“Invisible and free! … Margarita gripped her broomstick harder and flew on more slowly, glancing at the passing signboards and electric cables.”
With these lines from his novel “The Master and Margarita,” written in 1928 – 1940, Mikhail Bulgakov describes a witch flying to satanic ball on a hill in Moscow. However, historians believe he could have been inspired by one of Kyiv’s hills, Zamkova Hora (Castle Hill) near Andriyivskyy Descent. Bulgakov was born in Kyiv, and used to live near the hill.
Legends say witches prefer to gather on high, bald hills to conduct magical rituals, preferring so-called days of power, such as Walpurgis Night (April 30 to May 1) or a Friday the 13th.
So those who missed their chance on Walpurgis Night to go to one of Kyiv’s four bald hills to see whether something mystical is happening there have another chance on the night of Oct. 13, which is a Friday.
“Everybody knows what witches look like, and the place you can find them is Lysa (Zamkova) Hora in Ukraine where they gather at night to celebrate Sabbath,” wrote folklorist Vladimir Dal in his work “About Legends, Superstitions and Prejudices of Slavic Nation,” published in 1845.
City of witches
Friday the 13th is traditionally believed to be a day when witches and demons are abroad, and bad things can happen to ordinary folk. In some counties doctors refuse to perform operations on this day, drivers try to be twice as careful, and religious people attend church.
While the number 13 is called an unlucky number, for Bulgakov it was a sign of good fortune. After spending 30 years of his life at 13A Andriyivskyy Uzviz St., he wrote one of the most darkly magical novels of the 20th century. Some even think he came up with so many enigmatic stories about dark powers because he saw witches with his own eyes.
Bulgakov wasn’t the only writer to associate Kyiv with witches, however.
Nikolay Gogol, a Russian writer with Ukrainian roots, wrote that “in Kyiv, all of the women at the market are witches,” and Orest Somov in his novel “Kyiv Witches,” 1833, related a story about a young man from Kyiv who fell in love with a pretty woman called Katrusya, only to quickly find out she was a witch.
And Zamkova Hora isn’t the only place in Kyiv that is imbued with mystery and thus worth visiting on a spooky Friday 13th.
Cursed building
Another spooky spot is the castle-like building at 14A Yaroslaviv Val St., also known as house of Rodzianko, built in 1910, and decorated with two identical sculptures of long-haired women on their side of its doorway.
According to legend, the building used to belong to the millionaire Leonid Rodzianko. He wanted to have an eternal life and to be even wealthier. To get what he wanted, it is said that he went to see a witch, and made a deal with her.
Soon after that, in 1914, Rodzianko moved to the United States and achieved success there, becoming a dollar millionaire. However, the date of his death is still unknown.
“The legend says, he will live and prosper as long as the building on Yaroslaviv Val carries the image of the witch he made a deal with,” says historian and Kyiv guide Sofia Hrabovetska.
Witches’ house
A short way alongYaroslaviv Val Street, there is another mysterious building with a tower, at 1 Yaroslaviv Val Street, on the corner, not far from the Zoloti Vorota monument.The story says the house was built in the 19th century by a man for his mistress.
“The wife found out about it, and killed the man,” says Hrabovetska.
And now, according to rumor, the ghost of the dead man wanders the house.
Even so, there are lots of other reasons to be interested in the building – Ukrainian writer Lada Luzinain her novel “Kyiv Witches” made it the home of the three main characters of her story, all of whom are witches.In the novel, they live together there, and sometimes fly to a bald hill to celebrate a witches’ Black Sabbath.
Luzina says the story was not completely made up, as it has its roots in Kyiv legends.
Magical power
The Samson Fountain near Kontraktova Square, which has a sculpture featuring the Biblical character Samson fighting a lion was erected in 1749, according to official records. Some say however that there has been a fountain there as far back as the Middle Ages.
And, according to the Kyiv’s legends, the fountain also has a magical power, though a weird one.
Kyiv guides said that in 18th and 19th centuries local thieves gathered around this fountain, and those who wanted to escape thievery and start a new life would drink some water from the fountain. Their lives would then change drastically for the better.
Another myth says that the fountain has another power – those who want to stay in Kyiv forever should drink from it, and their dream will come true.
