Strilkiv. The Oldest Wooden Church of the Stryi Area

That the village of Strilkiv in the Stryi district has an ancient wooden church of 1650, an architectural monument of national significance, was something kind people told me about.


How could I not go and see it? Only 4 km from Stryi. I went by bus. My stop was the last one, and I was the only passenger getting off there. There is no need to look for the new church, you see it straight away. The singing of the church choir carried over, though there was no service.





The bell tower was built to an unusual design.



On the church grounds there is a sculpture of the Mother of God.



Next to it is the cemetery, and on it the family chapel of Baron Josef Brunicki, a former landowner.



I walked through a deserted expanse. The only one I met was a little horse grazing on the green grass.



Silence reigns in the school yard. Lessons are under way. Beside the school there is a new sports ground for five-a-side football. Football is loved here, they play it and they cheer for it.



On the other side, in the quiet and the greenery, stands a bust of I. Ya. Franko.



And here is the goal of my journey. The Church of St Nicholas stands on a small hill, with steps leading up to it. The building has escaped wholesale repairs with the use of plastic. It is simply hard to believe that this sanctuary is 365 years old. It is still covered with shingle rather than sheet metal. The church is closed, but you can pray to St Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron of travellers too, whose figure is set on the wall.















While I was examining the church from below, at the foot of the hill, a woman came out of the neighbouring house. She thought I was a cultural studies scholar from Lviv, such people had come before. From her account I learned that services are held only on 19 December, on the patronal feast. And she and other villagers keep priceless photographs of a wedding ceremony in the church and of the newlyweds' solemn descent down these steps.



On this same street there is a holy spring and the half-ruined building of the former school.





I did not wait long for the bus. It is very good that I made the trip, and I am sharing my impressions of what I saw with you.

Related stories: Zaderevach. The Church and Landmarks of a Stryi Village · Bratkivtsi. A Pysanka Chapel in a Subcarpathian Village · Nezhukhiv in the Stryi District · Wherever You're Headed, I'm Off to Semenivka! · Verkhni Hai. A Subcarpathian Village of 600 Years · Wooden Churches of the Stryi District. Folk Building

This story is also available in Ukrainian: Стрілків. Найстаріша дерев'яна церква Стрийщини