On the hill that dominates the landscape of the village stands the ancient church of St. Nicholas (the name that is commonly used among the residents of Chesnyky is "Ascension"). It is an ancient and revered place of power with a distinct positive (protective) energy. Even at the first acquaintance with the architectural monument that now stands on this site, it is striking that it resembles churches built in the first centuries after the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century. Powerful buttresses made of rough stones support a massive squat cube, the walls of which are built with a defensive function in mind. There are sources that claim that the church in Chesnyky is even older, dating back to the twelfth or thirteenth century. Archaeologists also assume that the Christian Church of the Ascension was built, as was often the case in those days, on the foundations of an ancient pagan sanctuary. The official first mention of the Church of the Ascension in the village of Chesnyky dates back to 1598. However, researchers are convinced that it was built much earlier.
The church rests on a round platform covered with stones, which most likely served as the basis for a protective wall. Everything indicates that this temple witnessed the darkest times in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when Ukrainian villages were expecting an attack by Crimean and Nagai horse chambuls at any moment. When every church, if necessary, turned into a fortress, whose strong walls and gracious energy provided protection not only for the families of the villagers, but also for the livestock that was hidden from the Tatars and robbers behind the defensive perimeter. The walls of the Church of the Ascension were additionally surrounded by a moat and a rampart, which made it a "tough nut to crack." A local legend tells of a knight named Jan Chesnovskyi, who saw a Tatar raiding party from the church bell tower of the Church of the Ascension and, with the help of the villagers, repelled their attack. In honor of the knight, the mountain near which the armed clash took place was named Yanova.
There is unrefuted evidence that the cultic purpose of this place dates back to very ancient times, even before the baptism of the Galician land. In particular, the platform on which the temple stands resembles altar platforms dedicated to Khors and other solar deities of the pre-Slavic pantheon. People lived in this area as early as the first millennium BC. The remains of ancient settlements were first discovered by a flood caused by the Hnyla Lypa River in 1853.
Solar motifs are present in the decoration of the stone crosses installed near the church. The mystical octagonal rose (rosette, star) in the center of the cross can also be interpreted as a sacred sign of the sun. Undoubtedly, the symbolism of the flower in the center of the cross is universal and pre-Christian. The cross here is the intersection of the material world (the horizontal of the cross) with the Spiritual vertical. Renouncing earthly passions and finding inner harmony allows one to reach the Earthly Paradise - the Spiritual vertical, to take the Spiritual path.
The flower (lotus) in the center of the cross is a yantra for meditation for Buddhists. The eight-petaled flower in the center of the cross is a mystical pre-Christian symbol of the earthly Paradise and the cyclical time from Christmas to Death-Resurrection-Birth. The rose in the center of the cross is also a symbol of the Islamic mystics, the Sufis. The medieval European mystics and healers, the Rosicrucians, adopted this symbol from the Sufis and made it the main one in their teachings. In addition, the eight-petaled flower was also used by the Celts to signify a kind of calendar. For the Celts, the year was divided into 8 periods, which symbolized cyclical time - from Christmas and growth to the period of wisdom, fading, and then Death-Resurrection-Rebirth. And the circle around the flower is a symbol of cyclical time. (Recall the Celtic cross with a circle-calendar).
The legend of the Rosicrucian monk
There is an ancient legend that somewhere in the area of Chortova Hora there is a secret burial of a member of the Order of the Knights of the Rose and Cross, who came to the Galician lands in the late seventeenth century, collected local unique medicinal herbs and took care of the health of local residents. Perhaps he was hiding from persecution, or perhaps he came at the invitation of like-minded people-it is not known for certain. This legend is echoed by the mention of a mysterious monk who, during the epidemic, allegedly advised the villagers to eat garlic and prepared special healing garlic tinctures, which allegedly gave rise to the place name Chesnyky. The fact that the place of Sila is marked with crosses with roses, typical of the burials of members of the Order of Wandering Doctors, seems to confirm this legend.
Source: News Agency http://firtka.if.ua/
