Skole Beskids
Skolevskie Beskydy is a national park of Ukraine in the Carpathian Mountains, spread over an area of 352 km2. It was created to preserve unique spruce and beech forests and protected areas.
In the Skolevskie Beskydy National Park, you can see the Kamenetsky and Gurkalo waterfalls. There is also the Tustan Historical and Cultural Reserve with the ruins of the ancient fortress of the same name, which used to serve as a defensive structure and customs control point for the transportation of salt from Galicia. During the archaeological excavations, many exhibits were found, including battle axes, rings, arrowheads, pots, crypts with burials, wells. Based on the excavations, it was concluded that the defensive walls of the Tustan fortress, built around the 10th century, were 15 meters high. In the center stood a five-story building with a height of 4 meters. The fortress was supplied with water by a well in the rocks, and the excess water was stored in reservoirs in the rocks.
The flora and fauna of the Skole Beskids is no less interesting, because unique plants grow here, many of which are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. Among the plants it is worth noting: snowdrop, daffodil, bear onion, astrantia, mountain arnica, forest lily, jatryshnik, Carniolian scopolia. The rivers of the park are home to more than 20 species of fish: trout, carp, whitefish, grayling, Balkan barbels, minnows, slugs. Near the rivers, you can easily meet newts, salamanders, frogs. There is also an interesting avifauna, which includes more than 150 species of birds, including cranes, geese, herons, gogols, terns, gulls, great curlews, 82 species of sparrows and 18 species of birds of prey.
In 1965, 10 bison were brought to the Skole Beskids, which adapted and were able to give offspring. In addition to them, you can see 50 more species of mammals here. Of these, roe deer, red deer, wild boars, badgers, otters, and mice can be encountered without difficulty. Foxes, martens, wolves, brown bears, lynxes, forest cats, hares, squirrels, ermines have also found refuge here.
