Or «Greed has ruined a farmer» — says an even more famous saying about greed. In this story, greed once again led to very tragic and irreversible consequences, giving Putilshchina one of the most unusual and original sights.
In a picturesque place not far from the village of Ust-Putila to the left of the road near the confluence of the Putila and Cheremosh rivers there is a stone sculpture of impressive size — 30 meters in height. Looking at this amazing landmark, it is hard to believe that its edge was really given to nature by its boundless imagination, and not by the hands of a talented and ambitious master or real magic.
Stone Rich Girl Rock, also called Petrified Rich Girl, Bewitched Rock, or Bewitched Rock, so strongly resembles the figure of a woman that a local legend is involuntarily believed more and more. According to this legend, in time immemorial, an amazing story happened on this place. A very rich, but greedy and cruel landlady refused to give alms or a piece of bread to a beggar and, deciding to mock the unfortunate woman, threw a stone at her. Marveling at the anger and cruelty of the landlady, the beggar angrily said to the rich woman: «Let you yourself be petrified!» — The beggar said angrily to the rich woman, «Let you be petrified yourself!» and she turned into a rock, which we see on this spot to this day.
There are other tales that tell how this fantastic attraction came to be, and one of them can be read on a plaque near the rock itself.
The shape of the rock is a pyramidal figure, its width at the base is 12 meters. This stone miracle was formed as a result of a rare for the Carpathians form of weathering — if you look at it from the point of view of science, but when contemplating this sight, science is remembered by all who believe in miracles, in the last place. In summer, this stone cascade is surrounded on all sides by greenery, which makes the picture even more impressive. Interestingly, the Austrians did not see it as a woman, but as a «Bishop» because the top of the jagged-shaped rock is very similar, in their opinion, to a bishop’s crown.
To see this amazing landmark of Ukraine, bordering with Romania, where the peaks of mountain peaks jut into the boundless blue sky, tourists from all over the country and even foreigners come to vacation to the village of Putila. And it is not surprising — such a natural fantasy is worth seeing, thanks to such places you want to believe that once our world was a place of fairy tales, in which good defeated evil, and greed, cruelty and other denigrating the title of man qualities were punished by fair and wise wizards.