By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna | Page 36

At the end of 1,000 CE, there
was a Slavic country at the lands of
Naddnistrovye, known as Great or
White Croatia. In the 10th century, it
was mentioned by Byzantine emperor
Constantine “the Purple-born” in his
book “On Managing the Empire”, where
he wrote that “baptised Dalmatian
Croats are descended from non-baptised
Dalmatian Croats, who live behind the
Ugorskie Mountains” (or in Northern
Prykarpatye). Also, the Croats are
mentioned three times in the “Primary
Chronicle”: (1) in its undated section,
among other Slavic tribes; (2), in 907, as
participants of the campaign of prince
Oleg of Kyiv to Byzantium; (3) in 993,
in connection with prince’s Vladimir
Sviatoslavich of Kyiv campaigns against
the Croats.
There is evidence that short records,
made in Greek not later the 30th of the
14th century have been preserved in the
Vatican archives; they state that between
the towns of Galych and Volodymyr,
there is a small town of Stilsko, the
residence of Galician metropolia.
In the 1980s, the explorations of the
monuments of the Northern Croats were
started by the archaeological expedition
of the National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine, headed by Orest Korchynsky.
Among discovered monuments, there is
the historical and cultural complex with a
centre-settlement in the village of Stilsko,
belonging to the 9th–11th centuries, which
covers a considerable part of BibrskoStilsko upland (the part of Opillya).
As it was revealed in the course of
archaeological excavations, in the 9th–

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10th centuries, a big town (with the area
of 10 hectares, and the length of walls
of about) was situated on the plateau,
surmounting above the present village.
In particular, heavy ramparts surrounded
with moats as well as several rows of
man-made terraces that encircled the
ancient town were discovered. Also,
cobblestone was excavated at one of
the settlement entrances. According to
old stories, the underground town was
located deeply under the settlement. As
Orest Korchynsky maintains, there are
underground labyrinths, maybe of manmade origin, at the site.
The citadel was surrounded with the
fortified suburb, where dozens of housing
and artisans’ objects were excavated.
At earthen floors of burnt houses, the
remains of stoves as well numerous
samples of pottery, household items, and
arms were discovered.
Also, the archaeologists explored the
dense network of settlement, sanctuaries
and necropolises, located in the closest
outskirts of the town. The ancient town
was connected with the Dniester through
the channel, constructed as early as in the
9th century at the Kolodnytsya river.
In 2003, the relevant documents
aimed at the protection of the site
were adopted by the Verkhovna Rada.
However, their provisions were not
fulfilled. The process of scientific
exploration of the unique object, which
got international recognition, was
terminated. So, now Stilsko settlement,
together with its environment, has been
steadily falling into decay.