Zaluchchia Cave

Zaluchchia Cave | Foto
Value: Unique geological monument

Geographical position: between Zaluchchia and Nihyn Villages, Kamyanets'-Podil's'kyi Rayon

In 2000, the burial place with a crist was renewed at the beginning of the path to the Cave. There is an inscription there:

"On June 3, 1889, the bones of the Christians, suffocated in these caves by the Tatars long time ago, were buried here by means of the Religious rite of the Right Reverend, Dymytriy, the Balts'kyi Bishop."
"This monument was built by means of the donations of different people, in 1890."

The caves nearby Nihyn are famous or a long time. Even in 1841, A. Pshezdziyets'kyi described them in his regional essay: "There is Cherche Town not far from Smotrych. There is a cave deeply in the half of the rock under Cherche in the rocky ravine. The entrance to it is from the chapel, which is cut out in the rock but it is so low and narrow, that a man will be able to enter it only kneeling. The cave is not large and high but nearly twenty people may find room in it when standing. There are holes in the walls that lead to new caves in some places. All of the caves are similar and are covered with human's bones". Then, he retells the local legend about the suffocating of people by smoke in the cave by the Tatars. The legend was later retold by V. Antonovych.

In 1883, these caves were archaeologically investigated for the first time by V. Antonovych and K. Mel'nyk. The plan of the main from the tree caves was made and it was revealed that it has form of labyrinth. The archaeological material was collected inside the cave and near it.

Only three places with not rocky but alluvial floor were found in the cave. It consisted of "the mixture of clay, detritus and black earth". The humans' and animals' bones were found in the cultural layer, 35-57 cm thick. Besides, a lot of humans' bones were located on the floor of the corridors and chambers in complete mess. V.Antonovych explains the total lack of skulls among the remnants of the bones by the fact that numerous visitors of the cave, "following pious motives", collected the skulls, took them away from the cave and then buried them. The last burial of all skulls that were left there was conducted 3-4 years before it's visiting by V.Antonovych. While examination of other bones, the researcher noted on some of them the features, which are peculiar to the skeletons of the primitives. For example, the thigh-bones had highly developed tough line on the back surface of the bone (femurs a colonne), some shanks had clear xiphoid shape (tibia platycnemica), small shank bones were differed by rather deep lengthwise furrows (fibules cannele es). A lot of humeruses had a reach-through hole over the cubital connecting head.

There were no stone tools in the cave. Only a few of stone tools were found near the caves. It is a pity but they were not described. Later, this location without any concrete definition was included to the list of the Late Paleolithic and Mesolitic locations, on the basis of just a mentioning.

The second and third caves, unlike the largest one, had their own names: "Kins'ka" (Horse's) and "Zhydivs'ka" (Jewish) Caves. "Kins'ka" (Horse's) Cave was described as a single cavity, 10.2 m long, 2.0-3.2 m wide and 2-3 m high. It has crossing of the irregular triangle. The floor of the cave is entirely rocky. There were no finds in that cave. "Zhydivs'ka" (Jewish) Cave is mentioned as a corridor without any branches. It is 2-3 arshyn (the ancient measure) high and 13.5 m long. The both ends of the cave go outside, this makes convenient entrances. The floor of the cave is paved with small stone fragments, a lot of tortoise-shells Unio pictorium was found among them.

The only documental evidence about the defensive usage of the Nihyn Caves is dated by the XVI century. V.Antonovych has found the Document, composed in 1543, in the Kamyanets' Official Books. (The Book of the Kyiv Central Archives, Kamyanets' Zems'ka Blotter, 1544 (liber inscriptiounum et aliarum transactionum) fol.334-338/ document No.719). According to this document, the Storekeeper of the Podil's'ka land, Yan Gerburg, divived out the estates of Anna Domaratovychevna Radets'ka by means of Luchnykovych Village, alias Zaluchchia, and estates of Kamyanets' Catholic Bishop by Nichyn Village [Today, Nihyn Village - B.R.] and Cherche Town. After dividing the cave appeared to be in the frontier of two estates. Obviously, both sides valued the right to use it because the Storekeeper defines this right twice in the text of the document. Haven led the frontier to the Cave, he said: "Verily, the Cave has to be forever in joint usage both of Zaluchchia and Cherche citizens; no one side must not consider it to be it's exclusive possession. The Cave has to serve as a place of joint shelter from different enemies and in the period of incursions on the country. Any man, woman and every citizen till the smallest child both from Zaluchchia, alias Luchnykovych, and from Bishop's Cherche, estate can find a shelter in the Cave". Later, haven finished the Act of Dividing, the Storekeeper returns to the question about use of the Cave once more: "As for the Cave - it, as it has been mentioned before, has to be in the joint possession. People have no right to hinder one another in entering it in the period of enemies' incursions. If a man or woman from Zaluchchia don't let a man or woman from Cherchens'kyi estate to enter the Cave and the fact is proved by a juror witnessing of one or two people, the owner of Zaluchchia will punish the guilty one by 3 hryvnias fine. The same �� refers to the citizens of Cherche towards the Zaluchchia citizens. If the landowner of one village did not let the landowner of another village or his peasants or servants in the period of the enemies' incursions to use the Cave, the guilty person will pay 100 hryvnias fine <�> The stairs to the caves have to be built by the citizens of Zaluchchia and Cherche. Those, who haven received the notice, do not do this duty, will pay two gold coins' fine. Besides, the landowner has to obtain justice, and the guilty person has to pay 3 gold coins' fine according to zemstvo's suit." [7].

Numerous finds of people's bones in the Cave were connected with the legend about suffocating of people, who had hidden in it by smoke by the Tatars. Obviously, that under the influence of that legend, the grotto at the entrance was changed into the chapel. It's walls were cut a bit and the entrance was closed by doors. The peasants have brought there several old icons and every year, the service was performed on the Saint Onufriy Day there. The citizens from all surrounding villages have came for it. As K.Mel'nyk notes, the tourists from Kamyanets' often came to the Cave at that time.

In 1940, the prospectings in the Nihyns'ka (Zaluchans'ka) Cave was made by S. N. Bibikov. The trapeze and the fragments of animals' bones were found in loams, on 0.65 m depth. On the basis of those finds, the location was classified as the mesolitic one.

The Nihyn Caves (also Zaluchchia, or Cherche Caves) are located 1.5 km north-west frrom Nihyn, on the left bank of the Smotrych River. The entrances to the Caves are opened in 10 meters' straight hanging exfoliation of the Silurian limestones, which form the side of the Smotrych River Canyon. The limestone is gray, with lumps and slabs; it is broken by cracks both upright and at the planes of making up. In the thickness of limestones karst in the form of the niches, small caves, awnings and vertical columns can be observed. The largest of the caves is opened by a grotto, turned southward. It is 4.9 m long, 2.5 m wide and 3.0 m high. The Cave looks like a narrow twisting passage, with numerous branches. From the entrance grotto a narrow manhole leads to the narrow corridor, 2 m long, that passes to a small chamber, 4 m long, 2.5 m wide and 2.0 m high. From this chamber the passage branches out to the left one, 5 m long, and right one, 3 m long, which is in the form of the horizontal canal. After these two corridors, the Cave changes to the chamber, 2.5 m long, 1.5 m wide and 2.0 m high. The eastern part of the chamber is divided by the cornice into two floors. There is a passage to the "orhanna truba" (organ-pipe) in the upper part of it, which ends in an impassable chink. There is a 2 meters' corridor in the bottom part of the chamber, it also ends in an impassable chink. According to the recordings of Odesa's speleologists, the total length of the Cave, marked as Nihyns'ka-1, is 110 m.

Authors:

1. Assistant professor of the Chernivtsi National University named after Y.Fed'kovych, C.G.S., L.I.Voropay.
2. Senior Teacher of the Chernivtsi department of the National University "Charkiv Polytechnical University", C.G.S., V.P.Korzhyk.
3. Candidate of Historical Sciences, B.T.Ridush.

Translated by Yana Anufriyeva
mail to: [email protected]

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