Wooden Churches of the Carpathian Mountains # 35 - Tarnoszyn, Poland (Now in Lublin Outdoor Museum)

This Greek-Catholic wooden church is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is now located in the Outdoor Folk Architecture Museum in Lublin, Poland. The church was originally constructed in 1759 in the village of Uhrynów (Uhryniv in Ukrainian) which is now part of Ukraine.

In 1904 the church was moved further west to the village of Tarnoszyn, which today lies in Poland just a few kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Following the expulsion and resettlement of the Greek-Catholic population of the village following World War Two, the church was used for Roman Catholic services until the early 1960's. Over the following decades the church was abandoned and fell into ruin.

In 1994 the church was purchased by the Greek Catholic parish in Lublin, and in 1997 it was transported to its present site in the Lublin Outdoor Museum. Extensive renovations were carried out between 1999 and 2001, and the interior fittings including the iconostasis were completely reconstructed.

The church features a classic Boyko style with a three-part design (nave, narthex and sanctuary) each topped by a dome with the largest dome placed above the nave. The design of the entrance area with a porch and four pillars is very unusual and is likely not an original feature of the building plan. The lowest part of the structure reveals the original horizontal log construction while the upper portions are covered in a modern vertical timber facade. Next to the church there is a large wooden bell tower which was also transported from Tarnoszyn and includes a cone-shaped roof over the bells.

The Lublin Outdoor Museum is located in the north-western suburbs of the city and can be easily reached by city bus from the old town. The museum is very large, you could spend most of a day seeing all of the different building styles and regions which are displayed.

Wooden Churches of the Carpathian Mountains # 33 - Uzhgorod, Ukraine

This Greek Catholic wooden church stands in the Outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. The church was originally constructed in 1777 in the village of Shelestovo near the city of Mukachevo, and was dedicated to Saint Michael. In 1927 the church was moved to Mukachevo, where it was later neglected during the early Soviet period. The church was transferred to the Uzhgorod museum in the 1970's to form the centrepiece of the museum's collection of Transcarpathian folk buildings.

The church is an outstanding example of the Lemko style of architecture, with its three onion domes arranged with the highest above the narthex (entrance area) a middle dome above the nave and the lowest dome above the sanctuary. There are only a few remaining examples of the Lemko architectural style in Ukraine, since the style is more commonly seen further west in the Carpathians in what today are Slovakia and Poland. Three Lemko churches were moved to what today is the Czech Republic while Transcarpathia was part of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars. Two other Lemko churches which are still in Ukraine have been transferred to the Outdoor Museums in the capital Kiev and in Lviv. A further example of the style is in the town of Svalyava, where the large church of St. Nicholas can be seen.

The tall and slender 22 metre Baroque tower is one of the finest features of the church, and it is topped with a decorative cross above the onion dome. This feature is repeated with crosses featuring intricate metalwork designs found above all three of the onion domes. The square pagoda-style series of roof layers above the nave are wonderfully proportioned in conjunction with the smaller tent roof over the sanctuary. The walls of the church are made of oak beams which are fastened together with dovetail joints in each of the corners.

The carved wooden posts which form a balcony around the entrance door and along the sides of the narthex and the nave are typical of the central Transcarpathian style where northern Lemko and Boyko elements mixed with design features seen further south in areas influenced by Romanian builders. Most of the original icons and the iconostasis wall from the original Shelestovo church have been lost, and the icons displayed in the church today as part of the Outdoor Museum were brought from the church in the village of Kolochava in the Carpathian highlands. These icons date from the 18th century.

The Outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture is a short walk from the centre of Uzhgorod, with the main entrance lying just beyond Uzhgorod castle. Uzhgorod is located at a crossroads of different countries and Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania all lie within easy reach. Buses cross the border to Košice in Slovakia several times daily. Minibuses travel south to Chop near the Hungarian border where international trains depart for Budapest. Buses and minibuses run at least every hour to the neighbouring city of Mukachevo and there are direct trains heading north to Lviv.

Wooden Churches of the Carpathian Mountains #2 - Kryvka, Ukraine (now in Lviv skansen)

This wonderful wooden church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, is originally from the small village of Kryvka, found near the border with Poland. In 1930 it was moved to the Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture to become the first structure in the museum's collection.

Today it is the museum's star attraction, preserved as a superb example of the Boyko style of Rusyn wooden church design. Boyko churches are identifiable by a building plan with three steeples where the tallest steeple is the central one; the interior contains three rooms, with the middle one being the largest.

The Kryvka church was originally constructed in 1763, and suffered major damage in World War I when a shell crashed through the roof. I spoke with the priest responsible for the church and he told me that a lack of funding for restoration of western Ukraine's wooden churches threatens the long-term sustainability of many of these unique and remarkable structures. The Lviv skansen is found at the edge of the city, and is easily reached by tram from the centre.