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Legend of Nesamovyte lake in the Carpathians

At the bottom of Nesamovyte Lake

Many know that in addition of the largest and most famous Synevir Lake, the Carpathians have many small interesting “sky-high” lakes. All of them are located at altitudes from 1450 to 1800 meters.

The shepherds who pasture their flocks on the mountain valleys of Chornogora, Svydovets and Rakhiv tell legends about the death of cattle in bottomless abyss of these lakes and about the terrible thunderstorm of stones thrown into water.

Nesamovyte
The lake is situated in a large cirque (amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion) on the north-eastern slopes of the Turkul Mountain at height of 1750 meters. The lake length is 88 meters, width – 45 and its area is 3 thousand square meters.

South coast is rocky with products of rock slope. The banks are covered with trees and subalpine herbs.

On the southern side the bottom is covered with large flat boulders and on the north it’s covered with soil. Lake depth throughout the area ranges from 1-1,5 m. Nesamovyte lake has no surface flow but has several streams. New water comes to the lake from snow and rain.

It was a short description of Nesamovyte which is a sacred place for Hutsuls and the local where the hail is born.

A storm provoked with a stone
The residents of nearby villages believe in this. They say that the souls of people who committed suicide or took somebody’s life come to Nesamovyte. They say when to throw a stone into the lake it will disturb the souls of sinners and rider on a white horse will appear. Where the horse hit with a leg appear large pieces of ice. Also they say when somebody dies sinful death his soul flies in the lake like a stone.

Only the people of Bystrytsa, Dzembronya, Zelene and other villages near Chornogora know the harm of hail. That’s why none of them will start some work in the so-called thunder holidays. And after the storm has passed the village they look at the harm of hail of each other.

It happens many times when fine summer day, the weather can change dramatically during 20-30 minutes. The Hutsuls call it “sharga”. It’s a hurricane wind with cold rain, sleet, thunder and lightning.

It’s hiding on the bottom of Nesamovyte Lake and observes with the sea eye for wonderful nature of the Carpathian Mountains.

It was a long time ago
One Hutsul was returning home to Zhabye from market place in Madyarsky Sygot. He got lost before the Shpytsa Mountain and descended to the lake. A night found him there. A man fastened his horse to the stone, made a campfire with dry wood, took a cauldron and went to prepare kulesha (traditional Hutsul dish). As he scooped water from the lake he heard a terrible noise. He looked at the opposite bank and saw a man with a good cart drawn by two horses.

– What are you looking for so late?

– I was wondering to have a dinner and spend here a night because it’s hard to get home in the dark.

– You will eat only a dry kulesha and sleep under the three after a long road? Come to me, I live here around and I’ll receive you.

They got in the carriage and went straight into the lake. The water parted and a beautiful palace has appeared. All windows were covered with bright light and the joyful music was heard from the house. The master invited the guest to the table that was almost bending because of various overseas delicious food and drinks. At the midnight the lights were off and man went to sleep.

Meanwhile somebody was moving at the courtyard of the castle. The guest looked out the window and saw a group of people stocking ice from the water surface.

– Why are you doing this at the middle of summer?

– This is the souls of dead sinners who store the hail, – the master explained. – When they were still alive I was serving them. And now they will serve me to the end of the world.

The Hustul realized that the evil spirit was talking to him and crossed himself three times.

Instead of conclusion
It is this lake, Nesamovyte, that the River Prut flows out from. The local Hutsuls avoid the place believing it’s where the witches come to for their midnight Sabbaths. If you are not sure you want to meet any of them, take some garlic and a cross with you to ward off evil. If you decide to go down to the lake, you should be warned that the shores are inhospitable for tourists and you may find spending the night there uncomfortable. Many hikers do tend to choose the vicinity of the lake to spend the night since up in the mountains it may be even less hospitable for rest. Unfortunately, tourists do a lot of damage to the environment in spite of the area being a natural preserve. You may have to spend the night without a bonfire even if the temperature drops below a comfortable level — first, camp fires are forbidden but if you decide to break the law, you may find but very few faggots suitable for building a fire. It is evident that more stringent measures must be taken to protect the environment.