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The Legends Behind The Most Visited Places In Ukraine

…national legends better than any movie

theSOARnet (CC0), Pixabay

Every nation has its own legends and myths. Ukraine is not an exclusion. When visiting Ukraine many tourists find themselves looking at some sights not even realising that there is a legend standing behind this place that explains many things. In this article I will tell you about some legends connected to the most visited places in Ukraine.

The beginning of Ukraine

There was a woman who had three sons. All three sons were intelligent, handsome, honest and kind. All three of them loved their mother and were ready to give their life for her. When they grew up they went around the world telling everybody about their mother.

As a gift to her first, the eldest son, the mother gave a crown with three rays, the crown was giving people light and hope. People called the first son Trident.

When the middle son left the house his mother gave him blue and yellow clothes to wear. He was very brave and clever. People liked him and called him Flag.

As a gift to the youngest son the mother gave the beautiful voice of a nightingale. This son told many good stories about his mother everywhere he went. People liked him for his voice as it sounded like the song of a bird so they called him Anthem. Until today the three sons Trident, Flag and Anthem walk around the world glorifying their mother, Ukraine.

A legend about Kiev

There were three brothers, Kiy, Shek and Horif. They also had a sister named Lybed. Every brother had their own mountain where they lived and built a settlement. Kiy lived on the mountain that is now called Borychev. Shek lived on the mountain Shekovica and Horif lived on the mountain Horifita. One day they decided to build a big city called Kiev which was named after their oldest brother Kiy. It’s location was perfect, there was a big river called the Dnipro nearby and a lot of forest for hunting.

Golden Gates of Kiev

If you ever visit Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, you will definitely see the famous golden dates. For many years that was the main entrance to the city and they were believed to be invulnerable. The date and the reason of why or how they were ruined is still unknown. And here the legend starts…

One day Tatar invaders came to seize Vyshgorod (a town near Kiev). In the evening one of them sat near the gates to have dinner. A brave man called Mikhajlik lived in the town. He saw the tatars from his house and shot an arrow. It got straight into the meat on the plate of one tatar. He then said – “Show me the man who did it and I will not invade your town”. People decided to let Mikhajlik down. He then pointed his shield at the Golden gates and said that since they pointed at him both Kiev and the Gates will be ruined until he says otherwise.

The legend says that he is still alive and eats only pieces of bread with water every day. To rebuild the gates he has to come to Kiev again and take his curse off. Until then the Gates will stay ruined.

A legend about Desna and Dniper

There was a brother and a sister living in the old days. They had a blind father who had to bless any doing of his children. The sister was called Desna and the brother was called Dniper. Desna was always envious of Dinper and thought that the father loved him more. When the time came for both of them to leave their father’s house Desna came to her father and pretended to be Dniper. The father believed it was his son and blessed her to go slowly around the world, helping people everywhere. Then Dniper came to him and asked him to bless him too. This is when the father realized how his own daughter had lied to him. So he blessed Dniper to go and become the strongest and most majestic river ever, catch up with his sister and not let her grow any more.

This is what Dnipro did. He went very fast trying to catch up with his sister. He managed to catch her very soon but the current in the Dniper stayed very fast until now. They still flow in parallel, one on the right side, one on the left. But the Dniper is must stronger and more majestic than the Desna. Although the Desna has more fish and a very slow current.

What do you think?

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