Ruins of old mine «Valiavka-Pivdenna», Kryviy Rih

An entire settlement lived here for only twenty years — then disappeared. The houses were demolished, the residents relocated, and the site almost completely buried under spoil. Today where Valiavka stood there is a mining plant quarry, and all that remains of former life are the ruins of an old mine.

The ruins of the pre-war Valiavka-Pivdenna mine are the material trace of the vanished Kryvyi Rih settlement of Valiavka. A location for those seeking not «beautiful» shots but real industrial history that was literally erased from the map.

Quick Facts

What It Is and Why Visit

Kryvyi Rih is a city that stands on iron and literally rewrites its own map for ore. Entire streets and settlements have vanished here when new quarries opened beneath or beside them. Valiavka is one of the most striking such stories.

Today almost nothing remains of the workers’ settlement, but the ruins of the old mine survived: fragments of surface structures, concrete, metal, and nearby — spoil heaps and the edge of a vast quarry. This is a place of reminder: about how easily industry swallows human space, and how quickly what seemed permanent disappears.

The settlement of Valiavka existed for only about 20 years (1950s–1970s) and had approximately 1,500 residents. Almost all of them worked at the mine.

History: The Settlement That Lived One Generation

The name Valiavka is linked to Vasyl Antonovych Valiavka — the first chairman of the revolutionary committee and military commissioner of Kryvyi Rih. The mine itself, Valiavka-Pivdenna, was pre-war: iron ore was extracted here long before the Second World War.

The workers’ settlement beside the mine took shape later — in the 1950s. Small, holding about fifteen hundred people: streets, houses, buses to central Kryvyi Rih. At the end of one of the streets stood the mine with its surface buildings and spoil heap. Ordinary life of a mining settlement.

How the Settlement Disappeared

In 1970 work began on opening Quarry No. 2 of the Novokryvorizky GOK, which launched in 1971. A spoil dump (Burshchytskyi spoil heap) began to be built in its northern section — and this created the need to resettle residents. The settlement, having lasted about two decades, was demolished and the territory eventually almost entirely buried. Today where Valiavka stood, there is the plant quarry.

Legends and Local Lore

A vanished settlement is ideal ground for nostalgic and slightly eerie stories.

1. The City That Isn’t on the Map

Former Valiavka residents still gather in reminiscence groups and social media, rebuilding the «map» of streets that no longer physically exist. Valiavka became a city of memory: it lives only in people, because the place itself is gone.

2. The Buried Yard

Among the stories are accounts that beneath the spoil heaps lie house foundations, cellars and even residents’ forgotten belongings. Whether that is true cannot be verified — everything is under rock. But the idea of a «buried settlement» is haunting.

3. The Mine That «Remembers»

Locals sometimes call the old mine ruins «the last witness» of Valiavka — the only thing that survived and silently recalls: there was life here. A poetic image rather than mysticism, but a very precise one.

What to See and Do

Mine ruins. The main feature: fragments of the surface structures of the old iron ore mine.

Spoil heaps. Kryvyi Rih’s terykony (spoil heaps) are part of the industrial landscape in their own right and make a decent vantage point.

Edge of the NKHOK quarry. Nearby lies the vast active quarry that literally occupies the site of the former settlement.

The context of the place. The most valuable thing here is the realisation: you are standing where a settlement of 1,500 people once stood, and it is gone.

Getting There

By car. The site is in the Central City district of Kryvyi Rih, in the industrial zone near the NKHOK quarry, roughly a few kilometres from Kryvyi Rih-Zakhidnyi station.

Access. An active high-hazard mining enterprise operates nearby. View the ruins from safe points, without approaching the quarry rim or crossing the plant perimeter.

Important. Kryvyi Rih is a frontline city; check the security situation and respond to air alerts.

Visitor Checklist

• Sturdy shoes: broken glass, rebar, loose rock.
• Water and snacks: no facilities.
• Camera: for industrial shots.
• Power bank: for navigation in the industrial zone.

What NOT to do: approach the rim of the active quarry; enter the plant site without a permit; climb into the derelict mine remains; underestimate that this is a high-hazard industrial zone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to the Valiavka settlement?

It existed for about 20 years (1950s–1970s). When Quarry No. 2 of the Novokryvorizky GOK was opened and a spoil heap built, residents were relocated, the settlement demolished and the territory almost entirely buried under rock.

Where does the name «Valiavka» come from?

It is linked to Vasyl Valiavka — the first chairman of the revolutionary committee and military commissioner of Kryvyi Rih.

Is it safe to visit?

This is an industrial zone beside an active high-hazard quarry. View the ruins from a distance, without approaching the quarry rim. Plus this is a frontline region — factor in the security situation.

What is left to see there?

Mainly the ruins of the old mine’s surface structures, the spoil heaps and the edge of the NKHOK quarry. The settlement itself is gone — it is under rock.

The ruins of Valiavka-Pivdenna mine are a story about the price of industry. A settlement stood here, with streets, a school, buses, 1,500 human lives — and all of it gave way to a quarry.

Stand by the old ruins, look at the spoil heaps and the edge of the enormous pit — and remember that under this landscape there was once someone’s home. In Kryvyi Rih, iron often wins over memory. That is exactly why memory is worth preserving.