Vovkiv. From Market Square to the Church, the Wooden Church and the Museum

Every town or village has its own experience of preserving historical sites and architectural monuments, which together make up Ukraine's cultural landscape and keep alive the memory of particular events or figures. The village of Vovkiv lies 20 km south of Lviv, in the floodplain of the Zubra River. It is first mentioned in 1398 and has a centuries-old history.

 

The coat of arms of Vovkiv reflects the village's main spiritual traditions. Beneath a golden crown of wheat ears grows a fir tree, which, together with a silver wolf, was approved on the community's seals in the 19th century. The image on the coat of arms of this freedom-loving and strong animal symbolises freedom, fearlessness and kinship.

 

Vovkiv. The coat of arms

There is, however, another version of the origin of the toponym. In olden times merchants, hauling flat-bottomed boats along the Zubra floodplain, overcame the shallows and weirs and ferried goods to a small town that was called Volokov.

 

Vovkiv. The Zubra River

In the centre of the settlement, on the triangular Market Square, fairs were held, traders sold their wares, people from neighbouring villages met and exchanged news, and important decisions were also taken. Framing the square, alongside sumptuous homesteads, huddle little 200-year-old cottages — old Galician dwellings that shaped the traditions of modern building.

 

Vovkiv. Old cottages on Rynok Street

In the centre of this historic spot, beneath two ancient lime trees, stand a memorial cross in honour of the abolition of serfdom and the State Flag of Ukraine.

 

Vovkiv. The memorial cross to the abolition of serfdom on Rynok Street

From Market Square roads radiate in four directions, forming the village streets. The village is known for a fine tradition whereby the arranging of roads and bridges is carried out by the efforts of the whole community. 

Vovkiv. A village street

It is also a well-known fact that Ivan Yakovych Franko loved to stay in Vovkiv, walking more than 20 kilometres from Lviv on foot. There is no monument to the Stonemason in the village, but in 1993 the first Ukrainian detective film, "A Crime with Many Unknowns", was made from a work by the national classic, with filming among the eloquent ruins of the Church of St Mary Magdalene.

 

Vovkiv. The Church of St Mary Magdalene

Probably only in a detective plot or a horror film could one use the interiors of the abandoned Stefanus estate in Chernytsia and the equally mangled walls of the Vovkiv religious building. From the 16th century the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Vovkiv was wooden. Thanks to numerous donations, in 1924-1929 a brick church for 2,000 worshippers rose on the site of the dismantled church, from which its furnishings also passed over. The project's author and the head of the church's construction was the well-known Polish architect and artist Bronisław Wiktor. From 1930 the liturgical services were accompanied by an organ. During the Second World War shells struck the church, damaged the altar and the parish house and destroyed the outbuildings. From 1946 the Polish population left the village, and the house of prayer was left without parishioners. Like other abandoned churches, in Soviet times the building was used to store collective-farm pesticides and mineral fertilisers, which harmed the structure even more and added ruinous scars.

 

Vovkiv. The Church of St Magdalene

Experts rate the church's architectural features highly, and the style is defined as Art Deco, combining the vaulted forms and asymmetry of Art Nouveau with the monumentality of Neoclassicism. The Catholic church is listed in the register of architectural monuments of local significance, but its protected status does not save the orphan. Bricks stamped with Polish maker's marks lie scattered everywhere, along with rotten boards; the building is in a dangerous state. Some items of the church furnishings are kept in the local Ustyianovych art and memorial museum-estate, which I visit at the end of my journey.

 

Vovkiv. The Church of St Mary Magdalene

The road from the church and the cemetery to the centre of the village has recently been covered with new asphalt.

 

Vovkiv. The asphalted street

A hundred metres from the church, the old school with its school garden draws the eye. In the early 20th century the "Ridna Shkola" (Native School) educational society was active in the village. The building, symmetrical in plan, under red tiles and with brick trim, served as a post office after the new educational institution opened. At present this example of a public-education building is not used in any way.

 

Vovkiv. The old school

On the left bank of the Zubra, in 1702-1706, the Church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple was built. On the church's doorframe an inscription survives naming the builders of the wooden religious structure. Earlier repairs somewhat altered the appearance of the three-frame church; in 2019 the Presentation church shed its tin roof. Shingles were restored to the church and to the three-tier bell tower. The fence, too, is made of horizontal boards, which lends the structure authenticity. The shrine has the status of an architectural monument.

 

Vovkiv. The Church of the Presentation of the Mother of God into the Temple

In the late 1830s the church's spiritual father was Mykola Ustyianovych — a writer, a deputy to the Galician Diet and a public figure. In 1839, in Vovkiv, a son named Kornylo was born into the priest's family, the future writer and artist. In the former presbytery, in 1991, the Ustyianovych Art and Memorial Museum was set up, with a collection of artworks, portraits, photo-documents, literary publications, everyday objects and so on. In the grounds a monument to Kornylo Mykolaiovych has been erected, and in the granary building an ethnographic display is housed.

 

Vovkiv. The Ustyianovych Art and Memorial Museum and the monument to Kornylo Ustyianovych

You can reach the village from Lviv by buses No. 115 and No. 169.