Synevyr Lake in Ukraine is one of the places where you can escape when you feel overwhelmed with daily worries and urban life problems. When you are tired of civilization and want to feel free, breathe fresh air, meditate and wander in the woods. This mysterious lake is perfect to recover spiritually and physically, so don’t hesitate and let’s go to this beautiful place together with Visit Ukraine!
Legendary Synevyr is rightly considered one of the seven natural wonders of Ukraine. It is the biggest mountain lake of Ukrainian Carpathians, a gem of the Synevyr National Park founded in 1989. This unique place constantly attracts tourists that enjoy melancholic natural harmony who come to the lake from all over the world.
You can see the beauty of the Carpathians with your own eyes on the tours:
- Mountain Lake Synevyr and Waterfall Shypit Tour (1 day)
- Transcarpathian Cheese and Wine Tour (2 days/ 1 night)
- 10 Highlights of Transcarpathia ( 3 days / 2 nights)
- Around the Carpathians in 7 Days (7 days / 6 nights)
Synevyr lake – forest song
Have you thought about why water charms and calms people down so much? Could it be that it awakens some ancient unconscious memory about prehistoric seas and forests, about the birth of civilizations and our remote ancestors, because it is water that accumulates the energy of the past and carries the experience of life through millennia?
Synevyr lake has a lot of memories. It originated about 10 thousand years ago as a result of a powerful earthquake when at the height of 989 meters above sea level a wide depression was filled with water from mountain streams. The lake still sources its water from mountain flows. Its square is 7 hectares and the maximum depth reaches 24 meters.
You won’t be able to swim in the lake that has a permanent temperature of +11°C, but instead, you will be able to feast your eyes on how silver trout plays in crystal clear water, to enjoy the picturesque landscape from a platform, and to listen to the legends of the magical lake.
Legends of Synevyr lake
Synevyr lake is also often called a Sea Eye – this is because of the little island in the middle of the lake that resembles an eye pupil in the blue clear water. In this place, you can also feel its powerful energy, and there is something very mysterious in this eye that is looking at the world from the depth of the land.
With its mysterious and lyrical nature, lakes have always attracted poetical individuals and brought to life unbelievable legends. Let’s recall the followers of “Lake Poet School” in England who praised their lake district with a mystic idealization. Synevyr lake also has its own romantic legends that are rooted in local folklore. one of the legends narrates about a powerful knight Synevyr who only had a daughter and a white bull. And when life took them away from the knight, Synevyr angrily destroyed the stones until a stream broke out from under a cliff and spilled into a deep lake.
When at the bank of the lake the guide tells you a legend about a couple in love – beautiful Syn and courageous Vyr, about their tragic destiny and eternal love, you really start to believe in the reality of the events and that the feeling that is no subject to fate does exist. Two sculptures of Syn and Vyr, each 13 meters long illustrate the legend. They were carved from wood by talented Ukrainian craftsmen Ivan Brovdi and Mikhailo Sanych. We won’t tell you this dramatic story of lovers – you can only truly feel its beauty near the romantic lace in the background of the Carpathian mountains.
Interesting facts about Synevyr lake
- Synevyr never breaks its banks thanks to a hole at the bottom that regulates the water level;
- Due to its specific location, there is no wind at the lake;
- The landscapes of Synevyr can be seen in movies of different times: “The Tragedy of Carpatho-Ukraine” (1940), musical film “Chervona Ruta” (1971), in a modern Ukrainian horror movie “Synevyr” (2012), “Ursus” (2015) and other;
- Synevyrska Poliana village located in 5 km from the lake is leading in the number of mothers of many children in the region. Probably this is the effect of nature.
What else to see in Synevyr Natural Park
- The unique “Museum of Forest and Rafting”, created in 1976, where tools of loggers and forest rafters are displayed;
- Brown Bear Rehabilitation Center with pools, artificial dens, and natural plantations of berry delicacies for the bears;
- In the protected forests of the National Park you can find 38 species of unique plants and 20 species of rare wild animals that are included in the list of endangered species;
- Defensive “Arpad Line” with a hundred reinforced-concrete bunkers from World War II;
- Picturesque Wild Lake and no less picturesque swamps Glukhanya and Zamshatka;
- The festival of ethnic music “Trembitas call to Synevyr” is held annually in the park;
- A number of paved ecological trails and tourist routes will allow you to explore the park’s natural attractions.
Brown Bear Rehabilitation Center
This bear shelter was opened near Lake Synevyr (10 km) in the beautiful Carpathian spruce forest, not far from the highway. This facility immediately became one of the favorites and a must-visit for all tourists who go to the lake.
At the moment 12 bears live there. Not easily, they were rescued from circuses, narrow cages in restaurants, pit stations. Each of them has its own story.
Some of them, who have already finished rehabilitation and adaptation, were moved to large enclosures with an area of 1.5 hectares, where conditions the most similar to natural were created for them. Another 12 hectares are being equipped with new places.
How to reach Synevyr lake?
There are several ways to get to Lake Synevyr from Lviv. You can use your own car, then the road will take you about 4-5 hours, as you need to cover 250 km. Also, there is an option to go by public transport such as minibus or train, but you should plan your time well, as you will need to change from one transport to another several times.
You can also get to the “Eye of the Carpathians” with travel agencies. The advantage of this option is that this route is popular and departures take place weekly. You do not need to worry about travel, food or accommodation with a tour group. An additional bonus is the friendly company and accompaniment of the guide during the whole trip 🙂
Visit Synevyr
So, pack your backpack, put on comfortable shoes and let’s travel with Vidviday Tour Operator to the slopes of the Inner Gorgan mountain chain, under the cool cover of beech and spruce forests, to the land where birds sing and time stops, where the melancholic Mountain Eye rests on the warm palms of the mountains.
You will be able to see Synevyr lake on our tours:
- Mountain Lake Synevyr and Waterfall Shypit Tour (1 day)
- Transcarpathian Cheese and Wine Tour (2 days/ 1 night)
- 10 Highlights of Transcarpathia ( 3 days / 2 nights)
- Around the Carpathians in 7 Days (7 days / 6 nights)
Transcarpathian “place of happy people” cures all socio-metropolitan diseases and helps to find inner harmony.
