Detailed description of St Michael’s Church in Vyshka

The name of the village was first mentioned in written sources in 1602. There is no written evidence that there was a church in the village in the 17th century, and the current St Michael’s Church was built in 1700. It is located in the centre of the village on a hillside. Initially, the church had a classical Boyko form with the highest central dome, but in the second half of the eighteenth century the tent top over the Babynets was replaced by a frame bell tower.

Church builders tried to bring something new and unique to each new church, so it is impossible to find two identical wooden churches in the Carpathians. At one time, the walls and roof of St Michael’s Church in Vyshka were particularly elegant with shingle cladding. Unfortunately, due to the decay of the shingles, the meagre financial capabilities of the church community and the lack of interest of government agencies in preserving unique monuments, the shingle roof and wall cladding were replaced with tin roofing at the beginning of the 21st century. Fortunately, thanks in large part to the craftsmen who tried to make the shape of the shingles out of tin, the unique feature of the church was not lost.