The Carpathian Sea is the local nickname for the unfinished Sopit hydropower project on the Stryi River, between Skhidnytsia and Skole. In 1979 the Soviet authorities approved a huge reservoir (sources cite anywhere from 20 to 200 million cubic metres) meant to supply Lviv with water and feed a roughly 50 MW power plant. More than USD 50 million was sunk into it, but a landslide damaged the dam and a botched survey blast cracked the rock. Work stopped for good after the USSR collapsed, and the sea was never filled. Today it is a popular abandoned industrial site: water intake structures, concrete channels and spillways, tunnels about 6 m high and over 750 m long, a small artificial lake and staff buildings. Nothing here is fenced, lit or supervised — explore the ruins and enter the water entirely at your own risk, in sturdy shoes and with a torch. Nearby are the Sopit and Laznyi waterfalls and the Tustan rock fortress. It is about 120 km from Lviv.
It is the unfinished Sopit hydroelectric station on the Stryi River between Skhidnytsia and Skole — a 1979 Soviet project for a large reservoir and a ~50 MW plant, abandoned after a landslide, rock fractures and the collapse of the USSR.
The site is an abandoned industrial structure with concrete channels and long unlit tunnels, no fences, no lifeguards and no depth markings. Visiting and swimming are entirely at your own risk; wear sturdy shoes and bring a torch.
By car only in practice: head toward the Skhidnytsia resort, then to Novyi Kropyvnyk and through Urych; the last ~5 km is a dirt road to the dam. It is roughly 120 km from Lviv.
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Address
поблизу с. Сопіт, на р. Стрий, між Східницею та Сколе, Львівська область
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An open-air abandoned site — there is no ticket office or official entrance fee.
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