St Michael's Church in the Bukovets (Transcarpathia)

From the village of Potik, you should return to the central highway and after a few kilometres turn left again and drive through the narrow valley of a small stream, sandwiched on both sides by high mountains, to the village of Bukovets, Mizhhirya district, Transcarpathian region.

This village was first mentioned in documents from the mid-17th century. In the centre of the village, where the valley becomes a little wider, at the foot of the mountain, you can see a church complex – a wooden church of St Michael the Archangel, and a little higher on the hill – a bell tower and a wooden gate, which is already rare today.

Церква Святого Архангела Михайла в селі Буковець

In 1751, there were two wooden churches in the village. The Lower St Michael’s Church could accommodate 200 believers, had all the church books, new icons and three bells. The upper church with a capacity of 100 parishioners was in an extremely dilapidated state. According to local legend, one of the old churches was given to the village of Nyzhnyi Bystryi, from where it was sold in the early twentieth century to Vuchkove, where, after the construction of a stone church, the wooden shrine was dismantled in the mid-1930s.

The new church was built of spruce beams. It is a striking example of the classical ” Mizhhirya Baroque” style.

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Photos and videos of the Church of St Michael the Archangel (Bukovets)

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Церква в селі Буковець на старій світлині

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Brief overview

🗺 Location	N48°37′31″ E23°21′25″
⛪ Built	In 1808
🏛 Style	Baroque
🧱 Material	Wood
🛠 Status	Satisfactory
🔔 Add-on	Bell tower
🖼 Relics	Carving of the 18th century, iconostasis
🧭 Distance from Izky	3 km
🚙 Road for	Auto and on foot
🏕 Stop with a tent	No
🏡 Housing nearby	Izky
☕ Cafes and shops	Izky

Detailed description of the Church of St Michael the Archangel in Bukovets village

The church complex was built in 1808, as evidenced by the inscription carved on the door frame. The church is a three-storeyed building. The nave log is almost square in shape. The altar is adjacent to it on the east side, and the narthex on the west side. These logs are narrower than the nave log. The Babinets and the nave are under one high roof, to which the lower roof of the altar adjoins. A massive square tower dominating the building rises above the Babinets, which has a two-tiered Baroque ending with a flattened faceted dome. A canopy, which rests on the outriggers of the log cabins, protects the lower part of the church from rain around the entire perimeter of the building. The main façade is decorated with a porch gallery that has not yet been remodelled, and arcades of the choir stalls.

The interior has wonderful examples of folk carvings, some of which date back to the earlier church. The inscription on the altar tells us the names of the carvers: Isavka Cherepanych and Ivan Baranyshynets completed the work on 29 April 1760. The role of the right deacon’s door is played by the royal gate from the older church. Several individual icons also come from the old iconostasis.

Next to the church, on a hill ledge a little further from the church, is a wooden square two-tiered bell tower. Around the log cabin of the lower tier there is a porch. In 2008, the church was painted burgundy.