Feb. 8, 2026, 6:48 p.m.
(IMAGES: Intent)
Intent continues the "Amazing South" section, which introduces its readers to unique and interesting places in the southern regions of our country (Ukraine). We have already talked about the Dead Sea's rival, theKuyalnyk estuary, and the protected pearl of Mykolaiv region, theBuzky Gard National Nature Park. This time, we will talk about an extraordinary place that is a combination of a unique natural landscape and invaluable historical heritage - the village of Stanislav in Kherson region. This village is located 23 kilometers west of Kherson on the banks of the Dnipro Estuary. A few years ago, the population here was almost 5000 people. Now, due to Russia's open armed aggression against Ukraine, the number of residents barely reaches 1000.
This area has been attracting people's attention since ancient times, due to its location and age. This is evidenced by the remains of Bronze Age settlements found in and near the village, which date back to the second millennium BC. The findings also include a hillfort, a settlement, and two burial grounds from the Scythian period (VII-III centuries BC). On the site of the modern village, the remains of a settlement dating back to the first centuries AD were also found, which had close ties with one of the most important ancient centers of the Southern Black Sea region, the Greek colony of Olbia, which occupied the territory on the other side of the Bug Estuary.
People apparently lived here in the early Middle Ages. This is evidenced by the tenth-century Byzantine coins found here. In the fifteenth century, these lands were under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At that time, a settlement was founded on a cape jutting out into the waters of the Dnipro Estuary, which was later destroyed. The Lithuanian prince captured the outskirts of the lower part of the Dnipro during a campaign against the Tatars, erecting a stone castle there for defense purposes, which was named the City of St. John.
Stanislav on a map from 1770. IMAGE: Wikipedia
In the fifteenth century, the entire right bank of the Dnipro River up to the Black Sea, then up to the mouth of the Dniester, belonged to the Grand Duchy of Kyiv, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. These possessions were ruled by the descendants of Kyivan Prince Volodymyr Olgerdovych, Ivan Volodymyrovych, Olelko Volodymyrovych, and his son, Semen Olelkovych. It was this last Kyivan prince, Semen Olelkovych, who paid much attention to defining the borders of the state. And this is not his only significant contribution to history. He can be considered the ancestor of the Cossacks and a kind of "first Cossack ataman."
Historical sources mention the so-called "Prince Semen's Men," the boyars of Semen Olelkovych of Kyiv who served on guard duty on the spit at the confluence of the Dnipro and Bug estuaries. It was this guard service that later became known as the Cossacks. It is not for nothing that the spit on which it was conducted was called Semen's Horn. After the death of Prince Semen Olelkovych, when the Kyiv principality was destroyed, a new force emerged from this non-noble military population, which eventually took a significant place in the military and political structure of our country-the Ukrainian Cossacks.
Stanislav on the map of 1775. IMAGE: Wikipedia
The first written mention of the village of Stanislav dates back to 1697 in the "Description of the Dnipro River from Perevolochna to the Black Sea". In the 18th century, this region was part of the Prohnoiivska palanka of the New Sich, and in the place of present-day Stanislav there were several Cossack winter quarters in ancient times. There was also a crossing to the other side of the estuary. Later, this settlement became part of the Black Sea Cossack army.
In the mid-19th century, Stanislav was listed as a town in the Kherson district. The population was replenished by immigrants from Poltava province. The residents of Stanislav were engaged in agriculture, fishing and viticulture.
Before Russia's open armed aggression against Ukraine, Stanislav was a very popular tourist destination. There are a lot of interesting things to see here and nearby, but during the hostilities, tourist trips to Stanislav are not possible.
In addition to being famous for its rich historical past, the village of Stanislav is also distinguished by its unusual natural landscape. In the vicinity of the village, a complex of beams and hills stretches along the banks of the Dnipro-Bug estuary. This geographical object is called the Baidykha Beams. They are popularly called the Kherson or Stanislav Mountains, rocks or cliffs. The total area of the mountains is more than 600 hectares, and they are part of the Stanislavsky Landscape Park. Another name for this amazing place is the Kherson Grand Canyon, which is essentially created by steep cliffs 55 meters high. The uniqueness of this landscape lies in the organic and rare combination of formations that are atypical for the Kherson region - peculiar mountain structures that rise above the estuary waters against the backdrop of the steppe nature of the Tavrian region.
The Grand Canyon. PHOTO: Facebook / Ihor Yosypenko
These picturesque cliffs were formed in an ancient era when the water level was much higher than it is now. In the past, this place was occupied by a huge sea basin, known in geological literature as the Tethys Ocean. It was named after the ancient Greek goddess of the seas, Thetis. Millions of years ago, the ocean covered a large area of modern Ukraine. Today, the Black and Azov Seas are considered to be the remnants of this ancient water space.
Not so long ago, the Kherson Mountains were a favorite vacation spot for tourists. The ways of spending time here were diverse. Connoisseurs of quiet family vacations visited the Grand Canyon for walks and picnics in the countryside. Activity lovers came here for thrills. They organized paragliding, kayaking, and catamaran rafting along the steep rocky cliffs. Rock climbers and mountaineers climbed to the tops of the Stanislav Mountains, which in some places reach the height of a thirteen-story building. Due to the hostilities unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, all these activities are now impossible.
Not far from Stanislav there are three lighthouses. Two of them are usually in the water, and one is on land.
Thus, opposite Stanislav in the Dnipro Estuary, there is a lighthouse that is an exact copy of the tallest lighthouse in Ukraine, but smaller in size. This is the Stanislav-Adzhyhol Foremost Lighthouse. It is 34 meters high. People call it simply Stanislavsky.
The Stanislavsky foremost lighthouse. PHOTO: Wikipedia
6.5 kilometers from the Stanislav Lighthouse, near the village of Rybalche, Holoprystan district, in the southeastern corner of the Dnipro Estuary, the tallest lighthouse in Ukraine rises. This is the Stanislav-Adzhyhol Lighthouse. It is popularly known as the Adzhyhol Lighthouse. Its height reaches 76 meters. Before the war, in 2020, this lighthouse, along with the Henichesk lighthouse, was open to the public, but now it is closed and has been damaged by Russian strikes. By the way, the island on which the Stanislav Lighthouse is located was also open to visitors before the Russian armed aggression, but the lighthouse itself was closed to civilians.
The lighthouses were installed in 1911 on two artificial islands in the Dnipro Estuary (designed by engineer Volodymyr Shukhov). They have a hyperboloidal design, which makes them super light, made of minimal metal, and quite stable. Even the Kinburn Spit is visible from the top of the taller lighthouse. With the help of light from the two lighthouses, ships have clear navigation when passing through the fairway of the Dnipro-Bug estuary.
Adzhyhol lighthouse. PHOTO: Wikipedia
At the time of their construction, these river guideposts were the first-born of high-rise hyperboloids. They were used to test new assembly elements that were later used in the construction of the 148-meter-high Shukhov Radio Mast in Moscow. Over time, numerous openwork hyperboloid structures appeared in the world under Vladimir Shukhov's patent. Among the most famous are the 108-meter tower erected in 1963 in the port of Kobu, Japan; the Sydney TV Tower; the hyperboloid Jested Tower in Liberec, Czech Republic; the TV Tower in Guangzhou, China; the Khan Shatyr shopping complex in Astana, Kazakhstan; the 300-meter-high Aspire Tower, a structure in the Doha Sports City sports complex in Doha, Qatar, and many others.
In 2011 and 2013, Stanislav-Adzhyhol Lighthouses were visited by scientists from the University of Munich as part of an international project to study and research the architectural heritage of engineer Shukhov.
Interestingly, the Stanislav Lighthouse is the best photo of the Kherson region in the Wiki Loves Sights 2024 competition.
"The lighthouse in the winning photo is a unique example of early 20th century engineering. Moreover, the village of Stanislav, after which the lighthouse is named, has many valuable objects of architecture, history, and archeology, but due to constant shelling by Russian troops, all of this is being destroyed or threatened... In 2022, there were reports of the destruction of the Adzhyhol Lighthouse, the tallest in Ukraine. We are grateful to our participants for their tireless work in documenting the state of the monuments, as well as for uploading their photo archives, and we very much hope that more participants from Kherson region will take part in the competition," commented Olha Milianovych, a spokesperson for Wikimedia Ukraine.
The lighthouse photos already represented Kherson region in 2019, and in 2021, the photo of the Adzhyhol lighthouse won. Other landmarks in previous years included: The Ochakiv Gate of the Kherson Fortress, the walls of the Korsun Monastery, the crypt of the Falz-Fein family in Novochornomoria, the All Saints Church in Kherson, the walls in the village of Korsunka, the building of the former bank of the Mutual Credit Society, the monument to Major General Sinelnikov, the Skelka settlement, the Dzharylgach Lighthouse, and the Kherson Yacht Club.
There are 1854 cultural heritage sites in the list of monuments of Kherson region, 447 (24%) of which are illustrated with photos on Wikimedia Commons. In 2024, 12 participants uploaded 131 photos of 49 monuments from the region (photos of 10 monuments were uploaded for the first time). Over the course of the contest, 156 people submitted photos of the region's monuments.
Also not far from Stanislav, about 4-6 kilometers in a straight line, in the middle of an endless field on the border of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, between the villages of Oleksandrivka and Lupareve, stands one of the three Khablov lighthouses. It is also called the "Lighthouse in the Steppe".
The Khablov Lighthouse was first built back in 1866. Back then, it stood near the village of Khablova, hence the name. During the war, the structure was destroyed. In 1952, a modern lighthouse was rebuilt.
The current "Lighthouse in the Steppe" is an architectural monument of the Soviet era. At the top of the building is the inscription: "A gift to the XIX Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks". The phrase is unique in that it was Stalin's last Bolshevik congress. And the next Congress, the Twentieth Congress, belongs to the era of debunking the cult of Joseph Stalin's personality.
TheKhablovsky lighthouse. PHOTO: TripMustGoOn
The location of the lighthouse is connected with the peculiarities of navigation on the Dnipro-Bug estuary. The "family" of Khablov lighthouses stands here. The front lighthouse is located in the middle of the Bug estuary, the middle one is on the coastline, and the back one is far away in the field. These navigational objects work together by combining their lights. This is how the ship's navigator sees the ship's location and direction.
The tower has a secret: it can "sing". In windy weather, you can hear low and long sounds similar to the throat singing of Tuvans.
It is very beautiful here in spring and early summer, when thousands of irises, dandelions and other flowers and herbs bloom.
In 2022, Russian strikes damaged the Adzhyhol and Khablovsk rear lighthouses, as well as the Kherson Grand Canyon.
According to Ihor Yosypenko, a deputy of the Kherson Regional Council and head of the charity fund "Ukraine Will Win!" Ihor Yosypenko wrote on his Facebook page, "The highest lighthouse in Ukraine, the Adzhyhol lighthouse, was hit by three missiles from Russian troops. Three missiles at the lighthouse! The Kherson Grand Canyon and Khablovsky Rear Lighthouse also suffered at the hands of the Nazis. They no longer exist. The orcs continue to destroy our outstanding architectural and natural monuments, but they will never destroy our nation!"
The village of Stanislav is located on the T1501 highway between the cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv. Before the hostilities started, there was regular public transportation to Stanislav from these regional centers.
Currently, information about regular transportation between Kherson and Stanislav is often changed due to the hostilities. Usually, suburban buses run, but the schedule can be limited. If you need to get to Stanislav, it is recommended to check the current schedule at Kherson bus stations or with local Stanislav community groups.
Due to the security situation, there is currently no public transportation from Mykolaiv.
Юлія Сичова