Hrafske. No Fairy Tales of the Velykoanadolskyi Forest
Like a green sea amid the waterless steppe in the south of Donetsk region spreads the Velykoanadolskyi Forest. The largest man-made forest tract in Europe saturates the air with healing energy amid the smoking factory chimneys and slag heaps. How the green wealth of Donbas was created, and how the memory of its creators is preserved, can be learned in the village of Hrafske in the Volnovakha district, at the forest museum.
Hrafske. Volnovakha district, Donetsk region. The Velykoanadolskyi Forest Museum
From the "Forest Park" hotel and health complex, an asphalt road leads to the village. But it is more pleasant to walk along a narrow forest ride, partly covered with gravel, and, breathing in the healing aroma, to admire the green sea of the Donetsk region.
Oaks, pines, larches, poplars, ash trees, hornbeams and limes form with their crowns a kind of tunnel, a walk through which is both beneficial and instructive. The history of the appearance of this green oasis, created by human hands, began in the 1840s, when the tsarist government took an interest in the question of the influence of vegetation on the climate. The fertile black soils of the southern governorates were the main producers of agricultural output, but wind and droughts led to crop failures and even famine. For want of timber — a building material and a source of fuel — the peasants could not settle the treeless expanses and set about tilling the grain-bearing lands. Some enterprising landowners achieved certain results in the artificial creation of a green field, and the state decided to join in and expand the area of forest planting on the southern plains.
To create a green workshop on a plot of steppe with clayey soils, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Forestry Institute, Viktor Yegorovich von Graff (1819-1867), was appointed head of the forestry.
The young botanist was devoted to the idea of afforestation and believed in the beneficial influence of an artificial forest on the climate. The laying-out of the first model plantation in the Russian Empire, the Velyko-Anadol, began amid great difficulties. There was a shortage of tools and planting material. In 23 years, under the leadership of this pioneer of steppe afforestation, 157 hectares of forest were created, with 30 species of trees and 40 species of shrubs raised.
Today this man-made firstborn occupies more than 2,500 hectares, and since 1974 it has had the status of a reserve of state importance.
The forest road brought me to the village of Hrafske, which lies in the heart of the green tract. Vysotskoho Street is named in honour of Heorhii Mykolaiovych Vysotskyi, a soil scientist and founder of the forest sciences, who studied the Velykoanadolskyi Forest for 12 years.
Hrafske. Vysotskoho Street
On this street stands the administrative building of the Velykoanadolskyi forestry.
In the yard are a gazebo and swings for resting.
The road leads to the T-0509 highway, along which you can reach the St. Nicholas Monastery. The bridge over the Kashlahach, a small river of the Dnipro basin.
During the construction of the Mariupol - Velyko-Anadol railway branch, a pond was created for drainage, which received the name Komarynyi.
At the entrance to the village there is an information board reminding visitors that the "Velykoanadolskyi" reserve is a historical and natural monument, as well as a green friend of humankind.
The location of the forest museum is indicated by a homemade little board with an arrow on a tree, which I did not notice at first. I had to go back more than 500 metres to the turn onto Hrafska Street and head south.
The museum is housed in the building of the former meteorological observatory, built by V. Ye. Graff in 1853. This devotee of afforestation organised scientific observations of nature, opening a weather station. Later, the followers of Viktor Yegorovich lived and worked in the two-storey mansion.
Since 1991 the premises have been occupied by the only museum of its kind in Ukraine. The building's facade is decorated with wood carving depicting the sun, oak leaves and an owl — the symbol of wisdom and erudition.
The entrance to this treasury of museum values is guarded by Cuman warriors, found in the steppe by the researcher, naturalist and pioneer of afforestation on open terrain, V. Ye. Graff.
The history of the creation of the Velykoanadolskyi Forest, documented step by step from 1843, is presented in the museum's five halls. The development of this green storehouse is told through photographs, dioramas depicting forest landscapes, scientific works, plans of the forest quarters and the founder's reports to the government. Of great interest are the collections of butterflies, the stuffed animals, and the beautifully designed stands with accounts of the reserve's flora and fauna.
The grounds have an openwork wrought-iron fence.
The well with a wooden canopy is more an ornament of the park than a source of drinking water for a traveller.
From the museum a shady avenue leads to the monument to V. Ye. Graff.
The four-tiered, four-sided pyramid was made of Finnish marble in St. Petersburg in 1910 at the Forestry Society. The black stela resembles a slender tree, to the planting of which the forest scientist devoted his whole life. It is notable that the forester had German and Italian roots but considered himself a Ukrainian and bequeathed that an oak from the Donetsk steppe be planted on his grave.
The monument is encircled by a ring of ancient stone statues, the guardians of eternity and images of fertility.
Let us continue our walk through the forest for another kilometre or so, to see the Velykoanadolskyi Forestry Technical College, founded on the basis of Viktor von Graff's forestry school.
The blue ribbon of the Kashlahach in the green sea of Velykoanadol.
One of the oldest educational institutions in Ukraine trains personnel for forestry and landscape-gardening. For the raising of the forest a need arose for specialists, which led to the opening of a school for rural foresters. The pupils were boys — the children of serfs.
The first head and teacher was Viktor Yegorovich, stern and demanding. In the three-year school the lads were taught under strict discipline. In the winter season they studied theoretical subjects, and in spring and autumn practical ones in the steppe, laying out the forest.
When the talented forester was transferred to Moscow, to the Petrovsky Academy (the future Timiryazev Academy), the school became a two-year one and its list of subjects expanded. Besides the Law of God, the pupils grasped the basics of chemistry, physics, mathematics, dendrology, geodesy, law and other sciences.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The old building for the military department
After the October Revolution the school was put on Bolshevik rails, and its pupils were members of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), with subsequent propaganda work on the collective farms and in the state forestry enterprises.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The stadium
During the Nazi occupation the buildings and greenhouses were destroyed. Many teachers and students took up arms and set off for the front. On the college grounds a monument has been erected to the forestry workers who died in the years of the Second World War.
In November 1943, immediately after the liberation from the fascists, the school was gradually restored.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The teaching block
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The canteen
It proved possible to preserve the old building of the forestry school.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The old building of the forestry school
Today the Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College bears the name of V. Ye. von Graff.
On the grounds of the educational institution, conditions have been created for the students to live and play sports.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The dormitory
For those who are learning to make the earth beautiful, flower gardens and an arboretum have been laid out.
Students and teachers plant oaks, grow saplings and maintain the beauty of the forest in memory of its founder. In 2018, for the 175th anniversary of the founding of the educational institution and of the forest, an avenue of remembrance of the foresters and an ecological trail with exotic plant species were opened.
A memorial marker — a gift from the graduates. A young tree in the middle of a cross
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. The Gazebo of Dreams
Most important of all is that the seeds sown by the founder of the man-made forest, Viktor Yegorovich Graff, continue to bear quality fruit.
The Velykoanadolskyi Forestry College. A stand with the parable of the guelder rose and the willow
Location: the village of Hrafske, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region. You can get there by the route Sloviansk-Mariupol as far as Marinka, then turn south-west towards Vuhledar. Then follow through Mykilske to the south-east, to Hrafske.
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