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In the morning my wife and I woke up, washed and decided to go to the morning mass. Since it was Sunday that day, we decided to wear vyshyvankas (embroideries), national Ukrainian clothing, which we specifically brought with us to make the day even more festive. We decided to visit Monastery Hill after the morning mass, which was also part of the monastery but was a high hill in the forest.
The monastery mountain in Unev is the unique place where the cemetery is located, where the monks are buried. The silence and beauty of this place are fascinating, inspiring for prayer and reflection on life. This is exactly how it was when we got there - very quiet and peaceful, despite the solitary figures of other pilgrims who also went there. However, it turns out that many centuries ago, the life of an ancient settlement was raging here. Some claim that there were tribes of White Croats living here, their settlements being 50 km from each other, mostly in the mountains and in places where beech and oak forests grew. Nobody has explored this place , nothing has been written about it. A defensive shaft has been preserved until today, which helps the modern man in his imagination to go back to the deep antiquity and to discover some unknown secrets of the past.
After descending from the mountain, we went to the Univ source, to a specially made pool, into which water from an underground source enters. This pool is made in such a way that it has very little water, only at the ankle, and the rest of the water flows into a special hole. The water in this source is considered to be healing and therefore pilgrims who come to Unawa enter this pool and try to pass at least a few circles barefoot. My wife and I also went into the water, removing our shoes before then, of course. I want to tell you that the water from the underground source was very cold. However, after a few laps, I felt like my feet were starting to sprout with hundreds of little needles and it was getting very hot. A few minutes later we left this pool to give room to other pilgrims. I do not know how much we have strengthened our health, but our legs just got cleaner.
There is a local legend about the Univ source. After the Tatar raid, the Univ monastery was destroyed. The nobleman Alexander Wanko Lagodowski lived nearby. An old legend tells how, having become ill with a foot disease, Vanko saw in the dream the Virgin, who advised him to look for a healing source near the forest. He went into the woods and found this source. Miraculously healed, the nobleman promises to revive the destroyed monastery. In the XVI century. construction of a stone defense church over the well began, and later four corner towers and walls. Wanko Lagodowski was in charge of the monastery until 1574. The Lagodowski tombstone is preserved - one of the best examples of Western Ukrainian Renaissance sculpture (the original is kept in Olesko Castle).
After visiting the source, we walked around the monastery for a little while, enjoying the warm sunny weather until it was time to return home. We boarded a bus traveling to Lviv, with memories by the memories of visiting this wonderful place.
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