Trakhtemyriv, Kaniv district, is a former Cossack capital.

“It is Trakhtemyriv: nothing bad can happen here to man or animal,” assure local citizens of the village Velykyy Bukryn.

Historians give different explanations of the origin of the word “Trakhtemyriv.” In locals’ view, the interpretation is “protected world.” Another version says that Trakhtemyriv is a place where treatises were written about the world. Besides, there was a certain Traktukai, an heir to Tamerlane, who hid here from his enemies in the 15th century. His “headquarters” were located here. So the place may have been named after him.

Here are the places to be investigated:

Makivshchyna (Worship Hill). It is located in the steppe.There are two pear trees there and, between them, the place of an Ancient Slavic pagan shrine. A very strong place on a peninsula. Someone calls it Worship Hill. Locals also call it Makivshchyna because if somebody walked exhausted on a sizzling day, he could just lie down on the ground for some time and thus recuperate his strength. This is the effect of poppy.

Height 222, or Three Angels. All the mystics, isotherics, and ancient warlocks considered this place a major center of power. The followers of the idea of Earth’s Spiritual Crystal claim that the crystal is right here and irradiates energy with its faces.

St. Mark’s Spire. A locality near Height 222. Legend has it that St. Mark established one of Rus’s first monasteries here.
There was a monastery on this ridge, but nobody is allowed to enter it now. Trakhtemyriv’s only resident is convinced this proves that these churches are very ancient indeed.