We are now in a natural tract known as the Labyrinth. It stands as living evidence of a remarkable afforestation experiment launched more than two centuries ago by Viktor Skarzhynskyi, who skillfully used the natural conditions of the Arbuzynka River valley. Here, he proved that even in the southern steppe – despite widespread skepticism – a true forest could be created.
In his work, Skarzhynskyi was persistent and methodical. He established his own nursery, developed cultivation techniques for seedlings, and acclimatized trees and shrubs from North America, Asia, and Western Europe. Internal reports from the 1840s record that his forests included 281 species of trees, among them exotic conifers not native to the southern climate. By 1853, the total area of forest plantations within his estates had reached 380 hectares. Saplings from Trykraty were used to landscape Odesa, Mykolaiv, Voznesensk, Alupka, Alushta, and Uman.
The Labyrinth tract covers 147 hectares. Its greatest value lies in the eastern section, where oaks from the first plantings of 1805 have survived. Some reach heights of 30 meters and measure more than 470 centimeters in circumference. This was once the site of a grand estate park, with alleys, canals, flower beds, greenhouses, gazebos, and bridges built in various architectural styles. During its original design, the southern part of the park was arranged as a maze of tall shrubs – a feature that gave the tract its name. A canal was drawn from the Arbuzynka River to bring water directly to the estate, and downstream a stepped spillway was constructed in the form of a cascading waterfall.
Today, only fragments of that former grandeur remain. Of the hundreds of century-old oaks, about 150 have survived. The forest suffered severe losses during uncontrolled logging in the turbulent 1920s. Many trees were also lost during the Second World War and in the devastating storm of 1947. Contemporary global climate change continues to affect the forest as well. Yet the Labyrinth remains a monument to human vision and faith in the future of the steppe – a future Skarzhynskyi described in his will, dreaming that forests and water would one day make this land blessed.
It is time to continue on toward the village of Aktove, where the natural wonders of the Arbuzynka and Aktove Canyons await.