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. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

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 River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, 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 o ...

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

. According to the Slavic legends, the Lysa Hora hill is the largest and most famous location of the mystical " bald mountain" - 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 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-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

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 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 have a ...

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 ministe ...

. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

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 flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

navigation was built on the Lysa Hora.

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

Forts of Lysa Hora

See also

External links