The Wooden Churches of Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia is called the land of wooden churches. In atheist times they were closed and fell into decline. Then they were ruthlessly used as warehouses and outbuildings. Many burned down. Some were attacked by seekers of treasure and valuables. In the Svaliava, Mukachevo, Vynohradiv, Tiachiv, Perechyn, Khust, Rakhiv, Velykyi Bereznyi, and Mizhhiria districts, unique examples of wooden folk architecture have survived. To acquaint people with the spiritual heritage of the Zakarpattia region, tourist routes have been drawn up with visits to the monuments of wooden sacral architecture.

Uzhhorod. The Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The Church of the Holy Archangel Michael

The best-known monument of monumental wooden construction is the Shelestiv church, consecrated in honour of the Holy Archangel Michael. For all tourists who are staying in Uzhhorod, an excursion is offered to the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. In the centre of the city, in the open air, unique exhibits are gathered — dwelling houses, farm buildings, a school, a smithy, an inn. In 1972 the skansen was enriched with a rare exhibit — a classic Lemko church, the only one in Zakarpattia. The shrine was erected in 1777 in the village of Shelestiv, Mukachevo district. Researchers consider this year the date of the church's consecration, but it was built even earlier. At the beginning of the XX century a stone church was built in the village, and its predecessor was moved in 1928 to Mukachevo. For a long time the resettled church stood neglected, until specialists took notice of it and moved it to the museum, which had recently opened.

In 1972 and 2008 restoration works were carried out, during which the craftsmen performed labour-intensive work with special wooden plates. The structure contains no metal nails or other parts. The church combines the tent and baroque styles. It consists of a small log frame — the altar room, and a large log frame — the nave and the babynets. The majestic structure is adorned with three towers. The central place is occupied by a four-tier iconostasis, made up of icons of the XVII-XVIII centuries. On Sundays services are held in the church. The Shelestiv St Michael's church has the status of a monument of national significance.

Uzhhorod. The Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. Bells

Beside the church is displayed a chapel of the first half of the XIX century from the village of Novoselytsia, Mizhhiria district. In the chapel are presented wooden figures made of linden by an unknown master.

Uzhhorod. The Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The chapel

The Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God — the second example of the Lemko school of folk monumental architecture of Zakarpattia. This architectural masterpiece is located on the territory of the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohiv.

Pyrohiv. The Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. 1792.

The three-domed church was erected in 1792 amid the Carpathian mountains, beech forests, and crystal streams in the village of Ploske in Svaliava district. The length of the structure is 11.3 metres, the width 5.85 m. On the log frame the inscription 'Rok bozh 1792' has survived. The monumental building of three rectangular log frames in the form of an octagon is crowned by a tower and baroque cupolas. The church is sheathed with small boards and covered with shingle — a roofing material in the form of wooden plates. History has not left the names of the builders, but by the high level of the work done one may say that they were connoisseurs of proportion and material and jacks of all trades. The folk craftsmen passed on the subtleties of the craft as an inheritance, which even now are used by first-class builders of wooden religious structures from Western Ukraine. A school was opened at the church, and religious life increased the number of village residents.

135 years later, in 1927, the church met the fate of a resettler, like its other Lemko relatives. The community decided to sell the old church and use the proceeds to build a stone replacement. Having dismantled the creation made of logs 55-65 centimetres wide, they moved it on sleds to Svaliava, and from there by rail to the village of Kanora near Volovets. During the struggle against religion, in 1953 the church was struck off the register and crossed out from the lists of functioning churches. The building fell into decay and crumbled from neglect and mismanagement. This architectural pearl of the Zakarpattia region was saved by the opening in Kyiv of an open-air museum, where the largest collection of wooden churches of Ukraine is gathered.

The wooden beauty, dismantled into its component parts, was moved to the capital and carefully reassembled anew, like a construction set. Now it is the architectural dominant in the 'Zakarpattia' sector.

Since 1999, with the formation of a community, services are held in the ancient church on festive and Sunday days.

The history of St Michael's Church in Svaliava, in the Bystryi suburb, reaches by its roots back into the times of the chronicles.

Svaliava, Bystryi. Zakarpattia region. St Michael's Church. 1588.

During the Tatar-Mongol invasion, hiding from enemies, the faithful erected a house of prayer in the forest and prayed to God for help to drive the strangers from their native land. When it became safer, people moved the church to the valley, closer to the village. The date of the church's construction is considered to be 1588, and it was first consecrated in honour of St Nicholas. In 1759 the church was moved to the middle of the village, and an altar was built, cupolas and a new roof erected.

The Lemko church has a tower with a baroque finial.

The vestibule is surrounded by a gallery of carved little columns painted in bright colours.

Unfortunately, the wooden bell tower was dismantled in 2001; in its place a new masonry one was built, and the cupola from its predecessor was set upon it.

An iconostasis of the end of the XVIII century has survived. On 21 November, at the church feast, the parishioners perform a song-prayer to the Bystryi church. In heartfelt verses the history of the shrine is set out, in which many generations prayed in Bystryi.

Svaliava, Bystryi. Zakarpattia region. St Michael's Church. 1588.

A very rare architectural treasure has survived in its pristine form in the village of Uklyn in Svaliava district.

Uklyn. Svaliava district. Zakarpattia region. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

Earlier the remote mountain village was located on the other side of the valley, and there was already a church in it in the XIV century. An epidemic of cholera devastated Uklyn, and people resettled, fleeing the infection. There is a saying: 'As few people as there are cottages in Uklyn.' A small community did not need a large church, and the faithful erected a shrine of small dimensions. In a similar style and with similar structural features, religious buildings can be seen in Tarasivka, Rakhiv, and Kostrynska Roztoka, but the Uklyn one is considered the oldest.

Historians believe that the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built at the end of the XVIII century from the material of its progenitor. It was not altered by radical rebuildings, but the covering had to be renewed. The shingle was made by the craftsman Ivan Moldovan from the village of Shchirovets, Volovets district.

The bells and church utensils were moved to the new stone church of Peter and Paul, built in 1992. In the old church there is a large cross, holy images, embroidered towels, and prayer books. According to local residents, the church is not closed and is used as a chapel.

Very close to it are dwelling houses. One gets the impression that the church is now located in the yard of a private homestead. Beside the path leading to the entrance of the church stands a sculpture of the Mother of God. This Zakarpattia wonder has the status of an architectural monument of local significance.

Very few craftsmen remain in Ukraine capable of making shingle for the roofing of sacral structures. A community does not always manage to preserve a place of prayer while observing the monumental features of wooden architecture. The secrets and skills of the craftsmen are being lost; in repairs, modern material is increasingly used, which is more expensive but, in the opinion of the priests and parishioners, makes the church more beautiful and majestic. An example of an unsuccessful reconstruction can be considered St Demetrius's Church in the village of Vilkhovytsia in Mukachevo district.

Vilkhovytsia. Mukachevo district. Zakarpattia region. St Demetrius's Church

The church belongs to the Boyko type of structures, in which all 3 parts have the same dimensions but different heights. The shrine was built of oak logs in the neighbouring village of Bystrytsia. Researchers consider the XVII century the date of its birth.

With the building of a stone church, the old one was moved in 1910 to Vilkhovytsia. During the move the form of the tower was simplified, the covering over the nave and altar was changed, and the window openings were widened.

The doors to the church are set low, so that people enter with a bow. The casings are decorated with ancient symbols of the sun, and the upper doorpost is made in the form of a shaped arch.

On the vaults over the porch are painted images of holy martyrs and patrons.

A board from the times of the Ukrainian Socialist Republic attests to the status of an architectural monument of the XVIII century.

A new church has been built in the village, but in the old one the faithful by tradition perform various Orthodox rites: they marry, baptise the newborn, and hold funeral services for the dead.