Transboundary site with Poland
Potelych
Descent of the Holy Spirit Church
Ukraine / L'viv region
This is a parish Church built in 1502 (Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish at present). It is tripartite, log-construction, built of pine-wood squared timber. Polychrome interior, the year of 1628 and the beginning of the 18th c., iconostasis of the 17th c. The Church is of the old Halych type. The wall over the eave and the tops are reshingled. The wider square nave is covered with a tent-frame top having one zalom (sloping section) capped with light lattern with a small dome. A helmet-shaped dome built in 1736 with a light lattern and small dome rise above the sanctuary. The babynets' (narthex) is covered with a gable roof with a small eave. Two small sacristies at the southern and northern sanctuary walls are hidden under the eave which engirdle the Church and is based on the profiled cantilevered brackets of the log-construction endings. Inside the nave and sanctuary spaces are open up till the latterns basis and the narthex has a flat ceiling. The choir at the nave western wall is dismantled. Wall painting, iconostasis, cliros (krylos) bench of the 17th c. and collection of icons of the 16-18th c.c. is preserved.
Zhovkva
Holy Trinity Church
Ukraine / L'viv region
This is a parish Church built in 1720 (Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish at present). It is tripartite, log-construction, built of pine wood squared timbers on the oak first timber log-construction. The interior: iconostasis of the first half of the 18th c., sanctuary wall painting of the end of the 18th c. The Church is of the new Halych type, three-dome. The high light octagon covered with a helmet-shaped dome having a blind lattern rises above each log-construction. The eave engirdling the Church is based on cantilevered brackets of the log-construction endings. A stone sacristy covered with a sheet-metal gable roof was attached to the Sanctuary Eastern wall before 1750. Under the eave there is an open log-construction and above the eave the walls are reshingled as well as the domes and roofs are. All the interior spaces are open up till the latterns basis. The choir is located along the narthex western and northern walls and the nave western wall. Iconostasis, wall painting, the main altar, benches and a confessional of the 19th c. are preserved.
Drohobych
St. Yuriy's (George's) Church
Ukraine / Lviv region
This is a parish Church built in the second half of the 17th c. (at present it is a branch of Drohobych Museum of Local Lore). It is tripartite with side krylos (cliros), built of the oak squared timbers. The interior: wall painting of the 17th c. and iconostasis of the 17th c. The Church is of a new Halych type three-towered with two small kryloses tops. The wider log-construction of the nave is topped off with the octagon having baroque dome and a small dome. The sanctuary and babynets' (narthex with one zalom) are topped off in the same way. The small domes above the eave gallery cover faceted in the plan kryloses. There is a roundabout arch gallery on the narthex empora around the Chapel of the Introduction of B.V.M. The sanctuary is engirdled with a wide eave transforming around the nave and narthex into the eave gallery on the carved pillars. The walls of the construction above the eave gallery and the tops are reshingled. All the interior spaces are open. The walls of the nave, narthex and empora are covered with paintings of the 17th c. Iconostasis is preserved.
Matkiv
St. Dmytro's Church
Ukraine / Lviv region
This is a parish Church built in 1838 (Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish at present). It is tripartite, log-construction, built of spruce-wood squared timber. The interior: iconostasis, the main and side sanctuaries of the first half of the 19th c. The Church is of a Boyko type with three tops. High octagonal towers rising above each log-construction are topped off with helmet-shaped domes with blind latterns and small domes above the nave there are five zaloms (sloping sections) and above the sanctuary and narthex there are four zaloms. Two sacristies attached in 1930 are hidden under the eave which engirdles the Church and is based on the profiled cantilevered brackets of log-constructions endings. The primary three-arch porch at the western narthex wall has been transformed into the enclosed porch. All the Church walls and sloping sections are vertically planked while the domes and roofs are covered with sheet metal. Inside the old open spaces of the year 1939 are covered with the dome vaulting at the level of the first sloping section. The choir stretches along the three narthex walls its wings being on the western narthex wall. The interior is covered with wall paintings of the end of the 19th c. made on the cardboard. The Iconostasis, the main and side sanctuaries and benches are preserved.
Rohatyn
Descent of the Holy Spirit Church
Ukraine / Ivano-Frankivs'k region
This is a parish Church built at the beginning of the 16th c. (the branch of Ivano-Frankivsk art museum at present). It is tripartite, log-construction, built of the oak squared timber. The interior: iconostasis of the year 1650. The Church is of the old Halych type, it is one top. Above the nave there is a tent-frame top having two zaloms and topped off with a spire on the octagonal tracery lattern. The sloping shingle roofs of the sanctuary and narthex are joined with the nave eave which is based on the big stepped cantilevered brackets of the log construction endings. At the narthex western façade a three-tiered, square in the plane pillar bell-tower is attached and joined with the eave making the Church ensemble. The belltower third tier is slightly protruded and parted with rectangular holes with horseshoe-like completion. The belltower is covered with a tent-frame roof crowned with a high spire on the quad. The Church entrance is in the southern narthex wall. On the outside southern wall of the Church there are polychrome relics of the 17th c. Inside the nave is covered with a cut off tent-frame vaulting, narthex and nave having closed ones. The choir is made at the nave western wall. Iconostasis, collection of icons of the 16-18th c.c., old prints, sculpture, tombstones of the 17th c. have been preserved.
Nyzhniy Verbizh
The Church of the Nativity of B.V.M.
Ukraine / Ivano-Frankivs'k region
This is a parish Church built in 1808 (Ukrainian orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchy at present). It is cruciform, log-construction, built of spruce-wood squared timber. Polychrome interior from the end of the 20th c., iconostasis from the beginning of the 19th c. It is a Hutsul Type five dome Church. The walls above the eave and the domes were covered in 1990 with the ornamented sheet metal, the log construction under the eave is open and oil-painted. A high light octagon capped with a tent-frame dome having blind lattern and a small dome (higher above the nave) rises above each log-construction. The Church is engirdled with the eave based on the profiled cantilevered brackets of the log-construction endings. Ekzonarthex (enclosed porch) is attached at the narthex southern entrance and a rectangual sacristy is attached to the sanctuary from the North. All the interior spaces are open up to the vaulting zenith. The choir initially located at the narthex eastern wall was transferred in 1950-s to its western wall. The main and side sanctuaries from the beginning of the 19th c. and collection of icons from the end of the 18th c. has been preserved.
Uzhok
The Church of St. Archangel Mykhailo (Michael)
Ukraine, Transcarpathian region
This is a parish Church, built in 1745 (the parish of Ukrainian Orthodox Church at present). It has a three chamber plan, built of a spruce log-construction. The interior is decorated with the iconostasis (icon screen) of the 18th c. The Church is of Boyko Type with three-topped roofs. The nave is capped with a huge tent-frame with two zaloms, similarly the sanctuary is capped with two zaloms. The high, well-proportioned tower of pillar construction, covered with a low tent is above the narthex. The eave transforms in the altar's roof and is based on the profiled ends of log-constructions. Inside the spaces of nave and altar are opened into the height and connected with a crossed baulk (with two pairs in the nave). The narthex is topped off with a flat ceiling. There was a bell tower on its third layer. The second tier of the narthex is connected with a choir loft and arch groove of the complex form by the western ceiling of the nave. The iconostasis, the main altar of the 18th c., some icons of the 17th c., old printings of the 17th c. has been preserved.
Yasynia
The Church of Ascension of Our Lord
Ukraine, Transcarpathian region
This is a parish Church, built in 1824 (the shared parish by Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church). It is crusiform, built from a spruce log-construction. The interior is decorated with the iconostasis of the 18th c. The Church is of Hutsul Type with a one-topped roof. The wider squared nave is capped with a tent-framed dome and small dome on the low light octagonal lattern. It is joined with a narrower side shoulders which are covered with a gable roof and ostrishok's (small eave). The Church has an eave, based on profiled cantilevered brackets and torn by a new enclosed porch near the western wall of the narthex. The Church walls, roofs and tent-frame dome are covered with shingles. Inside the nave space is opened to the base of lantern and connected with a crossed baulk on a lower level of the octagonal drum. In the side shoulders there are flat ceilings along the crossed baulks. The iconostasis, some icons of the 18th c., the gonfalons of the beginning of the 19th c. has been preserved.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
Wooden Tserkvas are the unique phenomenon, tightly connected with the universal values. In the background of the European Art the history of Wooden Tserkvas in the lands of Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia stands out as a separate phenomenon with its own basis which could not be easily set into the general schemes of the architecture history. The expansion of wooden architecture coincided with the spread of mainly coniferous forests, which covered most lands of the medieval Europe to the north of the Alps. The gradual forest lessening influenced directly the appearance and number of wooden buildings. With the time flow it resulted in the purposeful restriction of wood as a building material. That caused the emergence of frame-construction architecture in the Western Europe. Only the Slavs' buildings were characterized by the log-construction. Sacral architecture of Eastern rite Churches was based both on the Byzantine art which was different from the Western European one and local building tradition from the 5-6th c.c. The most ancient data about the churches are dated back to the beginning of the second millenary. The phenomenon of traditional Wooden Tserkvas does not have analogues in the world heritage. It was neither minor nor marginal, but the main one and developed together with the stone building. Wooden Tserkvas are unique in composition-spatial construction, planned structure and art decoration. The characteristic Church image was created and distinguished by three chamber plan and original tower construction. Wooden Tserkvas uniqueness is in the fact that the tower interior space responds to the exterior outline. Another distinctive feature is the attempt to finish each of the three main log-constructions with a separate top roof. The churches have such a peculiar element as an eave i.e. roof let based on profiled cantilevered brackets of log-construction ends, or opasannia - a roofed gallery. The combination of simple quadrangular and octagonal constructions helped to create unique structures which are not found to be repeated. The interior walls are decorated with paintings; the interior art construction is preserved; the iconostases raise the art importance of these architectural monuments. Wooden Tserkvas building also borrowed the features and stylish peculiarities of the epoch from the stone architecture. Various types of Ukrainian Wooden Tserkvas have been designed in different parts of Ukraine for more than a millennium period. They include Halych, Podillia, Volyn and Slobozhanschyna Wooden Church Type, as well as later developed types of Boyko, Lemko and Hutsul Wooden Church Type, which appeared in the separated valleys among the mountains. Each type contrasts with another one by the size, number and top proportion, construction elements, thus making up subtypes. Caused by political situations of different times a large amount of Ukrainian sacral heritage was ruined and damaged. Especially it concerns the monuments of Podillia, Volyn' and Slobozhanschyna which were a part of the Russian Empire in the 18th c. and were rebuilt for the unification with Russian sacral architecture. The political impact on the architectural heritage of Halychyna, Bukovyna and Transcarpathian (Zakarpattia) was less due to its belonging to the Austrian Empire since the end of the 18th c. The most representative samples of the main types from the mentioned above regions have been chosen for this application from Ukraine and Poland. All these monuments represent the conception of Wooden Tserkvas architecture. Halych Old Type (Rohatyn, Potelych, Radruż) comes from the 16th c. is characterized with the tent-frame tops (often only naves) and the Young one (Drohobych, Zhovkva, Chocinec) originates in the 17th c. is characterized with the domes on octagonal drums. Boyko Type (Matkiv, Uzhok, Smolnik) is differentiated by the high multi-sloping section tops among which the middle one (nave) is always the highest. Lemko Type (Powroźnik, Owczary, Kwiatoń, Turzańsk, Brunary) has a high pillar bell-tower situated above the narthex, which is the main temple mark appeared due to the Rome Church building's influence. Hutsul Type (Nyzhniy Verbizh, Yasynia) is distinguished from the previous types by the emergence of two additional spaces to the both sides of the nave. The central space is always capped with octagonal pyramid, but the side spaces may vary from the gable roof to additional four domes. These churches do not only reflect local art preferences, but testifies the ability of builders to combine them with geographical and cultural traditions of the region. The enlisted churches have kept the unique art constructions which are in harmony with the European styles beginning from Gothic till late Baroque. These temples are the example of historical dominants of the rural buildings. The location of chosen items in picturesque valleys among mountains, woods and cultivated fields adds up a lot to their attractiveness. Each of them, not taking into account the scale of constructions developed, has served as a landscape concretizer of the whole cultural sub-region.
Satements of authenticity and/or integrity
Unique universal values of the selected Wooden Tserkvas correspond to the authenticity and integrity criteria adopted by the UNESCO Convention of World Heritage and Charter of Nara (Japan). Namely they include:
Authenticity of architecture, material and construction
The suggested to be enlisted churches are wholly authentic in scientific, esthetic and emotional aspects. They are preserved in the original historical appearance due to which they are the monuments of exclusive importance. Their value is presented by peculiarities characteristic for the region which at the same time distinguish them above the region scope. They contain elements which integrate the cultural and natural beauty of local landscapes. The changes during the centuries did not affect their original style. They reflect the traditions and technologies of medieval workshops. Interiors keep full and homogeneous construction preserved from the previous epochs. The interior polychrome of these churches is denoted to have one of the most preciously preserved wall painting. Wooden Tserkvas are distinguished by developed icon-conception programs and represent various techniques, high artistic and professional level.
The proposed examples of Wooden Tserkvas are also representative in stylistic varieties of sacral interior decoration. Great historical and artistic value possesses complexes of carving as well. Their importance lies in the historical and artistic unity of all their elements - architecture and different kinds of art. This is a unique fact which puts them among the classic examples and could not be compared even with the most valuable monuments of other categories inscribed into the Register of World Cultural Heritage.
Authenticity of function, content and ceremony
Nearly all of the chosen objects have been performing liturgical and sacral function. These churches materialize spiritual values of culture which have universal meaning together with local religious and cultural identity. Traditional holidays and customs could be held beyond the Church function.
Authenticity of restoration
Restorers become interested in Church restoration only in the 20th century. Previously they were restored according to the style of the particular epoch. The professional tradition ensured the application of the same techniques and materials. Modern applied principles of restoration continue ancient methods providing the full authenticity of structure, details and composition.
Comparison with other similar properties
In adjoining countries (Romania, Russia, Poland, Belarus) sacral building have been developed on different planning and composition principles. Part of wooden heritage of these countries is enlisted in UNESCO Register of World Heritage but it differs from the suggested Ukrainian Wooden Tserkvas. For example, Russian Churches (E.g. Kizhi Pogost) have different composition structure, inner closed tops, wood is carved less. Wooden Churches of Maramures are very similar with one another in their spatial-planning structure and differ only in details and size. They do not have tops, interior spaces are capped with vaulting and do not correspond the outer space. Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland are different as well. They have their own spatial-planning structure and do not contain towers in the form of domes and tent-frame roof. Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area are not considered to be the single complex. They are the combination of Catholic Churches (partially resemble Wooden Churches of Little Poland), Protestant Sanctuaries (original wooden buildings) and Ukrainian Wooden Tserkvas (Lemko Type). Churches of Peace in Jawor and Swidnica and Urnes Stave Church in Norway take roots in totally different cultural environment and are completely different in composition and style. The complex of suggested Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Mountain Area of Ukraine and Poland as original cultural heritage considerably fills in the gap of traditional sacral building of Europe and without which it will not be universal.
