterfalls. According to local legends, the waterfall is made of the bitter tears of a young girl who lost her beloved one. According to other legends, such waterfalls, formed from the mourning of mountain beauties, became barriers on the path of evil people, protecting their loved ones from enemies.

Nowhere else in Ukraine you will meet such a bizarre mixture of fairy tales and secrets, as in the Carpathians! Mountains, dense forests, waterfalls and streams – all this seem to be filled with special mysticism. And everyone wants to believe that somewhere high in the mountains near the deep lake lives an old man – a molfar who controls the forces of nature, just like the Ukrainian writer Mikhail Kotsiubynsky wrote in the “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”. The densely forested Carpathian villages are the abodes of Hutsuls. In the Hutsul settlement Verkhovyna you will visit the museum with its worthwhile collection of antique clothes, musical instruments, household appliances and crafts of the Hutsuls. Our next stop is located in Kryvorivnia Hutsul Grazhda – a typical dwelling of Hutsul, which with its shape reminds a small fort – closed courtyard, which consists of a house and  cultivated household spaces. On the entrance is located a gate that is closed for a night. The Grazhda was well secured, mainly from predators and strong winds. In 1964, the Armenian director Sergei Parajanov filmed movie “Fire Horse” exactly at this location. Now the house has become a tourist facility. Carpathian healers have been living among the high mountains, covered with dark forest, for  a long time. In ancient times, Hutsuls called molfars “earthly gods.” They are known, first of all, as the magicians of heaven. There are also Molfar-divines who see the past and the future; the others heal diseases with herbs. A  well-known  molfar, who  called himself  the ancestor of  the legendary commander  and character Cossack Danylo Nechaya, died tragically. In 2011, he died from the hands of a mentally unbalanced person, and not giving anyone his knowledge. Molfar Nechai lived 81 years. Surprisingly, shortly before his death, the Carpathian magician predicted great trials that would fall on Ukraine’s destiny. Although Mikhail Nechas was often called the last mofar of the Carpathians, quacks and seers live now in those lands. In the evening we return to Ivano-Frankivsk, where the night train to Kyiv awaits us.

In the morning you arrive in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The city, which is situated on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city of Golden Domes, which is famous as one of the greenest cities in the world. The mysterious city, which was written about in the books of Gogol and Bulgakov. At the railway station you will be warmly welcomed by our guide. Then the bus takes us to the hotel, where you can  relax after a night ride. And after a break for a delicious lunch, you will get the first acquaintance  with the city. The history of the capital of once the most powerful East European state covers the period of 1500 years. Today you will enjoy the view of the densely forested Dnipro banks, see the government quarter with the House with Chimaeras, explore numerous Kyiv churches and, of course, walk through Independence Square and Khreshchatyk – the main street of Kyiv.

During  our mysterious  Kyiv tour we will  visit really scary places. We begin on the Andriivsky Descent,  where is situated the most famous building  of the main mystifier of the twentieth century  Mikhail Bulgakov. After that, we will take a look at the gothic castle of Richard the Lionheart, which belonged to the wealthy capital industrialist  Dmitry Orlov, who died under strange circumstances shortly after the castle was built. This building is associated with the so-called “Devil’s Triangle” of Kyiv. Our next program point will be the legendary Castle Hill, known as one of the 13 “bald” mountains of Kyiv. A place with  a beautiful panorama view and incredibly strong negative energy. You will see the place, where witches has been gathering for a Sabbath since ancient times, as well as the effects of the rituals of modern sorcerers. According to legend, in pagan times a wolf pack gathered on the Castle Hill twice a year in spring and autumn.Several nights wolves from the neighborhood and from the Irpin forests were having a kind of animal coven. The leader of the coven was a sorcerer who lived somewhere on the bank of Irpin river. People in Kiev called him a “forest defender” and believed that he knew the animal language. They said, a fire circle appeared on the top of the mountain, inside which the animals had their strange games. Wolves ate particular sort of grass – lost their minds, howled at the moon and rolled on the ground. Then the sorcerer entered the fire circle and the gray wolfs began to turn into people. We finish our day tour on Lysa Gora – the greatest place of Power in Kiev. According to city legends, the witches hold their Sabbath here every year at night of 30th April. They gather special plant – centaury, which grows there, in order to use it for their rituals. The darkest legends tell that even demons and Satan himself visit the Sabbath. You can also find a huge statue of Perun and a real pagan temple here. Nazi tank base was located on Lysa Gora in the period of German occupation of Kyiv in 1941-1943. This base was known by high number of soldiers gone mad or committed suicide. After such an exciting day you will have a farewell dinner where you exchange impressions of the day and the entire trip.

Well, our program comes to its end. You take with you unforgettable impressions and the great feeling of having experienced something special. You have spent your time in Ukraine eventfully and learned about its culture, and traditions. We hope that we have managed to persuade you to come here once more in the future. We always welcome you here!