The calendar sanctuary of the Great Mother in Ternoshora
An ancient pagan sanctuary, one of the most powerful places of power in the Carpathian region. A few thousand years before the birth of Christ, our ancestors had perfect knowledge of the starry sky, the annual solar cycle, the seasons, because of which the celebration of the main dates, celebrations, rituals, and the whole way of life were formed and took place. Observatories-shrines – places of exact time – were set up to keep calendars.
The sanctuary is located on the southern slope of Mount Ternoshora on an eight-meter stone circle and has the form of an elongated mountain slope with an area of 10 hectares. Sandstones from huge stone blocks form it. The most bizarre rock is known among the local population as “Dovbush’s Head”, and in the scientific world as “Ternoshorska Lada”. Facing east, weighing more than 100 tons and standing over 10 meters tall, this grand statue resembles a pregnant woman. According to scientists, this sanctuary is dedicated to the mother woman, the divine Lada, who personified wealth and fertility. The presence of a nearby sacrificial pit, a sun-shaped disk-stone, indicates that the Ternoshora sanctuary was simultaneously also a calendar one. In this context, according to folk beliefs and celebrations, a pregnant woman and other objects marked the birth of a new Sun God. The event was identified with the victory of the day (Bilobog) over the night (Chornobog). From this sacred point, the Sun “returned” to summer.
