Once, on the way from Drohobych to Stryi I decided to get off at Nove Selo in the Drohobych district and take a look at the church whose unusual dome I had seen from the bus window. The settlement came into being at the end of the 18th century as a result of the settling of German colonists and bore the name Neudorf — New Village. About 800 people live here now, but I met nobody at all while I walked to the church.
The Church of the Great Martyr George is a former Roman Catholic church, put up in the 1930s and rebuilt in 1991, and it serves a Ukrainian Greek Catholic community.
I walked back to the bus stop along a parallel street and saw another unusual monument, this one to T. H. Shevchenko. Its author was clearly not a sculptor: it is the folk skill and the soul of the people of Nove Selo. The portrait of the Kobzar is set upon a symbolic Chernecha Hill in Kaniv, laid out of natural stone, where the poet is buried.
Across the road is a football pitch; a few lads were chasing the ball with abandon, but they greeted me and pointed out a short cut. In every village I have seen these sports grounds for training the future holders of all sorts of cups.
As I was walking into the village I saw the old German cemetery at the start of the street. Now I came up to it from the other side. Here and there the remains of gravestones have survived. A monument with a cross has been raised to all the first settlers, with an inscription in Ukrainian and German: «In memory of the former inhabitants of Nove Selo, who lived in good harmony with their Ukrainian neighbours. 1783 — 1939».
I waited a few minutes for the bus; there are many routes to Stryi and it is easy to get there. The bus stop, painted in patriotic colours, caught my eye.
The Church of the Great Martyr George is a former Roman Catholic church, put up in the 1930s and rebuilt in 1991, and it serves a Ukrainian Greek Catholic community.
As I was walking into the village I saw the old German cemetery at the start of the street. Now I came up to it from the other side. Here and there the remains of gravestones have survived. A monument with a cross has been raised to all the first settlers, with an inscription in Ukrainian and German: «In memory of the former inhabitants of Nove Selo, who lived in good harmony with their Ukrainian neighbours. 1783 — 1939».
I waited a few minutes for the bus; there are many routes to Stryi and it is easy to get there. The bus stop, painted in patriotic colours, caught my eye.
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Нове Село. Нойдороф в Дрогобицькому районі
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