Holy Ascension Church in Snyatyn

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The Church of the Ascension of the Lord is an active wooden church in Snyatyn in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast that is part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It is the oldest wooden church in the Snyatyn region that has survived to this day. Built in 1794, it was expanded and rebuilt in 1838.

Opposite the Church of the Ascension of the Lord lived priest Teofil Kobrynskyi, who initiated the construction of the Church of the Miracle of Archangel Michael in Snyatyn. He also contributed to the establishment of the Snyatyn Town Reading Room and Choir. The name of Ivan Hoiiv is associated with the Ascension Church, who became the continuer of the noble cause of T. Kobrynskyi. The wife of Father Kobrynskyi, the famous Ukrainian writer Natalia Kobrynska (see Ozarkevych), was a regular visitor to the church and became an initiator of the women's movement in Galicia.

On the building where the sanitary and epidemiological station is currently located, a memorial plaque was opened in honor of Natalia Ozarkevych and Teofil Kobrynskyi. This street is named in their honor - Kobrynskykh Street. In 1876–1878, a new iconostasis was installed in the church, and "the entire church was painted" (1894). In 1903, the sanctuary was covered with metal sheeting. For a long time during the "Soviet" period, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord was inactive. In 1961, the church was closed.

On June 5, 1997, on the Feast of the Ascension, people gathered, and clergy of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate came to consecrate the old church. A new cross was erected. Parishioners offered icons, embroidered towels, and carpets. Later, at the initiative and with the direct participation of the dean of the Snyatyn UOC KP, Father Mykhailo Marusyak, and the rector Father Mykola Marusyak, restoration work was carried out, and the restoration of the internal artistic painting was fully completed.

On September 19, 2011, during the city holiday - the Miracle of Saint Archangel Michael, hundreds of believers gathered in the courtyard of the Holy Ascension Church. The renewed church was consecrated by Archbishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Halych of the UOC KP Ioasaf, in the presence of priests from the Snyatyn deanery.

Today, the church has again received God's grace, warmth, and the kindness of the Holy Spirit. It rejoices and smiles, as it was neglected and ruined during the times of rampant atheistic lawlessness.

The Church of the Ascension of the Lord is cross-shaped in plan. The foundation consists of Prut river boulders, partially brick. The covering is metal sheeting (previously shingles). It is wooden and has one dome.

A Czech traveler who visited Ukraine in 1830 wrote: "The architectural style of Ruthenian peasant churches, most often wooden, is original and very picturesque. Wooden churches can be the work of simple carpenters, who also contribute significantly to the art of carving."

In the Snyatyn region, this is the only ancient monument of wooden architecture.

The iconostasis of the church was dismantled during its closure in 1961, and in 1986 it was transferred to the village of Lysets in the Tysmenytsia district.