Metravel city quest
City Vashkovo (Ushachy District): free walking route “Barkovshchina Quest: Lakes and Legends” along the sights. 7 points. Approximately 1 h. Quests and legends
Barkovshchina is a place that people in these parts call protected. The mineral springs near the village of Vashkovo have been known since 1830: even then a health house stood by their water, and from mid-May to August people came here to treat rheumatism and nervous ailments. The water is slightly salty, with a metallic taste, and wells up straight from the ground in the middle of an old forest.
They say these springs, pines and forest lakes have a keeper of their own: an old spirit of the forest who watches over the water and the silence. He will not show himself to you, but he will leave signs at each of three stops: at the spring, among the ancient trees and at the lake. If you are attentive and honest, the forest will open its secrets to you one by one. Look around, breathe in the resinous air and head for the first sign: the spring.
The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.
Here it is, the Barkovshchina spring, a hydrological natural monument. It is not one source but several separate outlets of underground water, each with its own character: the water differs in both taste and force.
To make the water easy to draw, the spring has been set up with care: a staircase leads down to the springs, a canopy stands over the basins, a little bridge crosses the stream, and the water flows along troughs.
An optional stop, for pleasure rather than puzzles. The best discoveries of a journey often happen over a cup of coffee.
Opening hours: Tue–Thu, Sun 12:00–21:30; Fri–Sat 15:00–02:00; closed on Mondays
The trail leads you higher, into a grove of tall old trees. You cannot see where their crowns end, the resinous air is thicker here, and the trunks creak in the wind as if talking to each other.
The wind in the pines plays a special music: the rustle of needles swells like the sea surf, then dies down to a barely audible whisper. The ancients believed this was how the forest talks to people, and that every place has its own mood, which it gladly shares with anyone who comes with a kind heart.
The trail brings you out to a forest lake, dark and quiet, its mirror reflecting the pines and the sky. These places are not called the Forest Lakes for nothing: water is everywhere here, and it has fed people for centuries.
The colour of a forest lake is deceptive: it shifts from steel to amber, depending on the clouds, the peaty bottom and the time of day. People used to say that the water shows the onlooker his own soul, so they leaned over it silently and unhurriedly.
This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.