Throughout the past centuries ethnographers and historians have described how, on the night of July 06th. each year, the people celebrated Ivano Kopallo. This year we finally found the time and the weather cooperated so Yaroslava and I decided to see if we could find what I had read about in the books.
During our travels we passed through the village of Herasymiv, Horodenka region, just north of Kolomaya where we heard that the local boys carried on these ancient traditions. So off we went in search of this event.
Ivano Kopalo is a celebration by the people to honor the sun, which takes place at the height of its power in the summer. During earlier times this probably took place during the summer solstice but since the old calendar was replaced in the 1700's the dates were readjusted several times and we now have the summer solstice being celebrated in July.
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| this is the hill where the action took place |
We arrived early and were informed that the fires were not lit until midnight so we spent the time waiting and talking to the locals. One man described how, when he was younger, the hills surrounding the village were ablaze with fires but now they concentrated their bonfires only on one hill.
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| a close up view |
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| the village from the other end of the valley |
As we waited closer to midnight other people began arriving, but since this was not a staged event it was only the local people who came out to watch.
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| fireworks added for effect |
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| a bonfire in the form of a cross |
Besides bonfires they made wheels of straw or 'vyazanka' (вязанки) that were meant to be set ablaze and rolled down the hill. However, since there were houses at the bottom of the hill they rolled them into a gully which stopped them from rolling onto the houses
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| a vyazanka |
These pics were taken at a gathering of people who are celebrating Ivano Kopalo on the actual solstice date.
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| Here they are in the Dnistyr river valley making a 'Maryna' doll |
Another part of the tradition was that later that night the boys went about the village causing 'mischief'. We were told, since we didn't wait that long, that the boys would steal gates and set them on the roofs, or in the local creek or paint the windows so they were dark inside the house. One older man told us that as a youngster he and the boys picked up the neighbor's wagon and set it into a pond. When it began sinking they heard a cry and found that the owner had slept in the wagon to prevent the boys from taking it.
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