Zhydachiv — Hnizdychiv — Ruda. An Impromptu Trip Wins

I had long planned to travel to the district centre of the Lviv region, the town of Khodoriv. At the Stryi railway station it turned out that the local train went only as far as Zhydachiv, also a district centre and one of the oldest towns of the Lviv region. I had not been there either. Zhydachiv? Let it be Zhydachiv, then. When you plan something for a long time, your plans have a way of changing radically afterwards.
I ride along, looking out of the window, observing and committing things to memory. Passing the station of Hnizdychiv, I noticed in the distance a kostel with a tall tower.

Vilkhovytsia. A Wooden Landmark in a Zakarpattia Village

While holidaying in the Svaliava district of the Zakarpattia region, I decided not to waste time and, where I could, to look at the wooden churches around the area. One of them is in the village of Vilkhovytsia, in the Mukachevo district.

Dobrivliany, Stryi District. Its Churches and Chapel

A new day begins and the soul calls out for the road. On a beautiful November day I travelled to the village of Dobrivliany in the Stryi district to see a wooden church, an architectural monument of national significance.

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.

Sambir. An Enlightening Tour of a Princely Town

That Sambir is a special town I had known for a long time. And now the chance came to see it for myself. Two hours on the road on the Stryi — Sambir suburban train, and a rather short autumn day ahead.

Nove Selo. Neudorf in the Drohobych District

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.

Herynia. History and Landmarks of a Dolyna Village

I have driven past the village of Herynia in the Dolyna district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region many times. Having not very much free time, I decided to call in at this village, which lies beside the Dolyna — Stryi road. In recent years it has grown and become a suburb of Bolekhiv. I knew even earlier that a river of the same name rises in this place and divides the village into two parts. The residents tend their vegetable gardens and their households and work in Bolekhiv.
Walking past the handsome houses, it was impossible not to admire the garden decoration. Wooden mills, crane wells, carts with hay and pumpkins, all sorts of sculptures and little fountains. Box, thuja, chrysanthemums and other wondrous plants are planted along the paths. The old houses are used for household needs, as workshops or as a store.

Dobrivliany, Drohobych District. Does Renovation Save?

While strolling around Drohobych, I decided to make a trip to the village of Dobrivliany in the Drohobych district, known for I. Ya. Franko's stays there and for its wooden church of 1885.
The bus ride took about 40 minutes. As always, I asked my fellow passengers to tell me when my stop came. The settlement stretches a long way and there are two stops. A man slightly the worse for drink told me about this village with sadness in his voice: he once had a local girl here, and he knows every path there. Besides, he is a connoisseur of I. Ya. Franko's work. The memories lulled him to sleep. It was lucky that the young mothers travelling from the district centre, who had been discussing the problems of bringing up little ones the whole way, had heard our conversation and managed to warn me about getting off.

Golden domes showed through the trees. But the sense that the church was close by turned out to be deceptive. I had to go round places that were hard to pass, a field, a shelterbelt. Here one recalls the wisdom of the proverb: «Do not go into the water without knowing the ford». I crossed the railway crossing, where a repair crew was at work, and hurried along the long village street.
A shop, a café, a post office. At the crossroads stands a monument to I. Ya. Franko. In these parts, it seems, memorial signs to the Kameniar (the Stonecutter) have been raised in every village. Schools and streets are named in his honour.

Uhersko. Landmarks of a Village with 600 Years of History

I went by bus to the village of Uhersko in the Stryi district of the Lviv region, which lies a few kilometres from the district centre. The village has been known since 1481.
Right by the bus stop on the Stryi — Zhydachiv road stands a monument in honour of the abolition of serfdom, erected in 1848. In the 1960s it was destroyed, and in 1990 it was restored. In Austria the peasant reform was carried out under pressure from the revolutionary movement, including the Galician popular uprising. When peasant obligations were abolished in 1848, crosses were put up everywhere in memory of that event.

Verkhnii Dorozhiv — Hrushiv. Fog and Rain Are No Obstacle

Verkhnii Dorozhiv

The aim of the trip to the village of Verkhnii Dorozhiv in the Drohobych district of the Lviv region was to see the ancient wooden churches. The village lies 24 km from Drohobych and has been known since the 12th — 13th centuries. The road to Lviv passed through the village, and in the old days goods were carried along it. Travellers used to halt in this locality. The goods were expensive, and the place received the name Dorozhnia, later Dorozhiv. The point of departure was the town of Stryi, a district centre of the Lviv region and a railway junction.
I set out on the journey by the Stryi — Sambir electric train. The ride took 1.5 hours, and along the way I admired the autumn landscapes through the not very clean window glass. There were few passengers, mostly residents of the surrounding villages of the Stryi district returning from the market with their purchases. As we drew near Drohobych the carriage emptied. The stop at the station of the district centre of Drohobych lasted about 20 minutes. In that time the train filled up with new passengers returning from the Drohobych market. People were briskly discussing who had bought and sold what. The stations were not always announced over the loudspeaker, and not very distinctly. So I turned to my fellow passengers with a request to tell me when my station came. It has to be said that people always answer the questions «How do I get there?» and «Where is it?» willingly, whatever language you ask in, Russian or a Russian-Ukrainian mix, it makes no difference. They always try to help. A few minutes ahead I was warned that my station was coming and was wished a good journey.
On the platform I asked how to get there and received an exhaustive answer to my questions. A narrow path ran through vegetable gardens and a meadow where cows graze in the summer. Here and there haystacks stood. There was fog, but through it the gleam of the golden domes was visible, and this added grandeur to the church, while my own pace quickened. I entered the grounds without hindrance; there was no service and the church was closed at that hour. But I had come to look at the sanctuary in the quiet of an autumn morning, so that cars and people would not get in the way. The Church of the Ascension of the Lord was built in 1887 on the site of an older one, also of wood. In Soviet times, from 1960 to 1989, it was closed. The church stands beside the road, on a slight slope. Immediately next to the church is the cemetery, with monuments in the form of crosses and sculptures of saints.