Three Pillars (Three Stohy)

Three Pillars (Three Stohy)

The Three Pillars are a group of three rocks located between Khortytsia Island and the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, closer to the right bank of the Dnipro River. The rocks are part of the geological reserve of national importance “Dnipro Rapids”, located within the Khortytsia National Reserve.

Before the Kakhovka Reservoir was filled with water from 1955 to 1958, this rock massif was connected to Khortytsia Island by a sand spit. It was a significant site for various tribes and peoples across different historical periods. After overcoming the rapids, boats could stop here. In the late 1920s, archaeologists discovered a multi-layered monument, the earliest layer of which dates back to the Neolithic era. An archaeological culture was first identified on the middle rock, known as the Seredniy Stoh culture of the Eneolithic era.

Near the pillars, on a small rock known to local historians as the “Cossack Bowl,” there is a round depression in granite. A total of nine such “bowls” have been found on the rocks.

For over 60 years, most of the territory of the Three Pillars was underwater due to the artificial Kakhovka Sea. After the water receded following the Russian occupiers’ destruction of the Kakhovka HPP dam in June 2023, the rocks reappeared in their original form.

It was only in June of this year that the reserve’s specialists had the opportunity to visit the rock formation to evaluate the condition of the archaeological monument and natural landmark.