Just a single word “Chernobyl” might sound creepy and mystical to the people who still remember what happened there in 1986.
The small town of Chernobyl gives its name to an area of 2,6 km², and it became a symbol, a phenomenon who’s history is shrouded in mystery and myths. Its villages, natural landscape, nuclear and military facilities hide many stories and have unique atmosphere. Chernobyl Story Tours reveals it to those who are interested in experiencing the mystery and here are some of the places where you can find it.
Almost in the heart of the 10km zone, lies the tiny village of Kopachi. Although it was inhabited by more than 1,000 people, today you’ll not see any of their houses. The whole village was buried under the ground after evacuation of its population. Somehow, it can be called graveyard of people’s lives. Everything they owned, everything what surrounded them in their everyday life is buried there. You can see little hills along the main road: those are the graves of the houses. Once being a village full of life today is a silent cemetery.
There is another mystical place located in the 10km zone of Chernobyl. It is Soviet radar Duga-1. Enormous steel construction was supposed be completely secret and detect ballistic missiles. Even today, the majority of the documents related to this project are marked as “Top secret”. Steel Yard, Moscow’s Hidden Eye, Russian Woodpecker – those are just a few nicknames of the array. It caused many issues to the Soviets which made it visible to the world. The radar was put out of service after the accident of 1986; however, there is a claim that the explosion at the power plant was organized to distract media’s attention from Duga-1.
One more of the most mysterious places of Chernobyl is Prypiat City. Up to 50,000 people used to live there; all of them were evacuated in a couple of hours. Deserted buildings and empty roads have been waiting for the population to come back since 27 th of April. Trolleys are left in the supermarket hall; amusement park with its iconic Ferris wheel was supposed to host ceremony of official opening on the 1 st of May, 1986. Right behind the park, there is a stadium which can be recognized only by the seats because the field is totally covered with trees. The amusement park didn’t have the opportunity to bring joy to the people neither stadium hosted a single match. On the other side of the city, there is a hospital no. 126. Its basement still stores contaminated closes of the firefighters who were sent to the power plant right after the explosion and later died.
However, Chernobyl has not only post apocalyptic mysteries. Kupovate village, which is located in the 30km zone, is a home for more than 10 people. They are re-settlers. Visiting them is like travelling to other dimension which you feel through by observing their households, the pictures on the walls, their smiles and simply the fact that the life goes on in the one of the most contaminated places on the Earth.
