Assumption (Ascension) Church, Luzhany

In the small village of Luzhany, there is the Assumption Church, which is the oldest church and at the same time a building in the Chernivtsi region. Despite its inconspicuousness and small size, the church is a unique object with a rich history and valuable medieval paintings, which have virtually no analogues in the whole of Western Ukraine.

Scientists believe that the church was built in 1453 by a local boyar, Fedir Vitold. The basis for this statement was a charter stating that the boyar bought the village and the church from Mr. Vranych, the previous owner. In the church itself, there is an ancient inscription in Old Slavonic that says that Mr. Witold was indeed the church's benefactor.

In Soviet times, unique frescoes were discovered that were covered with a layer of plaster. In 2006, during the restoration work, experts conducted analyses, the results of which were sensational: the time of creation of the frescoes dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries, making the church at least 2 centuries older.

The church has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. In ancient times, it was used as a fortress, as evidenced by the loophole windows. The church finally acquired its modern appearance during the 19th century, when a wooden part was added to it. At the same time, the last frescoes appeared, which contrast with the old layer with their brightness. The bell tower and the completed stone buttresses appeared at the same time. The most recent changes are the replacement of the wooden roof and the tin.

The church is an example of a house type of church typical of Bukovyna. Especially valuable are the frescoes, which are over 500 years old. Historians date the oldest of them to the 13th century. All of them are made in the classical Byzantine style, which was common on the territory of Kievan Rus.

A special attention is drawn to the fresco of a knight on a horse, under which it is written that this is the church's curate Fedir Vitold, the founder of the church. You must admit that it is not always possible to see a portrait of an ancient Russian knight from more than 500 years ago. Ancient graffiti was discovered in the Assumption Church - inscriptions left by visitors. The oldest of them date back to 1515.

The village of Luzhany is located on the H-10 Chernivtsi-Ivano-Frankivsk highway in the Kitsman district. If you are traveling to Chernivtsi by car from Ivano-Frankivsk, you will definitely pass it. There is a railway passing through the village, so suburban trains from Chernivtsi or Kolomyia can be a convenient mode of transportation. If you travel by bus from Chernivtsi, you can use the routes to Berehomet, Kolomyia, Vyzhnytsia, Sniatyn, and Kitsman, which pass through the village.

The first mention of the village of Luzhany, officially dated October 7, 1453, is considered to be the day when boyar Fedir Vitold bought 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.