WOODEN ARCHITECTURE

A visitor traveling through the Carpathians for the first time after being charmed by the mountain landscapes cannot help but admire the attractive buildings that are built in harmony with their surroundings. While Ukrainians, over their entire ethnographic territory have a tradition of timber architecture which has common features that date back to the time of Kyivan Rus, it is in the Carpathians where examples have been best preserved. The architecture of this region has distinctive elements that can be catagorized along the lines of the Hutsul, Boyko, and Lemko ethnic groups. In contrast to wooden architecture of western Europe, where post and beam construction predominated, Carpathian structures were traditionally constructed by horizontally layering rows of solid timber (zruby) - log cabin style. The walls were joined in square, hexagonal, or octagonal units (klity) that formed the basic building components. The way these units are combined and blended together creates the characteristic outlines of Carpathian wooden architecture.

THE HUTSUL CHURCH

Probably the most distinctive structure that has carried architectural traditions of the distant past into our time is the wooden church. According to a Hutsul Christmas carol, everywhere that a drop of Christ's blood touched the ground, grew a church. Nearly every village, no matter how small, had its own church. Today, over a hundred churches can be found throughout the Carpathians, several dating back to the 15th century. The plan footprint of a classical Hutsul church is in the form of a cross. Churches are typically topped with one, three or even five cupolas. Historians believe that structures of this design were constructed in the Carpathians during the Kyivan Rus period, although none have survived to the present. Other church plans (a one chamber plan, and the three section plan) were also employed in the past. A one chamber plan church that was constructed in 1428 can be seen today in Seredne Vodyane (Rakhiv district).

In the 16th-18th century, churches with a cross plan came to predominate in the Hutsul region. These types of churches were also common in eastern Ukraine, yet there, they were somewhat taller. Tragically, most wooden churches of eastern Ukraine were destroyed by the Soviets in the 1930's. Carpathian churches were spared by their remoteness and also since the region came under Soviet rule after WWII. The oldest surviving Hutsul churches were constructed in the 16th-17th century. Several examples are:
Christmas Church, (1615), Vorokhta (moved here from Yablunitsia in 1780)
Uspenska Church, (1600), Pistyn
Blahovischenska Church, (1587), Kolomiya (reconstructed in 1845)
Vozdvyzhenska Church, (1619), Manyava Monastery (reconstructed in 1681)

At first glance these old churches appear quiet small. Yet they convey a humble sacredness which does not pretend to compete with the majesty of the mountains. As communities grew in number, so did their churches in size. Often when larger churches were constructed, the older smaller church was lifted off its foundation and transported to a neighboring community in need of a house of worhsip. Several other important churches are:
Petropavliska Church, (1780), Yasinya (moved here in 1871 from Yablunistia)
Christmas Church, (1630), Diliatyn (moved here from Luhy in 1912)
Church of Anna, (1872), Bistrets
Paraskivska Church, (1718), Kosmach
Bohorodystia Church, (1818), Kryvorivna

The Hutsul church was usually surrounded by a wide roof overhang (opasannia) in order to protect both the building and the church goer (during over-crowded services) from the excessive precipitation of the Carpathians. Traditionally, churches were built along an east-west axis with the altar in the eastern side. Most churches have two entrances: one in the west and the other in the southern side. Often it is customary that the women enter through the western entrance, while the men through the southern. Inside the church, the men and women are also separated with each standing on the side next to their entrance. The most dramatic element of the church interior is the iconostasis. The tradition of iconography dating back to Kyivan Rus is synthesized with local Carpathian folk art in an ensemble of carving, painting, and sculpture combining religious images and natural symbols of the mountains. Bell towers that called villagers to worship usually stood apart from the church and can even be in a different architectural style. They are often reminiscent in form to ancient defensive towers. Hutsul churches built in the 19th and early 20th centuries were quite larger than their predecessors. Also architectural ideas of the neighboring Boikos and Halychany were combined with traditional Hutsul designs. Today, new churches continue to be built in villages throughout the mountains preserving the Carpathian tradition which places the church as the esthetic and spiritual center of the village. After hundreds of years, the wooden church has become an organically inseparable element of the Carpathian landscape.

RESIDENTIAL HOMES

Residential homes share construction techniques of Carpathian churches yet are simpler in form. In the past according to folk wisdom, the best location for building a home was determined, strangely enough, by observing the behavior of cows - the warm dry ground where they lay down to sleep was considered the ideal place to build one's home. The traditional house of the Carpathians has many features in common with the traditional house (khata) found throughout Ukraine. Most common is the three room rectangular plan which consists of a central entrance hall (siny), the living area (svitlitsia) to the left, and the storeroom (komora) to the right. Often barn like extensions for farm animals were appended to the main structure around the back or sides. A characteristic feature is the steep sloping roof that shed the heavy snows of winter. Intricate designs were often carved into window frames, supporting beams and posts. The interior walls were left unfinished and in time acquired a silvery gray color. Colorful woven rugs were hung as decoration on the interior walls. The heart of the traditional village home was the large multi-function oven. It had a plate for cooking, oven for baking, various niches for storage and a large shelf upon which blankets were laid providing a toasty warm bed. The oven was constructed with intricately ornamented ceramic tiles and satisfied the needs of cooking and heating while serving as the principal decorative element of the interior of the traditional house.

THE HUTSUL GRAZHDA AND KOLYBA

Some of the oldest examples of residential homes in Ukraine are preserved in the Carpathians. Particularly interesting is the Hutsul grazhda - an ensemble of living and farm buildings joined by a roofed fence that encloses a courtyard with one gated entrance. This mini-fortress provided protection from wild animals and uninvited guests and ensured access to all parts of the structure in severe weather. These excellent examples of folk architecture have preserved elements from a previous historical era and are becoming increasingly rare, only being found in the more remote parts of the mountains. A restored grazhda that was used as a set for the classic film by Sergei Parazhanov, "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", can be seen in Kryvorivna adjacent to the Association homeowner Marusyak. Also with ancient origins the much simpler one room kolyba (cabin) has brought us a glimpse of the architecture from the distant past. Its unique plan consists of a multi-faceted polygon with several entrances along the almost circular perimeter. The angled windowless walls converge to a point overhead that is usually left open to let out smoke from the open fire found in the center of the earth floor. These provided shelter for mountain shepards and lumberjacks far from home and today are sometimes constructed as tourist shelters.

HOMES AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF TOWNS

With the development of tourism at the turn of the century, Hutsul architectural techniques were applied to the construction of villas, pensions, hotels, and restaurants. Beginning with the end of the 19th century, concrete and brick buildings were more commonly constructed in the towns. Yet the Hutsul craftsmen preserved much of their folk flavor in details such as roofs, porches, balconies and etc. Unfortunately many of these unique creations were destroyed during WWII and the Soviet years. Also other constructions such as water mills and wooden dams have almost completely disappeared. An interesting exception is the Museum of Timber Rafting in Synevir National Park where a dam has been reconstructed along with other well-maintained exhibits. The restaurant "Hutsulschyna" near the waterfall in Yaremche is also worth visiting to see a large structure done in the Hutsul style. Visitors to the Carpathians will find that even some of the gray Soviet multi-story apartment blocks found in Carpathian towns were constructed incorporating details such as modifications to roofs or wall patterns that provide a slightly less visually offensive Carpathian variation.

Today construction techniques are becoming increasingly modern with the use of synthetic materials, sheet metal roofs, and the construction of generically styled multi-story dwellings. Nevertheless, there are still many structures being built with traditional styling and some homeowners still build the old fashioned way as in for example squaring timber using hand tools. Of course, excellent examples of traditional architecture can be found in the open air museums in Kyiv, Lviv and Uzhgorod and it is highly recommended to visit these museums. However the buildings are best appreciated in the context of the landscapes where they were built. The Rural Green Tourism Association hopes that its activities can help encourage interest in and preservation of Hutsul architecture of the Carpathians which is an important Ukrainian cultural treasure.