Last year, Ukraine elected its own seven natural wonders: nature reserves, canyons, bays, caves and lakes. Today, we introduce one of them. It is located in the Carpathian Mountains, so beautiful in all seasons. What kind of wonder is it, you might ask. The “Sea Eye” of the Carpathians: Synevyr, a picturesque lake that lies 989 metres above sea level. A kind of place that seems created for those in love
Born out of Love
This lake of fascinating beauty could not but give rise to legends about its origin. Everything here is just as one would expect: a sea of love and sharp rocks of suffering. The most popular legend relating the creation of Synevyr goes back to the time when all the mountains used to belong to one Count, the father of a blue-eyed beauty called Syn. One day, the Count went to see how his lumberjacks were working, and Syn asked to accompany him. The girl was wandering in the forest when she heard the sound of a reed pipe that shepherd Vyr was playing. She asked the young man to go on playing and, before leaving, she promised to come back. The more frequent were their secret meetings, the gloomier was the Count. One day, when Vyr was expecting his beloved by the forest, the Count’s servants rolled a huge boulder at him down the mountainside. When she saw what happened, Syn embraced the stone grave and wept bitterly. She cried and cried until her tears flooded the edge of the forest, and Syn herself disappeared in the blue waters. Its water - the colour of Syn’s eyes, while the island in the middle of it - the place where Vyr died. People combined their names - Syn and Vyr - and thus named the lake.
There is also another legend, also full of love and anguish. One day, wolves attacked one of the Count’s flocks of sheep, which young shepherd Ivan was looking after. The shepherd, knowing that there would be no mercy from the Count, decided to escape punishment by running away. Feeling distraught in a foreign land, the shepherd went to the seashore every night to pour out his sadness. “Oh mighty sea, please, spare a moment of your time to cast a single glance over my Verhovina and bow for me to my native land!” The wild elements heard the shepherd’s prayer, broke through the mountains and drowned both the Count and his servants in its waters. So impressed were the elements with the proud Carpathian Mountains that they decided to remain here as a clear sea eye.
The Gate to Tranquillity
Synevyr, the largest lake of the Carpathians, is known for crystal-clear water, incredibly clean air and its remoteness. Although the distance to the region centre Mizhgirya is only 32 kilometres, in the mountains, those kilometres have a tendency to stretch out. The road meanders through the mountain gorges of the Synevyrskiy Pass. Make a brief stop on its top and take a look around. Over there, in the southeast, you can see Mount Strymba (1719 m) rising into the sky, and, down below, scattered like the pearls of a broken necklace, the white huts of the Synevyr village, together with a tiny thread of the river Tereblya. Its clear waters are home to trout.
The resort “Synevyrske Ozero (Lake)” serves as a kind of gate to the kingdom of tranquillity. There is still a distance of 1.5 kilometres between here and the lake that is worth walking. This is a protected area full of rare animals and plants. A wooden, cosy-looking hotel is located right on the edge of the “sea eye”. Never mind that these mountains have not heard of the Internet yet. A home-like atmosphere holds sway in the hotel, burning logs crackle in the fireplace, the floorboards gently squeak, and the snow on the shore sparkles like diamonds …
Synevyr was formed around ten thousand years ago when, during a powerful shift, rock formations rose like a fast-moving torrent to form a natural dam. The water eventually found a way out: 60 metres off the south-eastern shore, a lonely trickle breaks through the ground. Four other streams and multiple underwater springs feed the blue Carpathian “eye”.
The surface of the lake is about 7 hectares, and the maximum depth is 22 metres. The lake’s water has a rather unusual taste: it does not contain any chlorides. In summer, the surface temperature of the lake reaches 20 °C, while in the deep; it is only 4 to 5 °C. The wooden figures of Syn and Vyr, created by Ukrainian sculptors in 1984, are reflected in the still water.
In 1974, to preserve this natural wonder, the state-sponsored landscape reserve “Synevyrske Lake” was founded here, and 20 years ago - the national natural park “Synevyr” was established. It covers an area of 40,400 hectares. More than 10 000 plants, 43 species of mammals, 91 species of birds, 24 species of fish have found here a protected habitat.
The nearby Ozirna Mountain (1496 metres) offers the best view of the lake. In summer, one can take a twelve-kilometre road to its top. If you are lucky, you can come across deer, hare or badgers. But the main prize is still ahead: the view on the lake. From a high vantage point, you get an impression that a blue eye watches you: an eye-lake with a pupil-island in the middle, surrounded by spruce trees eyelashes. The Sea Eye of love…
USEFUL INFORMATION
The National Natural Park “Synevyr”
http://synevir.karpat.org/; E-mail: synevyr@karpat.org
Where to stay
The tourist resort “Synevyrske Ozero” is located just 1.5 km from the Synevyr Lake.
Address: Transcarpathian region, Mizhgirsky district, Synevyrska Poliana village. Tel./Fax: +38 03146 914 62. Rooms start from UAH150 to 300 per day.
How to get there
From Kyiv or Lviv by daily trains to Uzhgorod, from there to Mizhgirya village or the town of Hust by regular buses, and then in a rented car or a taxi to Synevyr.
GETTING THERE
UIA offers daily flights to Kyiv from most of Western Europe’s largest cities, convenient flights to Lviv from Madrid, Barcelona and Frankfurt
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