Transcarpathia is a wonderful region with picturesque landscapes that attract tourists and vacationers not only from Ukraine but also from around the world. The teachers of the Transcarpathian Regional Ecological and Naturalistic Center for Students Youth conducted a virtual tour of the “Silver Land” for young tourists who fled to our region because of the war. Children for a while immersed in the unique beauty of the Carpathians, mountains and valleys, beech virgin forests, mountainous rivers, lakes and waterfalls, the wonder of flora and fauna, medieval castles, learned many interesting things about our magical land.
Most of the region is mountains covered by forests. The highest point of Transcarpathia and of Ukraine is Hoverla – 2061 m. The longest river in Transcarpathia is the Tisza. In addition to the Tisza, the rivers Uzh, Latorytsia, Borzhava, Rika, Tereblya, Teresva flow through the territory of the region. The largest alpine lake in Transcarpathia is Synevyr. It is popularly called the Sea Eye. And, indeed, from a bird’s eye view, Synevyr seems like a huge blue eye with an island in the middle framed by fir trees as thick eyelashes.
It was a surprise for the children to learn that not far from Synevyr is the Brown Bear Rehabilitation Center, which houses animals that have been abused or injured in a natural disaster. The conditions here are created for them, as close as possible to natural conditions, each bear has its own lair and is provided with delicious food. The Daffodil Valley is a unique botanical place that preserves the largest center of narcissus in Central Europe, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.
There are many picturesque places in the Carpathians. One of such places are waterfalls (Shypit, Vojevodyn, Skakalo, Trufanetskyi, Yalinetskyi, Guklyvyi). Salt mines in the Solotvyno district – is the place where people with respiratory diseases came to rest and be treated. Now the mines are filled with water, and people are resting on the salt lakes.
Uzhhorod is one of the smallest regional centers of Ukraine in terms of area and population. But we have the longest linden tree alley in Europe, which was planted on the right bank of the river in 1928 by Czech botanists. Its length is over 2 km. Another of the city’s botanical highlights is the sakura blooming – Japanese cherries, which in April with pink “clouds” decorate the streets and squares of the city.
Another pearl of our region is the medieval castles, of which there are 12. Today, Uzhgorod and Mukachevo castles, on the basis of which are museums of local lore. Others, such as Nevitsky, Serednyanskyi, Khustskyi are in ruins. It was nice to hear that the children, although they have not been in our region for a long time, have already managed to visit Uzhhorod Castle with their parents, in the future, they plan to visit Palanok Castle as well as Nevytsky Castle.
There’s the regional museum of local lore, which is located in Uzhgorod Castle, and some of the children have already seen the trembita – a unique Ukrainian musical instrument, the sound of which can be heard at a distance of 10 kilometers. It is the longest instrument in the world, recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, its length is from 3 to 8 meters. The young “travelers” were also interested in the story of unique farms where spotted deer, Carpathian buffaloes, ostriches, and snails are bred.
In memory of the virtual trip to our unforgettable land, children made greeting cards with the image of a flower, which is a symbol of the Carpathians – edelweiss. It’s considered a symbol of love and happiness and it’s mentioned in mysterious legends. One of them says that the fabulous winged creatures live in the impregnable mountains. Taking the form of young beauties, they grow edelweiss on inaccessible rock tops, zealously guarding the secret of their existence against people. They ruthlessly throw people into the abyss who want to steal their beautiful “silver stars” for fun. But if the young man’s aspirations are inspired by sincere and devoted feelings, they allow you to pluck a flower and give it to the only one who is in your heart. Plucked edelweiss flowers do not wither, and dried ones remain in their original form for a long time, retaining the mysterious beauty of the shape and silver color.
We hope that young guests of the city will also love our picturesque land, and we are convinced that they will still return home, but later they will visit Transcarpathia more than once!
Olga Velychkanych, Head of the Department of Biology and Research and Experimental Work of TRENCSY.
Oksana Strichko, Methodist of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection of TRENCSY.
The event was held in cooperation with the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies (IERS) (headed by Alexander Bokotey with the support of the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU), project coordinator Ivan Tymofeiev).
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Informational Service of IERS