Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Krylos

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located within the National Reserve "Ancient Halych" in Krylos, serves both as an active church and a museum. Here, right next to the foundations of the Assumption Cathedral, services are regularly held. Built in the 16th century, the sanctuary retains elements of the old cathedral: materials and architectural details from the predecessor church were used during construction. Immediately after its opening, it was called the "new cathedral". Now, after more than four centuries, the church is both an architectural and historical monument visited by tourists and a sacred place for believers.

The construction of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was completed in 1586. It was built from stone blocks of the destroyed old cathedral. During construction, certain elements of the planning structure of the previous church were also recreated. At that time, defensive fortifications, brick walls with corner towers, and an entrance gate were built around the church. Additionally, ancient reliefs can be found on the walls of the Assumption Church, the most interesting of which is a dragon breathing fire.

In the second half of the 17th century, the Krylos Cathedral Church suffered significant destruction from Tatar and Turkish attacks. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, it was rebuilt by Bishop Yosyp Shumlyansky. Soon after, the dome of the church was seriously damaged again (possibly due to an earthquake).

During World War I, the upper part of the church collapsed during an artillery bombardment. All church items were burned, and only the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the Guide remained unharmed. In 1974-1975, the church was restored, and a local history museum exhibition was placed inside it.

After the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church emerged from underground, the church was handed over to it. During the restoration in 2001, the foundations of the pillars on which the structure was supported were excavated. Archaeologists discovered numerous fragments of the wall structures of the 12th-century Assumption Cathedral, elements of stone decor of the church, and details of fresco painting, which significantly enhanced modern researchers' understanding of the appearance and interior decoration of the old Assumption Cathedral.

The founder of the Assumption Church in Krylos is the Galician nobleman, descendant of the boyar family, Marko Shumlyansky. He appealed to renowned masters of the Italian school who were working in Lviv at that time and invited them to the former princely capital. This is why the architectural composition of the building easily shows Renaissance elements.

A gravestone from the burial place of Marko Shumlyansky has been preserved; it can now be seen near the main entrance, in the narthex of the church in the northern part. This white stone slab was discovered in the early 18th century by the then Bishop Yosyp Shumlyansky, a descendant of the glorious family. There is another interesting monument from the time of the construction of the Assumption Church: a walled stone with a heraldic sign in the form of an arrowhead with the letters "A" and "S" on the sides has been preserved above the choir in the church. These are the initials of Andriy Svarichovsky – another founder of the church.

Architecture and Interior

The western portal of the church, flanked by two pilasters and topped with a pediment, has great artistic value. In the inner field of the pediment, there is a carved stone composition "The Assumption of the Mother of God". The northern portal is decorated with the coat of arms of Bishop Yosyp Shumlyansky.

The decoration of the Assumption Church is the iconostasis, created by the prominent master of Ukrainian painting of the early 20th century, Anton Manastyrsky. An original monument of ancient Galician stone plastic from the 12th century is the carved image of a winged serpent – griffin – on the northern wall of the narthex.

In the Assumption Church of Krylos, there is a unique icon that attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over Ukraine – the Galician (Krylos) miraculous icon of the Mother of God. This is one of the oldest Ukrainian miraculous images.

According to legend, in 1157, after the consecration of the cathedral in princely Halych, Yaroslav Osmomysl gifted the church an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which he brought from Constantinople. It became the patroness of the Galician princes and all of Galicia. In the 13th century, Prince Lev transferred the icon to Lviv, where it performed many miracles.

According to another version, the Krylos Mother of God was in Halych until the 17th century, and after the Turks burned the church during one of their raids, the icon was found in a forest near the village of Sokil. From there, it was transferred to the Vozdvizhensky Monastery of the Basilian Fathers. Since then, the icon has another name – Sokil Mother of God.

Today, the princely-era icon is open for viewing; it is located in the altar part of the church. As a sign of gratitude for answered prayers and healing, local believers collected funds in the 18th century and made a silver cover for the icon. It was then that the tradition of pilgrimage to the miraculous Krylos image began.

In the past, the Krylos Mountain was visited by Galician metropolitans Sylvester Sembratovych and Andrey Sheptytsky. For a long time, the miraculous icon did not leave its consecrated place in the altar of the Assumption Cathedral.

In the early 1960s, when a local history museum operated in the church, the Krylos Mother of God was thrown out of the altar. Fortunately, it was preserved in the church, in the choir, among the fragments of church items and debris. In the early 1980s, the residents of Krylos found the icon and placed it back in the altar. In 2006, the image was restored, and on August 28 of the same year, the Head of the UGCC, Blessed Lubomyr Husar, conducted a solemn ceremony of its coronation, in gratitude to the icon of the Mother of God for preserving the faith of all Galicia.

Pilgrims visit the Krylos Mother of God icon at least three times a year:

• July 7 – on the Nativity of John the Baptist;
• August 28 – on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
• September 27 – on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

You can reach the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krylos by car or bus. By car, you should take the N09 highway from Halych or Ivano-Frankivsk. Buses "Ivano-Frankivsk – Halych", "Ivano-Frankivsk – Rohatyn (Burshtyn)", "Ivano-Frankivsk – Lviv" (to the stop "Krylos") run along this route from the regional center. From Halych to Krylos (the distance between them is 7 kilometers), you can take one of the buses that stop near the People's House in the city center. The bus stop in Krylos is located near the main road (this is Lower Krylos). You need to walk to Krylos Mountain, where all the monuments are concentrated.

Working hours: the church is open from 8:00 to 18:00 daily. You can order a tour of the church at the Museum of the History of Ancient Halych (Metropolitan Chambers) from 9:00 to 18:00 daily.