By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna | Page 38

Caves of Iliv

the deepen part of a dwelling house or a
household structure.
The first outer defense line is made
of the arched earthen rampart, about
44 meters long, which goes from the
northeast to the southwest. From
outside, the rampart is surrounded with
the sludgy moat, the width of which in
its upper part reaches six-seven metres,
with the depth being about 1 metre. At
some spots, there are small dikes, located
aslant the moat.
Further beyond the drive to the
square, on the right, one can see coneshaped remains of the structure with
a round base, 11–12 meters in diameter.
On its surface, there is a horizontally
shaped small square, shaped as a sphere,
8 meters in diameter, with a height of 1.41.5 meters above the level of the ancient
horizon. Its surface is covered with turf;

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however, at some spots, small stones of
lime-sand origin come out of the ground.
Presumably, that was the location of the
settlement’s main tower.
Most likely, in Iliv as well as neigh­
boring Stilsko and Dubrova, the
settlement and the temple of the White
Croats were located.

Caves and lakes of Iliv

The rock with three caves is situated
near the southeast outskirt of Iliv, in the
middle of the beech tree forest, on one
of the hills of Lvivske Opillya. The site
covers an area of 51 hectares. In 1984,
in accordance with the decision adopted
by Lviv Oblast Rada, it was given the
status of a natural monument of local
importance. Rocks with caves formed
the part of Iliv settlement, an old Slavic
pagan settlement-sanctuary of the 7th–
14th centuries.