The Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Nyzhnii Verbizh: five tops built on an outlaw legend

The legend says the church was built with outlaw gold. The document says something more modest: the founder received the “For Merit” medal from the emperor. Between these two versions stands the church itself — five tops of a kind almost nobody else built in Prykarpattia.

In brief

Address	Nyzhnii Verbizh village, Kolomyia District, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
Built	1788–1808 (dates of the donor inscription); a start in 1756 is the local historians’ version
Founder	Hryhorii Semeniuk
Type	centrally planned, cross-shaped, five-domed wooden church
Material	log frames; roofing of embossed zinc sheet, partly shingles
Status	UNESCO World Heritage site (2013); monument of national importance No. 090024-N; a church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

History

According to the local historians Mykhailo Lasiichuk and Ivan Ludchak, construction began in 1756. The craftsmen were brought from the mountains, and the community hauled the timber from Kniazhdvir. The donor inscription above the portal names Hryhorii Semeniuk “and the other stewards” and contains two dates, 1788 and 1808. The second is regarded as the year of final completion and consecration.

In 1812 the “Gazeta Lwowska” reported that the emperor had awarded Hryhorii Semeniuk the gold “For Merit” medal. He died in 1822 — so says his epitaph, which calls him the “benefactor and steward” of the church. The founder is buried next to the church. The epitaph names him “Hryhorii Semeniuk Melnyk” and gives his age as 114; in local legends the builder is called just that — Hryhor Melnyk. A fifth-generation relative, Hanna Lasiichuk, adds twelve sons to the story.

There is, all the same, a documented link with Dovbush in the village, but it leads to another man. In 1742 Mykhailo Maliarchuk, married to the daughter of the Verbizh miller, appeared before a court in Stanyslaviv for ties with the opryshky of Oleksa Dovbush. The researcher Nadiia Babii suggests that Maliarchuk’s Podillia origins and his training as a painter may have influenced the choice of the building type. This is an assumption, not an established fact.

According to the measurements and archival research of the Polish scholar Włodzimierz Witkowski, the domes were covered with sheet metal in the 1930s, and the rest of the church and the bell tower in 1990; at the same time the lower log frames were painted with oil paint. Dating this to “the 1900s” in older descriptions is merely a guess. In 1991 the church was entered in the state register of monuments. On 21 June 2013, at the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee, the church became part of the property “Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine”. In 2012 it was entered in the register as a monument of national importance (on 10 October, according to W. Witkowski; some sources give 2018). On 7 September 2023 UNESCO granted the church provisional enhanced protection. As Suspilne explains, this status allows the authorities of the 87 states party to the 1999 Second Protocol to prosecute or extradite suspected offenders.

Next to the church stands the priest’s house, which keeps embroidery more than seventy years old; the family plans to hold workshops here. And nearby, according to the Kolomyia district administration’s website, the community is building a new stone church. The same website quotes Volodymyr Herych, director of the reserve in Zhovkva and head of the working group on the UNESCO nomination: many priests dream of a large new church and would readily take down a small old one, although “you won’t build anything better out of modern brick or metal-plastic”.

Timeline

The numbers in square brackets are source numbers in the list at the bottom of the page. The label “according to …” means that a fact is confirmed by only one source. The “Legends” section contains tales and legends: they are recorded in sources but not confirmed by documents.

I. The village and the old church

1. 1375

   On 9 December Prince Władysław of Opole granted Verbizh in fief to Vashko Teptiukovych, according to W. Witkowski; English-language reference works give 1377 as the first mention. ^{[1, 15]}

2. 1416

   On 26 October, in Niepołomice, King Władysław Jagiełło confirmed this grant, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

3. 1443

   The year that Soviet and Ukrainian publications give as the first mention of the village; English-language reference works connect it with the division into Nyzhnii and Verkhnii Verbizh. ^{[1, 15]}

4. 1732

   According to local tradition, Hryhorii Semeniuk settled in the village: he went to work for the miller, married his daughter and took a second surname — Melnyk (“miller”). ^{[1, 5]}

5. 1742

   Mykhailo Maliarchuk, married to the daughter of the Verbizh miller, appeared before the town court in Stanyslaviv for ties with the band of Oleksa Dovbush. At the trial he said that he came from Rudka “from beyond Kamianets” and had studied painting in Verbizh for a year. ^{[1, 2]}

6. 1743

   On 21 May, according to the inscription on the bell tower, the wooden bell tower was erected. It is older than the present church. ^{[1, 7]}

7. 1745

   A bell was cast which, according to W. Witkowski, was donated by Hryhorii Melnyk (Semeniuk); the bell has survived. ^[1]

II. Building the five-domed church

1. 1756

   According to the local historians Mykhailo Lasiichuk and Ivan Ludchak, construction began: the founder brought 24 craftsmen from the mountains, and the community of Kniazhdvir hauled the timber. W. Witkowski considers such a long construction period unlikely. ^{[1, 2, 4]}

2. 1788

   The donor inscription gives the date 3 May 1788 and names the founder Hryhorii Semeniuk “and the other stewards”. ^{[1, 2, 4]}

3. 1808

   The second date of the same inscription; it is regarded as the year of final completion and consecration. According to W. Witkowski, the consecration of 1808 is recorded in the Greek Catholic schematisms. ^{[1, 2, 4, 7]}

4. 1809–1810

   The “Gazeta Lwowska” (1812, No. 8) wrote that in these years the miller Semeniuk built the parish church “as a carpenter, with his own hands”, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

5. 1811

   The old church of Nyzhnii Verbizh, according to W. Witkowski, was sold and moved to Sheparivtsi near Kolomyia as the Church of St Anne. ^[1]

6. 1812

   The “Gazeta Lwowska” reported that Emperor Francis II (as Emperor of Austria, Francis I) had awarded Semeniuk the small gold “For Merit” medal. Radio Svoboda in 2009 dated the medal to 1810. ^{[1, 8, 15]}

7. 1822

   Hryhorii Semeniuk died. The gravestone next to the church calls him the “benefactor and steward of this church” and gives his age as 114. ^{[1, 2, 5]}

III. The Greek Catholic parish

1. 1832

   The schematism counts 730 Greek Catholics in Nyzhnii Verbizh, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

2. 1846

   In neighbouring Kniazhdvir a five-frame church was built whose plan is compared with that of Verbizh; it has not survived. ^[1]

3. 1861

   A church was built in Verkhnii Verbizh, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

4. 1900

   A parish house was built next to the bell tower, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

5. 1920s

   The church was entered in the list of monuments of the Stanisławów Voivodeship, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

6. 1930s

   The domes were covered with sheet metal, and at the same time a plastered masonry fence and concrete steps appeared — according to an archival photo cited by W. Witkowski. ^[1]

IV. From the war to the national register

1. 1939–1945

   During the Second World War some of the bells were taken away to be melted down, according to Suspilne. ^[20]

2. 1980s

   According to Suspilne (2023), the rector Fr Vasyl Vepruk has led the parish for about 40 years. The available sources contain no other information about the church in the Soviet decades (1946–1989). ^{[1, 21]}

3. 1990

   The church and the bell tower above the pent roof were clad in embossed sheet metal, and the lower log frames were painted with oil paint. ^{[1, 5, 6, 7]}

4. 1991

   On 18 June, by decision No. 112 of the regional executive committee, the church was entered in the register as a monument of local importance (No. 825); the bell tower was not included in the register. ^{[1, 2]}

5. 1995

   M. Lasiichuk and I. Ludchak published the book “Nyzhnii Verbizh: Essays and Materials on History and Ethnography” — the source of the 1756 version. ^{[1, 2]}

6. About 2003

   During repairs, two lost bells were found under the floor (“about 20 years ago”, according to Suspilne in 2023). ^[20]

7. 2008

   250–300 m south of the old church, the community began building a large brick church. ^{[1, 2]}

8. 2009

   In July Radio Svoboda reported that the church had impressed the Polish experts most of all, but “is not even a national monument, there is no documentation at all”. In September it reported that UNESCO’s first remark was “authenticity has not been preserved” because of the sheet metal. ^{[8, 9]}

9. 2009

   In August the regional State Scientific Restoration Administration drew up a monument passport for the church. ^{[1, 2]}

10. 2011

    On 7–8 July a team from Lodz University of Technology led by W. Witkowski carried out measurements of the church. ^[1]

11. 2012

    Nadiia Babii published an article disputing the “Hutsul” type of the church. ^{[2, 3]}

12. 2012

    On 10 October, according to W. Witkowski, the church was entered in the State Register as a monument of national importance (No. 090024-N); the Ukrainian Wikipedia gives 2018. ^{[1, 2]}

V. World heritage and wartime

1. 2013

   On 21 June, at the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee (Cambodia), the church became part of the serial property “Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine” as one of two churches of the Hutsul type. ^{[1, 2, 11, 17]}

2. 2013

   On 10 July the measurement documentation of the Lodz team was handed over to the parish, according to W. Witkowski. ^[1]

3. 2019

   The community received UAH 100,000 for a scientific survey of the church, according to Suspilne. ^[22]

4. 2022

   In July the village council announced a procurement of design documentation for the restoration, but the tender was cancelled; in September the regional authorities said they were preparing the documentation and planned to replace the sheet metal. ^{[14, 23]}

5. 2023

   On 7 September, at an extraordinary meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the church was granted provisional enhanced protection among 20 Ukrainian sites. ^{[12, 13, 20]}

6. 2023

   On 8 September the church for the first time celebrated its patronal feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos according to the new calendar (previously on 21 September). ^{[1, 21]}

7. 2023

   The head of the community, Yaroslav Miakushchak, said that the design for restoring the authentic appearance (UAH 350,000) had been made before the full-scale invasion, and that the repair was estimated at UAH 16.8 million, according to Suspilne. ^{[18, 20]}

8. 2025

   The church operates as a parish of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (previously the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate); a lay brotherhood at the parish organises pilgrimages and fundraisers for soldiers and displaced people. ^{[1, 7, 17, 19]}

Lost and restored

Architecture

The church is centrally planned and cross-shaped, with five domes: one over the crossing and four more around it. The plan is formed by two intersecting rectangles: the longitudinal arm measures 19.622 metres, the transverse one 16.432 metres. All four arms have faceted ends.

The structure has three tiers. The two lower tiers are log frames; the upper one consists of octagonal towers with tent-shaped domes, lanterns and openwork crosses. The central tower is slightly taller. The height of the towers with their domes is 11.5 metres. The walls of the frames and towers taper upwards. The main entrance is on the south side. Nadiia Babii explains the faceted corners and the upward tapering of the volumes by the influence of the Baroque. She also believes that the founder’s role deserves separate study. Rectangular annexes adjoin the church.

Below are two elements of the church: in a photo and in a drawing. The drawings show the form, not exact dimensions.

Tops with lanterns

Each top is an octagon with a tent-shaped dome, a lantern and an openwork cross. The middle one is slightly taller than the side ones. Inside, the domes are hollow, and, according to Suspilne, this is why the sermon can be heard from any corner of the church.

The bell tower

The bell tower is four-sided, three-tiered and log-built, with an openwork gallery and a four-sided tent roof. Next to the five verticals of the church, it keeps closer to the ground.

Details that are easy to miss

Not Hutsul — according to one version. Traditionally, and in the UNESCO nomination as well, the church is classed as the Hutsul type. The researcher Nadiia Babii argues that it repeats the forms of churches in Podillia and Slobozhanshchyna, and that the closest match to its plan is the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Khodoriv, 1768. The regional tourism portal adds that there are almost no five-domed churches in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Gold in the bells — a legend. In the family version, an old opryshok on his deathbed revealed a treasure to the young Semeniuk — more than twenty cartloads of gold — and asked him to build a church with this “blood” money. The silver in the bells, people in the village say, also comes from the treasure. During the Second World War some of the bells were taken away to be melted down, and about twenty years ago, during repairs, two lost bells were found under the floor.

Altars “in the Latin manner”. Besides the three-tier gilded Baroque iconostasis, the side towers contain wooden altars “in the Latin manner” with gilded Corinthian columns.

Sheet metal as the compromise of the century. On most of the church the shingles were replaced with sheet metal: the domes in the 1930s, the rest in 1990. The head of the community explains that this was done at the time to many churches in Prykarpattia, but sheet metal loses its protective qualities over time, and UNESCO expects the original appearance to be restored. A design costing UAH 350,000 was made before the full-scale invasion; the repair itself is estimated at UAH 16.8 million.

“Without a single nail”. That is how people in the village speak of the church, and Suspilne writes the same; it is a familiar formula for Carpathian log churches. The sources contain no technical survey that would confirm it. Radio Svoboda wrote in 2009 that there was no documentation on the church at all and that the original interior had been destroyed. The present wall painting is modern, in oil.

What to look for. The first tier is painted dark red with small white accents by the windows and on the side frames. An image of the Most Holy Theotokos survives above the central entrance. And above the portal is the donor inscription with two dates, with which the whole documented history of the church begins.

Photo gallery

Stone and material

The church is log-built: the walls are made of horizontally laid logs joined at the corners. All the Carpathian churches on the UNESCO list share one scheme — wooden log frames on wooden sill beams, and the sills on a stone foundation. The stone is invisible here, yet it is what keeps the wood above the damp ground.

The roof is the most painful point. Sheet metal protected it from leaks but changed the silhouette and texture of the tops: instead of scaly shingles that darken and turn silvery with the years, there is an even metallic sheen. A material chosen “for the ages” often turns out to be a temporary solution. And the temporary, as any craftsman knows, lasts the longest.

The Baroque altars with Corinthian columns are a reminder that the classical orders travel between materials more easily than it seems — from stone to wood and back; more on this in the section columns, pilasters, capitals. How a tiered iconostasis is arranged is explained in the article tiers of the iconostasis. Another multi-domed wooden church is the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Samar, and another Carpathian church on the UNESCO list is St George’s Church in Drohobych.

Did you know

Legends

Figures

• Władysław of Opole — prince who granted Verbizh in fief in 1375.
• Vashko Teptiukovych — the first known owner of the village (1375).
• Władysław Jagiełło — King of Poland who confirmed the grant in 1416.
• Oleksa Dovbush — leader of the opryshky (†1745), whose name the legend links with the money for the church.
• Mykhailo Maliarchuk — son-in-law of the Verbizh miller, trained as a painter; tried in 1742 for ties with Dovbush. N. Babii suggests he influenced the form of the church; W. Witkowski sees no evidence of his part in the building.
• Hryhorii Semeniuk (Melnyk) — miller, carpenter, founder and steward of the church, donor of the 1745 bell; died in 1822 and is buried next to the church.
• Francis II (I) — emperor who awarded Semeniuk the small gold “For Merit” medal in 1812.
• Ivan Voroniuk — local painter to whom legend attributes the old painting.
• Roman Semeniuk — descendant of the founder who passed on the family version of the legend.
• Hanna Lasiichuk — fifth-generation relative of the founder, Suspilne’s narrator (2023).
• Stanisław Vincenz — writer who recorded the legend of Dovbush at the church fair.
• Mykhailo Lasiichuk, Ivan Ludchak — local historians, authors of the 1995 essay collection.
• Nadiia Babii — researcher, author of the 2012 article on the typology of the church.
• Włodzimierz Witkowski — Polish architect, leader of the 2011 measurements, author of the most detailed article on the church.
• Volodymyr Herych — director of the reserve in Zhovkva, head of the working group on the UNESCO nomination.
• Fr Vasyl Vepruk — rector of the parish for about 40 years, according to Suspilne (as of 2023).
• Yaroslav Miakushchak — head of the Nyzhnii Verbizh community.

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