Holy mountains
Holy Mountains is a national park in Ukraine, founded in 1997 on an area of 405 km2 along the Seversky Donets River.
The park is known primarily for its chalk mountains, which are home to relict chalk pines. In addition to them, almost a thousand plants grow here, 48 of them are present in the Red Book of Ukraine. 250 species of animals have been recorded in the Holy Mountains, including 194 species of birds and 43 species of mammals. There are also 40 species of fish in the waters of the national park.
Equally interesting in the national park are archaeological sites and historical monuments, of which there are more than 200 in total. These include the Kamyshev Oak, dedicated to the feat of Lieutenant Vladimir Kamyshev, who climbed to the top of the oak and adjusted artillery fire on enemy positions in 1943 while crossing the Seversky Donets River. But the Germans noticed him and tore down the crown of a tree with a self-propelled gun, mortally wounding the hero. Among the monuments, the monument to Artyom, dedicated to the revolutionary Fyodor Andreevich Sergeev, the founder of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, will attract attention.
The Svyatogorsk Lavra, built in the 13th and 16th centuries, is also located on the rocky banks of the river. Not far from the lavra there is a forest with centuries-old oaks about 25 meters high, but among them there is the oldest oak in the eastern part of Ukraine, more than 600 years old, 2 meters in diameter and almost 30 meters high. There is a monument to Artyom on the mountain above the lavra.
The lands of the Holy Mountains National Park also include Lake Chernetskoye, which appeared on the site of the old riverbed of the Seversky Donets River, and the Black Stallion Nature Reserve with an area of 223 hectares, where black alder grows. In the Martynenkovo swamp you can see the largest colonies of herons in Ukraine, lapwings, orioles, nightingales, black kites, hoopoes are also found here. Of the plants, water lilies, cupids, cotyledons, marsh irises, hedgehogs, waterbirds, and floating perches are of great interest. Any economic activity and logging is prohibited on the territory of the sanctuaries.
