Church of St. John of Dukla, Luzhany

One of the most interesting places in Bukovyna is the village of Luzhany. It has become famous among tourists for the oldest Bukovinian church, but there is much more to see here. In particular, the Church of St. John of Dukla attracts interest, whose history, though short, is no less interesting.

The history of the church dates back to 1847, when the local Catholic community succeeded in building a wooden church. The patron saint chosen for the church was St. John of Dukla, one of the first saints of Lviv, who is especially venerated by Catholics in Western Ukraine. That same year, a monument to him was erected on the church grounds, which still stands there today.

The wooden church has not survived to this day. In 1914, the church burned down completely. At the same time, the community decided to build a new church, but this time it was made of stone and in the Neo-Gothic style. There is an opinion among the locals that the architect of the church was Hermann Gellner, who designed theaters in Chernivtsi, Vienna, Odesa, Zurich, and Sofia.

With the advent of Soviet rule, the church was closed in 1955. It was converted into a furniture store. The altar and some interior elements were moved to the Peter and Paul Church in Kamianets-Podilskyi. They are there to this day. The church was given to the Catholic community of the village in 1993.

The Church of St. John of Dukla is one of the few surviving examples of neo-Gothic architecture in Bukovyna. An old statue of St. John has been preserved in its courtyard. The church has been restored, and the old stained-glass window at the entrance has been preserved. The interiors are partially preserved.

In the village, you may also be interested in visiting the Assumption Church and the original building of the railway station.

Luzhany are located on the H-10 road, 16 kilometers from Chernivtsi. Regular buses Chernivtsi - Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi - Kitsman, Chernivtsi - Vyzhnytsia run through the village. The railway passes through Luzhany, where suburban trains to Kolomyia, Stefanesti and Vyzhnytsia stop.

Opening hours: open during Sunday and holiday services.

The first mention of the village of Luzhany is officially considered to be October 7, 1453, on which day boyar Fedir Vitold purchased Luzhany from Kostia Vranych, the son of Dragomir Vranych, boyar of voivode Oleksandr Dobroi for 400 Turkish gold pieces, as evidenced by a commercial charter. Scientists are still debating the date of the settlement's foundation to this day. The name of the settlement comes from the word lukany, as the village is located on a large underground reservoir. Finds of Stone Age tools indicate the existence of an ancient settlement nearby. Luzhany are located on both sides of the Sovytsia stream near its confluence with the Prut, the village lies on the left bank of the Prut. There is a railroad, Chernivtsi-Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk highways passing through Luzhany. Luzhany is an urban-type settlement located in the Kitsman district, Chernivtsi region. The distance to the regional center is 16 km. The population is 4870 inhabitants. The main attraction of Luzhany is the oldest archaic Ascension Church in Bukovyna, officially dated from 1453 to 1455, i.e. the time when Luzhany became the property of Fyodor Vitold. The sights of Luzhany are not limited to the medieval Ascension Church. Returning to the highway, before the railway crossing, we will see a monument of landscape art - the Luzhany Arboretum, which was founded in the nineteenth century and has an area of 4.3 hectares. On the territory of the arboretum there is a modest palace, a former manor house of the early nineteenth century, which today houses a music school. In Luzhany, there is also the Church of the Savior, dating back to the seventeenth century, and the Neo-Gothic Church of St. John of Dukla. The first wooden church was built here in 1847. In the same year, a sculpture of St. John of Dukla was installed next to it.

Kosynskyi Kostan (1847-1905) was born here. Ukrainian painter. Vasyl Orletsky 1895-1968 Rector of the University of Munich. Ivan Bazhansky 1897-1933 Director of Public Education in Galicia. Kizka Ivan Hryhorovych 1939-2001 Candidate of Technical Sciences, Chief Engineer of the Kyiv Semiconductor Plant. Dronyk Hryhorii Vasylovych 1951. Academician, professor at the Lviv Agricultural Institute.

There are the following institutions here: post office, medical institution, educational institution, club, library, banking institutions, police.

The main population is Ukrainian. Residents are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, entrepreneurial activity and work in various institutions.