Gate-shaped sanctuaries of the Sokil Ridge I
The shape of the Lesiv sanctuary on the Sokilsky ridge resembles an ellipse in an oblong rectangle over 50 m long and about 20 m wide. Two carved rock platforms form a kind of sacred gate, a gate. The passage between the rocks is oriented in the east-west direction, respectively; rocks cover the northern and southern sides. Cuts for the rock building are located in the eastern part of the sanctuary. The northeastern, eastern, and southeastern sides of the sanctuary are surrounded by stone walls stretching hundreds of meters. As a rule, the stones are large. The height of the wall is 0.5–1.2 m, which indicates their cultic rather than defensive or economic character. On the other sides, the sanctuary is surrounded by steep cliffs.
Based on the nature of rock images and structural features, it can be concluded that a unique sanctuary with a complex structure was discovered on the Lesiv stones. On the eastern and western sides of the rock complex, single-profile images in the form of a bird and a lizard, the main religious and mythological characters of the worldview of the Indo-European tribes, based on a binary cyclic-rotary system, are carved. An important constructive feature of the sanctuary is its gate-like shape, oriented along the east-west line (spring and autumn equinoxes). The sanctuary is also marked by rock images of various, mainly solar, signs and symbols, as well as the presence of a sacrificial stone, a wooden extension and stone ramparts.
