Pidkamin

The magnificent monastic complex of the origin of the tree of the Cross of God (the former Dominican monastery) in the magnificent baroque style rises above Rozhenytsia Mountain on the outskirts of the village of Pidkamin.

The current architectural ensemble was formed in the 17th-18th centuries, however, according to one of the versions, the monastery was founded by Kyiv-Pechers monks back in the 13th century. The first mention of the wooden monastery of the Dominican Catholic order dates back to 1464, but it was soon burned down by the Tatars.

In 1612, the architect Pavlo Hizhitskyi and the engineer Hristian Dahlke began the construction of a new defensive monastery complex, which lasted for more than 80 years. The complex is dominated by the Church of the Ascension with a tall tower with a baroque spire, which can be seen from Pochaiv. The cells are adjacent to it, the bell tower, the chapel of Saint John Nepomuk (now the church of the New Martyr Nicholas) is located nearby. The complex is surrounded by walls with towers and bastions. In the center of the yard is a Corinthian column with the figure of the Mother of God (1719), and there is a 100-meter well on the territory. The monastery had a complex title - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cross of the God, the Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints. The main shrine was the miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Snows, which is now in Wroclaw.

In 1944, the monastery was closed by the Soviet authorities, a concentration camp for Ukrainian clergy was organized on the territory, where, in particular, Mykola Tsehelskyi, proclaimed a blessed martyr of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, was held. Later, a closed psychoneurological boarding school was established within the monastery walls, and the church was turned into a stable and even later into a garage. Grain was stored in one chapel, mineral fertilizers in another, and prison guard dogs were fed in another.

In 1997, the revival began with the efforts of a small brotherhood of Greek-Catholic monks of the Studite statute, and restoration is underway. In October 2022, the monastery bell tower restored with the funds of the European Union was consecrated.

The huge 16-meter stone-relic "Devil Stone", which gave the village its name, is located on the top of a hill on the southeastern outskirts of Pidkamin.

The uniqueness and grandeur of this natural monument have attracted people to it since ancient times. One of the legends says that devils brought a piece of rock from the Carpathians, intending to drop it on the Pochaiv Lavra, but God threw the stone aside. According to the scientific version, this is a fragment of an ancient coral reef.

6 grave pits were hollowed out on top of the stone. In pre-Christian times, there was a pagan temple here. During the times of the Galicia-Volyn principality, a defensive church was built on top, from which traces in the form of grooves and ditches remained on the surface.

Nearby are stone crosses of the 17th century.