Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ, Kolomyia

The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ in Kolomyia at 31 Teatralna Street holds the proud title of the largest Greek Catholic church in western Ukraine among all the shrines of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ was built in 1998. On August 19, 1999, on the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ, Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk, the first Bishop of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy of the UGCC, consecrated and laid the cornerstone for the construction of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ. A total of 1,638 hectares of land was allocated for the construction of the church complex. It was built under the close supervision of architect Viktor Mitsai. The newly built church was consecrated in 2012.

It is worth noting that the church is two-story and 52 meters high, and can accommodate about two thousand worshippers on the ground floor and three thousand people on the second floor. The cathedral is brick, and John Paul II donated funds for the domes when he visited Ukraine in 2001. A 60-meter bell tower is planned to be built near the church in the near future.

Another feature of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ is that Pope John Paul II donated the funds to cover the church during his visit to Ukraine.

The cathedral was painted by famous Lviv icon painters and teachers of the Department of Sacred Art of the Lviv Academy of Arts, led by Roman Kyslyy and Roman Vasylyk (brother of Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk). The church is 42 meters long and 38 meters wide, stretching 52 meters to the sky. It is the tallest building in Kolomyia (the height of the city hall, for example, is 33 meters). The cathedral has an upper and a lower church, a large and rich collection of icons left behind by Bishop Mykola Simkaylo. The cathedral can accommodate up to 5 thousand people. It was consecrated on August 19, 2012, by Patriarch Sviatoslav of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in concelebration with bishops and priests.

Tourists can enter the cathedral, pray, and admire the magnificent paintings, while following the rules set by the church administration. In front of the cathedral are two graves of the bishops (Pavlo Vasylyk and Mykola Simkaylo) who contributed most to the formation of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Greek Catholic Diocese and the construction of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ.

In 2009, construction began on an administrative building next to the cathedral, which currently houses catechetical classes, a kindergarten, and an administrative office. In 2017, on January 22, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ opened a kindergarten for children from 3 to 6 years old, named after Blessed Tarsikia.

The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ is located near the famous Pysanka Museum and Mykhailo Hrushevsky Gymnasium.