Ukrainian pyramids: a journey through the unexplored Poltava region

What do we know about our homeland and each of its regions? At first glance, a lot. After all, we can list a lot of facts, historical monuments, and important events. But in reality, our knowledge is incredibly limited. This is especially noticeable when we start to thoroughly explore our native land.

Today we are going to tell you about a center of Egypt that hid in the Poltava region. Read below to find out how and when the pyramids appeared there.

Bilevych's pyramid

30 kilometers from Kremenchuk, in the village of Komendantivka, there is a burial chapel that looks like one of the ancient wonders of the world. It is smaller than the Egyptian pyramids. But it was not built for the sake of records.

The building was erected in 1877 by order of naval officer Oleksandr Bilevych. The commander repeatedly traveled to other countries on business trips and saw many masterpieces, but he was most impressed by the tombs of the pharaohs. Therefore, upon returning home, he immediately began designing a pyramid on his own family estate.

The 15-meter pyramid has many underground passages and communications. To ensure that the chapel was strong and would not shake after several centuries, the builders used a special solution: egg white and livestock blood were added to the lime.

The walls of the chapel are made of granite blocks quarried in a local quarry. At the time, the technology did not allow for the construction of such tall structures. Therefore, to achieve the desired result, the workers lifted the stones with their own hands, using ropes.

They worked on the tomb for more than 30 years, and when the work was completed, Oleksandr Bilevych's wife died suddenly. After her funeral, a Christian altar was installed here, and an Orthodox cross was added to the top of the building. Later, the tomb was consecrated.

With the arrival of the Bolsheviks, the pyramid was destroyed. All the treasures were taken from the tomb, and the Soviet authorities did not spare even the belongings of the dead. After a kind of "dekulakization," the chapel was turned into a warehouse for storing chemicals. It was only in 2004, thanks to a concerned priest, that it was restored.

Today the building is called St. Sophia's Church-Tomb. It is the largest and oldest Egyptian analog in Ukraine, so it is a unique architectural monument.

The Zakrevsky Pyramid

Another crypt, similar to an ancient pyramid, is located in the village of Berezova Rudka. It is 22 years younger than the previous one. It is also a little lower, only 10 meters high.

Ignatius Zakrevsky, the son-in-law of Peter Stolypin, built the tomb. Probably, the sugar magnate would never have built such a chapel if it were not for his long business trip. At that time he was an ambassador to Egypt. It was then that he was imbued with the culture of this country and became enamored with the desire to make a tomb over his parents' graves.

The building was designed according to all the rules of the Egyptian pyramids. It is an exact copy of the tombs of the pharaohs. It has a quadrangular base, and its edges, as expected, are clearly directed to all cardinal points. Previously, there was a cross-shaped crypt with niches inside. On one of the walls were depicted words from the Holy Scriptures, on the other – frescoes.

Ignatii Zakrevskyi ordered materials from South Africa to build the chapel. Silicate bricks were used in the construction, which were bonded with a layer of cement. A statue of the goddess Isis once stood at the entrance, and a beautiful fence enclosed the coffin.

Today, unfortunately, the monument is in a deplorable state. The Bolsheviks brought it to this state. When the Reds came to power, they mocked the tomb: they stripped off the frescoes and inscriptions, destroyed the sculpture, which dates back to the second century BC. The remains of the Zakrevsky family were thrown into a ditch. Fortunately, there were people who reburied the dead.

After that, the crypt served as a dairy warehouse for a long time. In the 1980s, local authorities decided that it did not fit into the architectural style of the village. Then they signed a terrible decree to destroy it. But no machinery could overcome the strong walls of the pyramid. Many eyewitnesses later said that the bulldozers stopped working as soon as they approached the tomb.

Many years have passed since the communists mocked the tomb. But after these terrible events, no one has ever started the restoration. We hope that after the victory, the administration will address this issue.

Did you know that only 3 pyramids have been found in Europe? Two of them are in Poltava region, and the third one is located in Rome. Therefore, these are very important historical monuments for our country. So we have to protect them. Unfortunately, few people realize this now. We hope that everything will change in the near future.

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