Historical cultural reservation "Busha” is the only reservation in Vinnitsya region. It was established in August, 2000, due to the initiative of the local authorities. The reservation’s area is up to 6.68 hectares. In the territory and protection area of thee reservation there are about ten archeological monuments dated the 4^th thousand B.C. – the 7^th century A.D., pre-Christian and Christian rock temple (the 5^th – 16^th cent.) with the unique artistic relief, remains of fortress and underground passages (the 16^th – 17^th cent.), a city hall (the 16^th cent.) and a cemetery (the 18^th – 19^th cent.). There is also a historical sculpture park in the reserve, where the international gathering of sculptors-stonemasons "Podillya Guard Talisman” takes place annually.

The most famous archeological monument in Busha is a temple, carved in a rock, with a unique elaborate perget. In 1824, a noble man Romuald ostoya-Ovsiany discovered this monument, and he left a sign on the perget to prove it. Professor V. Antonovych started studying the monument in 1883, and the rock perget became well-known to many scientists.

In the perget, a leafless tree is carved, and on one of the branches a cock sits. Under the tree, there is a man kneeling. Behind the human silhouette, on an eminence, an imposing deer stands. In the perget’s top, almost in the middle, a rectangular frame is carved, where faint remains of a four-line sign can be seen. Probably, it explains the story of the monument. On the opposite to the perget, on the vertical rock’s surface, there is an ancient niche. It must have been used as a place for the pagan offerings – food and drinks could be placed there.

A scientific discussion on the perget’s creation date lasts for more than a hundred years. Its composition’s meaning, and the artistic traditions that affected its form, are argued as well. One thing is undoubted – this is an artistic work, and it relates to the tradition of the Slavic folk carving. In the 16^th century in Busha they started to build a castle in the midst of the cape, created by the Murafa and the Bushnka rivers. Later on, an engineer Guillaume de Beauplan described the Busha Castle to have 6 towers, with a powder magazine in each one. The towers were connected between each other, with the underground passages. Only a defensive tower of the Busha Castle has remained. It is built of the rock parts, there are two tiers, a cellar, and a hipped roof.

The castle gate was in the northern wall, near the two observation towers (one of them has remained). The castle walls and towers were suitable to military engines and were good for the fire fights. That’s why Polish officers compared the Busha fort to fortress in Kamiyanets. At the beginning of the 17^th century Busha was declared to be a city. In 1629 over 2000 people lived there, and it was quite a large city in Bratslav region of Podnistroviya area.

On November 18-20, 1654, the troops led by S. Pototsky and S. Charnetsky surrounded the castle. Polish soldiers killed the most part of surrounded Cossacks. When they almost took the castle, a widow of the Cossack leader Zavisniy, Maryana, burnt a powder magazine. That caused explosion that killed her and the people in the castle, as well as great many Polish warriors who attacked the castle. These events are described in a novel "The Busha Defense” by M. Starytskiy. After those tragic events the city actually stopped existence, and its revival lasted for a hundred years. But the Busha Castle wasn’t restored.

Apart the archeological monuments, Busha is famous for geological monument of the national importance, Haidamatskiy Yar. Its total area is 96 hectares, and it’s situated in the south of Vinnytska oblast, in the valley of the Dnistro tributary – the Bushanka River, on the border of Chernivetskiy and Yampilskiy districts. This is a forest with beautiful trees. Nowadays the old trees have proper names (Grandpa, Thunderer) and are protected by the government. The modern name of this monument appeared in the 18^th cent. It reflects the historical events known as Koliyivshchyna.

Haidamatskiy Yar’s geological landscape is unique, as the river has made an open-cut in deposits of limestone, slate and sandstone, and has reached about 120 metres depth. Weathered stone is tricky and picturesque, it’s shaped as columns, poles, queer animals and mythological images.

Yalta - Sevastopol private tour guide Sergey Tsarapora