• Founded in 1598

  • Ukraine, Volia Vysotska, Lviv region

Tourists come to Zhovkva not only to see the ancient castle, an elegant church or an elegant town hall, but also for ancient wooden temples. Those who are keen on our authentic architectural heritage will definitely be interested in Volia Vysotska, Zhovkva’s neighbor. There can be no mysteries about the etymology of the settlement name. There is Volia (freedom) because when the village was established; those who moved to live there were exempted from taxes for a certain period. And Vysotska (derived from high/hill) not because it is located on a hill (the area is quite flat here), but because of the one of the village owners, the Busk colonel Andrii Vysotskyi. The childless colonel wasn’t so vain as to name the whole village after himself. This was done in 1560, by Hetman Stanislav Zholkevskyi, in honor of the memory of his fried, who had passed away before. 

    The village on the rivers with simple names Svynia (Pig) and Balanda (Lenten broth) begins only 200 meters north of the Zhovkva bypass road. And another kilometer separates the beginning of Volia-Vysotska from an artistic treasure – the ancient one-story three-log wooden church of St. Michael. 

 You will not have to look for it. You needn’t ask the locals for the road, as the temple is visible on the ride side of the road. But if you still need some landmarks, focus on the storks’ nest on a tall tree. The birds have chosen a nice place to live in, with great view and an interesting church nearby. 

  Is it a modest church, one of those you will see in almost every other Galician village? Err, no. The church in Volia Vysotska was constructed in the style of the Galician architectural school. But when?! In 1598. At that time Titian was popular in Europe, the Habsburgs were at war with the Ottoman Porte, Dutch sailors were discovering the island of Mauritius, Boris Godunov ascended the Moscow throne and here, and along the Roztochia ridge the peasants were building a new church. Without a single nail, of course, but that’s how all other Ukrainian wooden shrines were built, as the nails were too expensive for a poor village. 

Where is such exact accuracy, 1598, from? The church itself prompted its birthdate. A record claiming this has been preserved on the jamb above the western entrance to the shrine. 

   Of course, since 1598 the temple appearance has been changed several times. It was extended, for example, in 1891 a 9-meter-long narthex was added to the main volume of the building. 

   It’s a pity, but now you can see only in old photos in local lore books what a beauty St. Michael’s church under the shingled roof used to be. The tin roof was installed here in the first years of Ukrainian independence, in 1992. At the same time, during the temple renovation, the restorers found a real treasure – frescoes from 1603, ones of the oldest in Lviv region and in general throughout Ukraine. Even if the historians who date these polychromies to 1611 are right, it’s still a very solid age for paintings.

  The St. Michael’s church iconostasis will also be of interest to tourists, aesthetes and local historians. It is younger than the temple itself and the mural, but also its dating is quite respectful. Most of the icons were painted in 1655.  A bit later the deacon’s gate and the apostolic tier of the iconostasis were added. The famous artist Ivan Rutkovych, a genius of the Western Ukrainian Baroque, created them in 1688-1689. 

 In the shade of old trees in the village cemetery there is the church’s sister – a bell tower. It is also wooden and ancient, albeit much younger than the temple itself. It was built in the 18th century. The bell tower is square in plan and has two tiers. 

   Among the other Volia Vysotska monuments there are the concrete remnants of a 45-meter monument (1979) in honor of the Russian Imperial Army pilot Peter Nesterov, who once performed his famous ‘loop’.  It was exactly near Volia Vysotska on September 8, 1914, during the air battle, when for the first time in history of young aviation a ram was used. The both pilots P.Nesterov and his opponent the Austrian baron Friedrich von Rosenthal perished.  Russian soldiers are said to have taken all the valuables from fallen from the sky Nesterov’s body.  The pilot was later buried in Kyiv at Askold’s grave. But this is a completely different story. We go to Volia Vysotska to experience something sacred and beautiful.

Object on the map