UKRAINE. MONTHLY CHALLENGE
Invisible Bridge Between Two Dead Empires
You’ll see it using your imagination
2024
Early days of February, but it feels like spring. Sunny and warm weather. I’m walking with my wife on a riverbank in our city. Ice on the river surface is melting under the sun’s rays, and puddles of clear water cover it.
I see one of the bridges above the river in front of me. It is a beautiful arch construction. Fanciful reflections are visible in the puddles: people and cars on the bridge look like ghosts in them. My brain sees a few gorgeous frames there. My hand pats a bag with my camera, and I… continue to go further.
Since the Russian invasion started, taking photos of bridges in Ukraine has been prohibited; all of them are strategic objects. It’s a stupid restriction for many reasons (pre-war pictures of all of them are already on the internet, and their coordinates are well-known to the enemy). But it’s hard to damage bridges even with high-precision missiles, and it’s enough to save them from mining by saboteurs. But I shan’t risk taking photos to be seen by patrols or security cameras.
I could post some bridges from my pre-war collection, but I shan’t do this either. I overestimated their importance in these two awful years. These constructions are usual and invisible in ordinary life but not in wartime. So much depended on their wholeness. Would civilians evacuate in time or not? Will the enemy cut one more road to Kyiv or not? And nothing changed since the first days.
Instead of this, I’ll show you an invisible bridge. But I’m sure you’ll like it.
2018
I’m leaving Kamianets-Podilskyi on a bus. It’s a famous tourist city with one of the most beautiful fortresses in Ukraine. I’m going to the neighboring village, Panivtsi. It has a castle and a few more architectural monuments, but almost nobody has heard about it. Buses ignore it too, and I should walk a few more hundred meters to reach the village.
Besides the castle, it has one more exciting thing: the bridge that will never be built.
At the beginning of the 20th century, plans were made to join Kamyanets and Borshchiv by railway. Both cities are in Ukraine now but belonged to two different empires: Austro-Hungarian and Russian.
WWI broke these plans. Before it, engineers built giant bridge pillars in a deep and wide valley of the Smotrych River. They have such good quality that they still surrealistically stand above the village.
The pillars reminded me of similar ones in my native Kryvyi Rih, but there, the railway acted for some time but was dismantled later. One day, I’ll tell you about it.
A tiny pedestrian bridge allowed me to cross the river. The advantage of that area was that I could admire the views from everywhere: from afar and closely, from below and above.
From below, the bridge pillars looked like watch towers of forgotten ancient nations.
The “1916” date on the bridge support:
The road back to civilization lies on an elevation with beautiful views of the bridge pillars, the river valley, and the village.
Also, a hill with castle ruins (on the right) and an old church (on the left) was visible from there.
That might be all, but I can’t ignore other curiosities of Panivtsi, especially the castle. I do love castles in any condition.
It was built in the 1580s-90s when Panivtsi had town status in Rzeczpospolita (Poland-Lituania confederation) to protect its borders from Cossacks, Turks, and Tatars. It had thick walls, deep ditches, and dungeons.
Despite being abandoned since the 17th century, it is still one of the dominants. Once I entered the village, I saw it from the opposite side of Smotrych.
The river and its inhabitants:
Despite an old pedestrian bridge, I waded through the river. It was shallow; I wore shorts and sought adventures on my own.
The most saved part of the castle is heavily modified. As I understand, now it is used as a school.
At the end of the 16th century, this distant village became a refuge for Calvinists, who hid there from Catholic persecutions. In 1590, they built a collegium as part of the castle. It was located on both sides of a gate tower (now its entrances are walled up).
The more authentic part (but the most ruined) is on the opposite side. It was a south-western tower:
The castle was destroyed by the Cossacks in 1652 and never reborn. Panivtsi lost its significance as a border outpost and became a silent village lost in time. I even didn’t see an asphalt road here.
Fragments of the northern wall were lost in weeds.
I noticed a surprise for those who don’t look down. Usually, such places have legends about giant underground passages to the neighboring castles or hidden treasures.
The church of the Assumption was built in 1758. It is in much better condition than the castle.
From the Smotrych Valley, the ruins of the lone tower looked like a broken fang.
The less-known old building of Panivtsi is an abandoned mill (built at the beginning of the 20th century) hidden in thickets near the river bank.
This post wouldn’t be full-fledged without local cats.
I was returning to civilization on foot, and the village landscapes swam past me in the warm refulgence of early September.
Soon, I saw the high-rise buildings of Kamianets-Podilskyi on my right — so close and far simultaneously.
There could be some optimistic conclusion, but let’s be honest: the bridge will never be built, and the castle or the mill will never be restored. I’m not even sure that asphalt roads ever appear here.
But this village is beautiful precisely in its current condition: with romantic ruins and significant columns that look like watch towers of an unknown civilization. I’m happy that fate allowed me to feel like a discoverer close to the big city in the 21st century.
Take care of the bridges around you. They are more important than you can imagine in a peaceful life.
Scotland’s Highlands — towns, rivers, hills, and more — is one of my dreams.
By Erie Astin:
And any jungles as well.
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