Lysa Hora (Ukrainian: Лиса Гора; Russian: Лысая гора (Lysaya Gora); literally "Bald Mountain") is a large woody hill in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, near the confluence of the Dnieper and Lybid' rivers. The mount supposedly takes its name from the fact that one slope of the hill is not covered by trees.

According to the legends, the Lysa Hora hill is the largest and most famous location of the mystical "bald mountain" - a traditional site of the witch gatherings. Particularly, it is asserted in the writings of Nikolay Gogol.

In 1872, a small fortress (part of the Kiev fortress) was built on the hill by Russian army. However, upon completion the fortress was found to be of little military importance and was converted into the military storehouse. Due to its relatively remote location, from 1906 the fortress was used as an execution place for convicted political prisoners of the tsarist government. Over 200 prisoners were executed in the fortress by hanging between 1906 and 1917, one of them was Dmitry Bogrov, the assassin of the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin.

Later, the Red Army constructed a mysterious underground complex beneath the fortress (now sealed and flooded).

In the 1980s, a radio beacon for aircraft navigation was built on the Lysa Hora.

The hill is now a landscape reserve included in the Kiev fortress museum.

See also

• History of Ukraine
• History of Russia