Subterrenes

In general People in Podillia like legends about underground labyrinths and their mysteries. The authors of this work have collected tens of such testimonies. We have heard about treasures of haydamak Sava Chaliy, about the hidden Cossacks felling and about such passages that a rider on a horse could be located there. Caves are often mentioned in the legends of Liberation War. With the help of the underground passages the new and fresh forces were usually given to the fortresses which fought against the enemy. Some times those passages were used to take a fortress or a town by storm. One of such storms was described by the Cossacks of Maxim Krivonis: "The Cossacks defeated the arroganced gentry on the towers. Everyone shouted "Glory!" - and the walls of the castle cracked, the mountains cracked and all the underground passages were filled up." Certainly, we could not do without Ustim Karmeluk. As one of the legends says "Karmeluk's shelter was a mountain. There were beautiful halls in it and they were all in gold and in semi-precious stones. The landowners got to know about that and the armed forces came to the very mountain. The door opened before them and they rushed to get treasures but the mountain suddenly collapsed and the opening closed. But the glorious chieftain disappeared in thick forests…"