Kremenets Castle (Castle Hill of Queen Bona), Kremenets

One of the Legends says that when Queen Bona saw local landscapes she told that this is the wonder of the world. Then she told to collect all the skins of killed animals from furriers in the neighborhood and to make the bridge from them between two mountains. Unfortunately when the queen was crossing the bridge it broke off.

 

An interesting Legend is connected with the well which is located on the top of Zamkova mountain. The fortress was considered to be impregnable at any time of the year (the height of the mountain from the sole of the city to the summit is 105 (m) 397 (cm) above sea level), however it's weak side was absence of water. When people decided to make a well, they didn't reach the water. That is when the legend that underground are queen Bona's treasures was born.

Only at Easter night unkissed boy can go down there and at midnight when the bells are ringing and Christ is Risen on 12 smash the entrance to the dungeon is opening. If you are down there the spirit of the queen will appear and give the key to treasures to you. The boy can open them and take some. Unfortunately people's nature is so that it can't resist woman or treasures that's why the bells ring 12 times and everything is closing up so nobody came back from there.

Kremenets is also called Volyn Switzerland. Even in Polish guides it was written that the best landscape in Poland can be seen from queen Bona's palace. The last king of Commonwealth of Poland Stanislaw August Poniatowski climbed on top of the mountain to admire the view of the city. The last tsar of Russia Nicholas II has also climbed that mountain during his trip to Pochaiv. On the Northeastern outskirts of Kremenets City Divochi rocks are located. The case is that all the local mountains are spherical, but one of them consists from stones and boulders that's why it's called Divochi rocks.

 

One of the legends says that during the raids of foreign hordes on our lands, Volyn girls were valued by the price of gold. The unpredictable happened when beautiful girls were gathered and it was planned to send them to the harem. The girls agreed with each other to run away at night. When the guard began to overtake them, they jumped into the abyss not to fall into a slavery. Since then, these rocks are called Divochi.

 

Another version says that there could be a girls' monastery at the present site of the Girls' Rocks, where only virginal girls, who remained there all their lives, went to. Even Shevchenko wrote about Chyhyryn that “traveling across Ukraine, I somehow took to Chyhyryn, and to that maiden monastery, which is lonely standing on the swamp in the vines.” According to one version, it may have been a rare maiden monastery.

 

Translated by: Darina Stepchenkova