Location:
Zelene village, Verkhovyna district
GPS coordinates: 48.046944 24.627222
Pip Ivan mountain (Popivan, Black Mountain) is pyramidal in shape. Located on the territory of the Carpathian National Nature Park. On the pre-war Polish maps, it is marked as pole №16. Ruins of the Polish Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory are located on the mountain top.
The astronomical meteorological observatory - is the tallest building in Ukraine (Pip Ivan Mountain is 2028 m high, or 2022 m according to other data). Built in 2 years, at the expenses of the Polish Air Forces and opened on July 29, 1938. Walls up to 1.5 m thick were laid out of natural stone, bricks inside; between them there was a thermal insulation layer of tarred corkboards on a metal grid. The house had 43 rooms. There were living rooms and a conference room on the ground floor. On the second floor, there were a dining room, offices, a hotel, a contact room, and on the upper floor, there was a hall for astronomical and meteorological instruments. Boiler room, shower, and canalization were in working condition. At the beginning of the World War II, all equipment was evacuated to the Budapest Astronomical Observatory. The Soviet Geophysical Observatory was located in the building in 1940, and in 1941, the Observating point of the Hungarian army was here. After the war, the equipment was sent to Vienna and then to Poland. In 1942, when military left the building, everything that had value began to disappear; at first - copper sheets from the roof (Hutsuls made large vats out of them in which they cooked cheese). Over time, the construction of the observatory started to ruin.
An architectural monument of local significance.
Now, thanks to the efforts of the Precarpathian National University and local authorities, an object is under restoration and reconstruction.