Church of St. Francis, Rozluch

On the territory of the village of Rozluch, Lviv region, there is one of the most exotic buildings in Ukraine. The Church of St. Francis is almost unknown to anyone, but it is one of the eleven existing wooden churches of the Lviv region of the first half of the 20th century.

At the time when the territory of Western Ukraine belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Swabian Germans settled in Rozluch. The immigrants quickly settled in the new territory. They engaged in traditional crafts, agricultural activities and built a wooden chapel here.

The Church of St. Francis Borgia is a rare example of a wooden church in the Neo-Gothic style. Built in 1901-1902 as a chapel of German colonists, the church is preserved in its original form, with authentic elements. The interior is particularly interesting: polychrome walls and ceiling, an eighteenth-century wooden altar with carvings and gilding (typical of Lviv or Przemyśl Baroque schools).

The shrine was built on the initiative of the Turka parish priest, Father Ignacio Kulakivskyi, at the expense of the faithful and with the financial support of the Boni Pastoris Society. In 1903, about 230 Germans lived in the village. In 1917-1919 and in 1933 the church was restored and rebuilt. In 1935, new bells were installed. After World War II, the church was used as a collective farm fertilizer warehouse and later as a granary. Since 1994, the process of transferring it to the Roman Catholic parish has been underway. Today the church is closed.

The Church of St. Francis was built in the early 20th century with funds raised by the local community together with the Boni Pastoris brotherhood. The initiator of the construction was Ignatii Kulakovskyi. Upon completion of the construction work, the parishioners were presented with a sacred building in the Neo-Gothic style, which undoubtedly became an ornament of the Turka parish.

The Church of St. Francis is a unique example of a single-towered wooden church built by German colonists. This shrine is the only one of its kind, not found anywhere else in Ukraine. It is one of the few that have survived in its original form with authentic elements. Today, the church is not functioning, it is blackening, dying before our eyes, and does not even have an address. In order to visit the Gothic pearl of the Carpathians, which is living out its life, you need to move to the railway bridge from the village center. After passing under the bridge, turn left and there, behind the mountain river, you can see the Church of St. Francis.