Holy Mountains National Nature Park () (also: (Sviati Hori) NNP) is located along the chalk cliffs and river terraces of the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...

River in Eastern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The park's boundaries are a patchwork of forested areas stretching along the banks of the Donets. The Holy Mountains of Ukraine contain many archaeological, natural, historical, and recreational sites, including the

Sviatohirsk Lavra The Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition (, Sviatohirsk Lavra or the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery) is a major Monastery#Orthodox Christian monasteries, Orthodox Christian monastery on the steep right bank of the Donets, Siverskyi Donets River ...

monastery. The park is located in the administrative districts of Sloviansk (11,957 ha), Lyman (27,665 ha) and Bakhmut; all are in the north of

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

Topography

The Donets River originates in the Russian uplands north of the park, flows southeast through Ukraine, and back into Russia. The Sviati Hori park is located in the middle stretch of the Ukrainian sector, on terrain of steppe, mountains, upland, and wetlands. The left bank of the river in the park on the river are mostly flood terraces, with numerous lakes and spring-fed streams. The right bank tracts are on chalk hills that rise 120–130 meters above the river. The Donets floods an average of 2.5 meters every year, with peaks of 5.8 meters every 5 years.

Climate and ecoregion

The climate of the Holy Mountains park is humid continental climate, warm summer (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

(Dfb)). This climate is characterized by large swings in temperature, both diurnally and seasonally, with mild summers and cold, snowy winters. The park is in the

Pontic–Caspian steppe The Pontic–Caspian Steppe is a steppe extending across Eastern Europe to Central Asia, formed by the Caspian and Pontic steppes. It stretches from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the ''Pontus Euxinus'' of antiquity) to the northern a ...

ecoregion, a grassland that stretches from Romania in the west to the region of the southern Ural Mountains.

Flora and fauna

Up to 91% of the park is forested, with another 2.5% in willow-alder bogs, and 1.5% in meadows. The park has great diversity of species of both flora and fauna, with over one-third of the species of Ukraine found within park boundaries. The deciduous forests of the left bank display 90-110 year-old stands of oak (one third of the trees), ash, lime and maple. First terraces are often sandy with stands of pine trees. While normally rare in a steppe zone, the forests of the area benefit from the mountainous relief and natural water of the area. The herbaceous layers of the park tend towards steppe species. 943 species of plants have been recorded in the park, including many relic (Cretaceous) and endemic (20 recorded) species. The park has recorded 40 species of fish, over 200 of birds, 10 reptile, and 48 mammals. The park has a high number of predatory mammals, including fox, marten, and even wolves. The foxes tend to make their dens within park boundaries, but range into the nearby farmland.

Public use

About 85% of the park is available for recreational usehiking, camping in designated areas, and historical and ecological tours. 6.5% of the park is off-limits to the public to protect especially important or sensitive sites. The national park is endangered by forest fires caused by the ongoing

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and the military operations in the area. In October 2024, a

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

report cited Ukrainian officials as saying that of the nearly 12,000 hectares of the park which are owned by park management, roughly 80% had been damaged or destroyed by fires or ordnance.

References

External links