Book “Lost Churches of Transcarpathia”

We have returned the lost sights

“Lost churches of Transcarpathia” contains information about 156 objects of sacred architecture of the region, lost during the 20th and 21st centuries. These are 101 wooden churches, 29 wooden bell towers and 26 brick temples. For each of these sights, a description, image and link to the map are given.

The wooden church architecture is the most precious part of the folk art of Transcarpathia. It is most capable of representing our region in all its originality and complicated history. Transcarpathian church building testifies to its centuries old affiliation with Ukrainian art and reflects its interconnection with the art world of neighbouring nations. The local architectural tradition reflects the confessions of the different ethnic groups of our region along with its having belonged to different states at different times.

This land in the Carpathians became a place where the western and eastern branches of Christianity met and created a significantly diverse variety of architectural styles and forms of wooden buildings in a relatively small territory. At the same time, the wooden church architecture of Transcarpathia is only a part of a vast corpus of folk wooden buildings named of the Ukrainian Carpathians and which is also just a part of the great continent of Ukrainian wooden architecture. 

During the 20th century the idea of preservation and protection of monuments of folk art has gained broad recognition in Europe. The special value of Transcarpathian folk construction as a kind of chronicle of the folk spirit, artistic thinking and sincere faith has been noted regularly.

At the same time, in this century marked by the idea of protecting antiquity, there is not a single decade when wooden churches were undestroyed. Three periods of destruction of wooden church buildings in the region can be distinguished in the 20th century.

Download the book

The cost of the book is $15

You can purchase a digital version of “The Lost Churches of Transcarpathia”.
After payment, you will be directed to the book download page.
The funds received will go to support children affected by Russian aggression in Ukraine.

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