The Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God - a unique shrine of Transcarpathia

Transcarpathia can boast a great many majestic and magnificent churches of various denominations, built in different eras, in different styles and by different masters - both renowned and anonymous. Yet among the gems of Transcarpathian architecture are the unique wooden churches. They were built without a single nail and without modern tools, using nothing but wood and the hands of unknown, brilliant craftsmen. One such church is the authentic Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God in the village of Kostryno, Velykyi Bereznyi district, built as far back as the 18th century.

Here you will find no trace of the fashion for pompous reinforced-concrete churches, massive golden domes and lavish iconostases. For centuries the people of Transcarpathia prayed in simple wooden shrines. For this was a place where they could come to give thanks to God, to ask for help and blessing, to forget the bustle and hardships of life.

The Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God: the secrets of a wooden shrine

The Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God is noticeable at once - for it stands in the very heart of the village, on a hill, among the picturesque Carpathian mountains. In its beauty it in no way yields to its better-known «sister» in the village of Uzhok. Which is inscribed on the UNESCO heritage register - the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel , yet it is also a whole century older than it!

The secret of the church’s proportions lies in its ingenious simplicity. It was built, so to speak, «by eye», for the peasants of that time did not know how to draw up professional plans and construction designs. They had no modern tools or materials. When you look at the Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God, it seems to complete the whole composition flawlessly, harmonising perfectly with the surrounding landscape.

Be sure to look inside the church - you will see its relics : the iconostasis, 18th-century carvings, a Gospel from 1691 and gilded festive chalices. Pay particular attention to the old icons, already faded and darkened - they are several centuries old and painted on lime-wood boards. If you have the chance, climb up to the loft - there marvellous ancient bells have been preserved. These bells were cast in 1899 by the bell-founder Shandor Laslo in the village of Mali Heivtsi, near Uzhhorod.

The Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God is first mentioned as far back as 1645. It was then that the shrine was built in the neighbouring village of Syanky in the Lviv region. Almost half a century later, in 1703, the community of the village of Kostryno bought the church and moved it to the central hill. According to local chroniclers, there had already been two wooden churches in Kostryno, but they did not survive.

In Soviet times the church miraculously survived. The Soviet authorities tried several times to destroy the church, but the villagers constantly defended it. There were even plans to demolish the Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God and build a stone church in its place. But, strangely enough, it was «saved» by the First World War. After the war ended, the money that was to have gone towards building the new shrine simply lost its value.

The Kostryno monastery

Today the Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God is the Kostryno monastery, which belongs to the Orthodox diocese. It is, above all, an architectural and spiritual monument of the folk architecture of Transcarpathia. Were it not for the monks and local residents, the ancient church would long since have crumbled. To keep the shrine from falling apart, a foundation was laid beneath it and the roof was slightly repainted - done in such a way as not to disturb the church’s style, but only to keep it «alive».

The Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God is 15 metres long, 7 m wide and 14 m high. Art historians describe the church’s architectural style as transitional - from Boyko to Lemko. The framed bell tower was added here, according to various accounts, in the late 18th or 19th century. This lent the church’s austere and concise forms a dynamism, a distinctive «energy».

Around the church there is an incredible setting: astonishing panoramas of the Carpathian mountains, forests and highland meadows, while below a small «serpent» can be seen - the Uzh river, winding beneath the hill. How can one not fall in love with such beauty during an excursion that will reveal all the secrets of the Uzh Valley, and, especially, of the unique Church of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God.