Some natural sights look so fantastic that it begins to seem as if they are from some other, fairy-tale world. They impress and enchant, making you involuntarily fantasize and imagine another reality, in which such amazing places are inhabited by no less fabulous characters familiar to everyone from the fantasy genre. The rock massif «Stretched Stones» is one of such amazing corners of nature in the Ukrainian Carpathians, so all guests of Bukovina are eager to see them.
The way to the rock massif «Protracted Stones» leads from another spectacular natural attraction of the Bukovyna Carpathians — Nemchich Pass, which offers a magnificent view of the surrounding area. The rocks are located on a ridge an hour’s walk south of the pass near the village of Horowy (in its eastern part) in the interfluve of the rivers Smugariv and Vizhenka. The way to this place lies through picturesque beech forests, where there are real giant trees up to one and a half 9-storey high houses. A walk along these hiking trails is interesting in itself, but the most spectacular sight opens up to those who reach the place where the stone giants rise.
The rock massif «Stretched Stones» is a scattered on the slope of the mountain range giant stone blocks up to 40 meters high, penetrated by numerous holes, caves and passages. From a geological point of view, these are sandstones of soft rock, in which caves and holes were formed due to rain washing out and wind blowing over millennia, but many people find it more interesting to believe in the legend. According to popular legend, the numerous holes in these rocks overhanging overhead, surprising all witnesses, are the work of local mountaineers, who, having no convenient way to descend to the valley from the mountains, began to make passages in the rocks, pouring hot water on them. Hence the name — the word «broached» means «pierced». Whatever it is, the sight that opens up to the eye is truly astonishing.
The most famous stone giants — a unique geological formation of karst in sandstone, called «Falcon’s Eye». This rock was named so because the shape of the stone arch formed in it resembles the eye of one of the most beautiful birds. The maximum height of this rock group is 40 meters, and on the highest point of the rock there is a hand-carved sign of the sides of the world. On the northern side of Falcon’s Eye is a three-chambered cave with two entrances and two tunnels leading from the cave to exits on the eastern side of the cliff right through the rock.
Another formation that has made the «Stretched Stones» famous is the Smugar or Bukovina Falls. They are formed in the valley of the river Smugar by the same stone giants. In total there are nine waterfalls with height from 3 to 17 meters. It is a truly magnificent, very beautiful sight that touches the most beautiful strings of the soul even for those who are not too impressionable. The crystal clear waters of the mountain river rush down from the stone cliffs, making noise and rumbling, reminding that nature can be as unpredictable and harsh as it is beautiful and peaceful.
Coming to the Protracted Stones, tourists wander here for a long time, trying to examine each giant, to admire the blocks of dark stone scattered along the slope of the ridge, monumental, fantastic, as if hanging in the air right above their heads. Someone compares this place to the Little Switzerland of Luxembourg, and someone — to the landscapes of the universe of the movie «Avatar». The stretched stones themselves have appeared on blue screens more than once: many scenes for the movies «Zakhar Berkut» and «White Bird with a Black Mark» were filmed here. In addition, surrounded by fairy-tale pictures of this attraction of Vizhnitsa, the annual initiation of new students of the Geography Department of the Fedkovich University of Chernivtsi takes place, at the end of which a spectacular spectacle awaits all witnesses: from a great height on climbing ropes the «god» Geo with a lighted torch in his hands flies down to people. For everyone who plans a vacation in Vizhnitsa, a visit to the Protracted Stones is a must, and some people come to Karpaty largely because of the desire to visit this place. And it is worth it — what you see here is never forgotten!