Church of St. Nicholas, Naguyevychi

15, Ivan Franko Street, Naguyevychi, Lviv region, Ukraine, 82126

TheChurch of St. Nicholas has served as an ornament of the small village of Nahuyevychi in the Lviv region for almost two hundred years. It was in this wooden church that the famous Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko was baptized.

According to legend, this church was built on the site of an older monastery, burned by the Tatars around 1600, the first mention of which dates back to 1566. This monastery in Bashiv (formerly called Nahuyevych) had a fake privilege from Prince Lev Danylovych.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, there was a parish church here, as evidenced by the metropolitan decrees of 1746 in the case of a property dispute between the priests of the upper and lower churches. The time of construction of the existing church is evidenced by an inscription on the cross vault of the nave (translated): "...this house of God was built in the year of our Lord 1801 by our own efforts...and by the upper church of Naguyevychi during the existence of the father of the parish priest of Vinnytsia. master Ivan Panas and Elijah Dumak, head of the foundation, and Ivan Matz and Ivan Klymko."

In the middle of the nineteenth century, Yakiv Franko, Ivan Franko's father, restored the altar at his own expense, made a silver and golden "Gospel" and an iron cross and stone to commemorate the demolition of the serfdom.

In 1932, craftsmen Osyp Homziak, Stepan Dumiak, and Julian Pidlashetskyi restored the church, and left an inscription on the nave's log cabin: "The church was restored in 1932. Masters Gomziak Osyp // Dumiak Stepan // and Julian Podlashetskyi Committee of Fr: Hryn Khrunyk // for the leadership of Vasyl Tverdovsky".

The church was closed in 1962. Ten years later it was restored. Since 1989, it has been operating again.

The wooden church in Nahuyevychi can be seen from afar if you move from Boryslav. The church is elongated in plan, three-storeyed, one-story, completely renovated from the outside. It is interesting that the sacristy was attached to the altar from the east, made the same width as the altar, and covered with a gable roof that turns into a porch surrounding the church. Around the Babinets, the attic forms a wide fence on wooden pillars. The main entrance from the west is clearly accentuated: above the door is a large image of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the church, to the left and right of the door are wooden crucifixes decorated with embroidered towels, the bottom of the porch is covered with plastic clapboard. There is a side door in the south wall of the nave. All the walls are vertically covered with boards. Small windows in the walls of the nave and altar are striking. The nave is completed by a light octagon covered with a low dome without a lantern.

To the north of the church there is a large wooden three-tiered bell tower from the XIX century, the third tier has a pier, the pyramidal roof is completed by an octagon covered with a dome.

Unfortunately, the wooden buildings burned down in the winter of 1996. The relics that were kept in the church - the Gospels of the Franko family - also failed to survive.

However, there are many reminders of the great writer in his native village. The estate where Ivan Franko once lived has been preserved. Now it is a memorial museum. And on the outskirts of the village there is the "Ivan Franko Trail", where wooden sculptures of the heroes of the great writer's works are installed along the picturesque alley.

The parish seal of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Naguyevychi of the XVIII-XIX centuries, which was affixed to the baptismal certificate of the Ukrainian genius Ivan Franko. We received a unique gift to the funds of the Naguyevychi Reserve on the 104th anniversary of Ivan Franko's death from the pastor of St. Nicholas Church, Fr. This is a very important gift that seriously complements the exposition, because along with the old printed Minuet of 1696, Metrical books, and liturgical items, the whole world now has an extensive comprehensive collection from the era of the senior church brotherhood and the writer's father, Yakiv Franko.

Nahuyevychi (from 1951 to 2009 - Ivan Franko ) is a village in the Drohobych district of Lviv region. It is located 10 km from Drohobych. It borders on the villages of: Medvezha, Pidmonastyrok, Uniichi, Urizh, Yasenytsia-Silna. Ivan Franko was born and spent his childhood here. He often visited Nahuyevychi when he was studying in Drohobych and Lviv, and later came here with his family for vacation and work.