Hoshiv

Kalush district · Ivano-Frankivsk region

Hoshiv is a village in the Dolyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region. It is located in the east of Ivano-Frankivsk region within the Carpathian region and between the rivers Svicha and Vytvitsa; in the south, Yasna Hora with the Hoshiv Monastery rises above the village.

The village of Hoshiv is located in the lower reaches of the Svicha River at the very foot of the Carpathian Beskydy. The village is separated by another river, the Vytvytsia, which originates 25 kilometers upstream on the Carpathian mountain range.

The village is located near the town of Bolekhiv (4 kilometers from its center) and borders the villages of Herynia (to the west), Vyhodivka and Vytvytsia (to the south), Tyapche (to the east) and Huziyiv (to the north). Living in a flat area, most of the villagers work on their farms and also have the opportunity to work at the enterprises of Bolekhiv. But most of all, Hoshiv is known for its eponymous monastery, which rises above the village on Yasna Hora. This Christian shrine attracts pilgrims from all over Ukraine.

Келії, дзвіниця та церква Преображення Господнього на Ясній Горі в Гошові

The cells, bell tower, and church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Yasna Hora in Hoshiv

In 1397, Władysław, King of Poland, granted his servant Mykhailo Voloshyn the village of Hoshiv. The charter has two versions, written in Cyrillic and Latin. A copy of it is kept in the Lviv Historical Archives.

In 1509, a local monastery was first mentioned, the foundations of which were excavated in the summer of 2016. The tax register of 1515 documents the absence of a priest in the village (thus, there was already a church then) and 3 fields (about 75 hectares) of cultivated land. In 1939, the village was home to 1650 inhabitants (1495 Ukrainians, 10 Poles, 60 Latin, 80 Jews, and 5 Germans and other nationalities).

The Hoshiv Monastery of the Basilian Fathers and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Yasna Hora in the village of Hoshiv were founded in 1570. It is a place of pilgrimage for Christians from around the world who come here to pray to the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. On May 20, 2012, during the 20th anniversary youth pilgrimage of the Stryi Eparchy to the Goshiv Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God, a record for Ukraine was set: 1,527 people in embroidered shirts took part in the procession. The achievement is listed in the Ukrainian Book of Records.

Address of the village council: 77521, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Dolyna district, Goshiv village, 19 Shevchenko street, tel. 0 3477 3-03-24.

Rotunda on Yasna Hora in Hoshiv

The Hoshiv Monastery is considered one of the greatest religious, historical, and architectural shrines in Western Ukraine, so women are allowed to enter without a headscarf and not necessarily in a long skirt. The walls of the church are painted, icons hang, and one of them is miraculous. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI himself blessed and consecrated the golden crowns for the Hoshiv Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God. There is always a huge queue to this icon, despite the fact that you can stay near it for a few seconds at most.

Not only the monastery building itself is striking in its beauty, but also the courtyard. On the vast territory there are neat and pretty church benches, a pilgrim's house, a bell tower, and other buildings that connect paths of flowers. There are many statues around the monastery that complement the entire ensemble of the shrine. For example, a stone brought from Cana of Galilee is harmoniously combined with a statue of Jesus. It is called the Stone of Love because it comes from the city where Jesus Christ performed his first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding.

Plus, Hoshiv is not only about Yasna Hora, but also about the neighborhood. And there, in a fantastically beautiful place, since the late 1990s, there has been a Greek Catholic convent of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Sisters of the Holy Family (I used to think that this was no longer Hoshiv, but the neighboring village of Vytvytsia, hidden between the mountains). Somewhere in this place there was a monastery built in 1911. In the 1950s, the institution was closed, the sisters were sent to Siberia, and a psychoneurological boarding school was set up in the buildings of the complex. The monastery was restored to its original location in the 1990s.

Греко-католицький жіночий монастир Різдва Богородиці сестер Пресвятої Родини

The Greek Catholic Convent of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Sisters of the Holy Family

Since 1911, the Hoshiv Monastery of the Sisters of the Holy Family has been a place of warm welcome for many guests and those in need. Once founded by Teresa-Tekla Józefow, it has now become a center for social entrepreneurship. A chamber for growing mushrooms, a pasta shop, and solar collectors are the least that several nuns who live here have managed to do.

The Hoshiv Convent is one of nine houses of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, with other centers in Kyiv, Hoshiv, Ternopil, Frankivsk, and other cities. This is one structure, but each monastery is independent and functions independently. Only ten sisters live in Hoshiv. There are also a few men and women who come to help the nuns with their work, but they pave the way for their own development.