Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Burshtyn

The Greek Catholic church in Burshtyn is the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The first wooden church in Burshtyn was built in the sixteenth century in the eastern part of the town on Pryska Square (now flooded by the waters of the Burshtyn Reservoir).

Little is known about the first years of the Greek Catholic church on its present site. The wooden church was probably built in 1746 at the expense of a local grandfather, Pavlo Benoye. Around the church there was a cemetery, where it was forbidden to bury the dead by an imperial rescript in the late eighteenth century. The wooden church stood on that site until the early nineteenth century, with the last mention of it dating back to 1820.

The exact date of construction of the stone church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was unknown for a long time. Only in 2002, during the reconstruction of the church, builders discovered a document stating that the stone church was built in 1824 at the expense of the crown sub-commissary and royal falconer of Galicia, Count Ignacy Skarbek.

The Greek Catholic Church of Burshtyn owned considerable land, which it was granted in the eighteenth century. In 1886, the church owned 67 morgues of field and 64 morgues of hayfields. By 1896, the number of field morgues increased by 8 more. In 1904, the local priests were granted another 444 sazhens of the vegetable garden. From 1926 to 1939, the church received fifty zlotys for the hayfield donated by one of the Burshtyn residents. In 1939 the church had a field of one hectare, one hectare of forest, 11 hectares of hayfields, 96 acres of vegetable garden, and 2 acres of pasture. In addition, the parishioners had the right to grind grain free of charge in the mills of Burshtyn's didychy.

During the nineteenth century, the church was not damaged, despite the fact that fires often occurred in the city at that time. The church was partially engulfed in flames only on the eve of the First World War, on June 25, 1914, when a large part of the city burned again. However, the flames were quickly extinguished.

In 1912, a black marble plaque was erected in the church in honor of the centenary of the birth of the Galician educator Markian Shashkevych. The inscription on it reads: "Resurrectionists of Folk Literature Markiyanovs Shashkevychs 1810-1843 In the Centenary of Burshtyn Region".

In 1914-1916, Burshtyn, and in particular the area around the church, suffered significant destruction as a result of the fighting of the First World War. This was primarily due to the bombardment of the city by Russian artillery. Most of the buildings, including the Skarbeks' palace, were destroyed or seriously damaged. However, the Greek Catholic Church managed to survive the war without suffering significant damage.

In 1932, on the occasion of the anniversary of the November National Liberation Uprising in Lviv, on the initiative of a local priest, Bohdan Yizhak, a grave was dug in the church for the Sich Riflemen, and a memorial service and rally were held near it. Such actions of the priest provoked a sharp reaction from the Polish authorities and Catholics. After that, the local Polish and Jewish communities succeeded in transferring Father Bohdan to another parish.

In 1946, the Burshtyn Greek Catholic parish, along with all the Galician parishes of the UGCC, joined the Russian Orthodox Church under pressure from the Soviet authorities, and the union was liquidated. In 1961, the church was subjected to a state inspection for Catholic inventory. All Greek Catholic utensils, books, and images were stored in an auxiliary room. Three years after the inspection, 23 pieces of Greek Catholic religious equipment were taken to a warehouse at the Ivano-Frankivsk Cathedral Church.

After Ukraine proclaimed its independence and the UGCC came out of hiding, church life in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross resumed with even greater vigor. As the city had grown significantly by that time compared to the pre-war years, the old church could not accommodate all the parishioners, so in 1992 construction began on a new church, the Church of All Saints and the Holy Martyr Josaphat, which was located near the new part of the city on S. Bandera Street.

In 2001-2002, at the initiative of Father M. Rozhko, the church was renovated and reconstructed. Also in the first half of the 2000s, a room for household needs was added to the rear of the church, a chapel was built nearby, and a fountain was installed.

Below the illustration you will see all the sights of Burshtyn, and we also suggest going to the pages: the Prometheus Palace of Culture, known for its mosaic, the Berehynia Historical and Ethnographic Museum, and the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity in the old part of Burshtyn.