Church of the Archangel Michael, Uzhok, Ukraine

St. Michael Church was built in suburb of Uzhok, Ukraine in 1745. The structure consists of three wooden naves and a brick sacristy.

In 2013, Holy Trinity Church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage. It was among 16 wooden tserkvas of Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine to be added.

Address

Н13 72, Uzhok, Ukraine

See all sites in Uzhok

Details

Founded: 1745
Category: Religious sites in Ukraine

More Information

whc.unesco.org
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

St. Michael Archangel's Church (27,9 km)
St. Dmytro's Church (20,1 km)

User Reviews

Виталий Владимирович (4 months ago)
Church of St. Michael and the bell tower Two wooden buildings, erected in 1745 - St. Michael's Church and a two-story bell tower to the north-west of it - are located on one of the highest hills near the Uzhotsky Pass, effectively dominating the surrounding mountain landscapes. St. Michael’s Church belongs to one of the most original local groups of Transcarpathian wooden churches - Uzhhorod - with its characteristic combination of features of Boyko and Lemko types. According to the traditional churches of Boykivshchyna, the building consists of three rectangular log cabins, the central one exceeding the side ones in size and height. The dominant role of the central log cabin - nave - was revealed in its completion, which is a typical for Boyko temples quadrangular top with three low folds and a monumental pyramidal wedding tent. The structure of the quadrangular top of the altar frame is also similar, but it has only two bends and is noticeably inferior to the central one in height. Much lower than the central volume is the western part of St. Michael’s Church, which consists of a low windowless nave and an emporium located above it with a low frame bell tower with a tent finish. The two-story structure of the western volume and the frame construction of the bell tower above the Babinka are related to the wooden churches of the Lemko region, but the symmetrical character of the whole composition of the monument brings it closer to the traditional Boyko churches. To a large extent, this is also facilitated by the arrangement around the building of a plastic attic on figured brackets. Even more consistently, the traditional symmetrical structure of Boyko churches is found in the interior of St. Michael’s Church, the compositional dominant of which is the developed upwards and well-lit space of the nave. The important role of this room in the interior of the monument is also emphasized by the location of most of the elements of its interior decoration - iconostasis, figured cutout and other elements. These features of the building, multiplied by the exquisite proportions and picturesque silhouette, make it one of the best examples of wooden temples of the Uzhhorod group in Transcarpathia. The bell tower is located northwest of the temple and organically fits into the overall architectural and spatial organization of the ensemble. It is one of the most common in Ukraine varieties of the wooden bell tower "four by four", the lower tier of which, surrounded by an attic, is a log house, and the second tier - an open arcade-gallery with a tent finish.

Viktor Gordienko (5 months ago)
A very interesting structure ..

Анна Базиленко (5 months ago)
Very beautiful. 1745 church. The most interesting one in this area.

Emil Grochocki (5 months ago)
Simply a beautiful monument. It is a pity that unfortunately it is impossible to enter on weekdays

Tomáš Krompolc (11 months ago)
Unusual wooden church. It is still used, around the cemetery. It is not primarily a tourist destination and it is appropriate to behave accordingly. However, it is a UNESCO monument and is definitely worth a visit.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright yashima

Historic Site of the week

Quimper Cathedral

From 1239, Raynaud, the Bishop of Quimper, decided on the building of a new chancel destined to replace that of the Romanesque era. He therefore started, in the far west, the construction of a great Gothic cathedral which would inspire cathedral reconstructions in the Ile de France and would in turn become a place of experimentation from where would later appear ideas adopted by the whole of lower Brittany. The date of 1239 marks the Bishop’s decision and does not imply an immediate start to construction. Observation of the pillar profiles, their bases, the canopies, the fitting of the ribbed vaults of the ambulatory or the alignment of the bays leads us to believe, however, that the construction was spread out over time.

The four circular pillars mark the start of the building site, but the four following adopt a lozenge-shaped layout which could indicate a change of project manager. The clumsiness of the vaulted archways of the north ambulatory, the start of the ribbed vaults at the height of the south ambulatory or the choice of the vaults descending in spoke-form from the semi-circle which allows the connection of the axis chapel to the choir – despite the manifest problems of alignment – conveys the hesitancy and diverse influences in the first phase of works which spread out until the start of the 14th century.

At the same time as this facade was built (to which were added the north and south gates) the building of the nave started in the east and would finish by 1460. The nave is made up of six bays with one at the level of the facade towers and flanked by double aisles – one wide and one narrow (split into side chapels) – in an extension of the choir arrangements.

The choir presents four right-hand bays with ambulatory and side chapels. It is extended towards the east of 3-sided chevet which opens onto a semi-circle composed of five chapels and an apsidal chapel of two bays and a flat chevet consecrated to Our Lady.

The three-level elevation with arches, triforium and galleries seems more uniform and expresses anglo-Norman influence in the thickness of the walls (Norman passageway at the gallery level) or the decorative style (heavy mouldings, decorative frieze under the triforium). This building site would have to have been overseen in one shot. Undoubtedly interrupted by the war of Succession (1341-1364) it draws to a close with the building of the lierne vaults (1410) and the fitting of stained-glass windows. Bishop Bertrand de Rosmadec and Duke Jean V, whose coat of arms would decorate these vaults, finished the chancel before starting on the building of the facade and the nave.

Isolated from its environment in the 19th century, the cathedral was – on the contrary – originally very linked to its surroundings. Its site and the orientation of the facade determined traffic flow in the town. Its positioning close to the south walls resulted in particuliarities such as the transfer of the side gates on to the north and south facades of the towers: the southern portal of Saint Catherine served the bishop’s gate and the hospital located on the left bank (the current Préfecture) and the north gate was the baptismal porch – a true parish porch with its benches and alcoves for the Apostles’ statues turned towards the town, completed by an ossuary (1514).

The west porch finds its natural place between the two towers. The entire aesthetic of these three gates springs from the Flamboyant era: trefoil, curly kale, finials, large gables which cut into the mouldings and balustrades. Pinnacles and recesses embellish the buttresses whilst an entire bestiary appears: monsters, dogs, mysterious figures, gargoyles, and with them a whole imaginary world promoting a religious and political programme. Even though most of the saints statues have disappeared an armorial survives which makes the doors of the cathedral one of the most beautiful heraldic pages imaginable: ducal ermine, the Montfort lion, Duchess Jeanne of France’s coat of arms side by side with the arms of the Cornouaille barons with their helmets and crests. One can imagine the impact of this sculpted decor with the colour and gilding which originally completed it.

At the start of the 16th century the construction of the spires was being prepared when building was interrupted, undoubtedly for financial reasons. Small conical roofs were therefore placed on top of the towers. The following centuries were essentially devoted to putting furnishings in place (funeral monuments, altars, statues, organs, pulpit). Note the fire which destroyed the spire of the transept cross in 1620 as well as the ransacking of the cathedral in 1793 when nearly all the furnishings disappeared in a « bonfire of the saints ».

The 19th century would therefore inherit an almost finished but mutilated building and would devote itself to its renovation according to the tastes and theories of the day.

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Church of the Archangel Michael