Matkiv is a small village in the upper valley of the Stryi river, in the Turka district of the Lviv region, high in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Its wooden church, the tserkva of the Synaxis of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was built in the first half of the nineteenth century, and it is a fine example of the Boyko tradition, named after the highland people who have lived in these mountains for centuries. The church has three log frames topped by tiered pyramidal roofs, each level slightly smaller than the one below, and the whole building is covered in wooden shingles that have weathered to a silver grey. It is part of the UNESCO listing of wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
What makes these churches remarkable is their construction. They were built by local carpenters using techniques passed down through generations, often without nails, with logs carefully notched and fitted together. Inside, the walls are often painted with religious scenes, and the iconostasis, the wall of icons separating the altar from the nave, is the centrepiece. Each church reflects the faith, the skills and the resources of its community, and many are still used for worship today.
The Boyko country around Matkiv is a land of rolling ridges, forests, meadows and small villages strung out along the river valleys. Haymaking is still done by hand in many places, and the haystacks, built around wooden poles, dot the hillsides in summer. Volovets, about twenty three kilometres away, sits on the other side of the main ridge in Zakarpattia, while Slavske, a ski resort, is a similar distance away to the east. The roads are narrow, winding and often in poor condition, with potholes, gravel and mud after rain, and they pass through forests where bears and wolves still live, though they are rarely seen.
The war in Ukraine affects any plan to visit. Even in the west of the country, far from the front, there are restrictions, air raid alerts and changing rules for foreigners, and official travel advice must be checked before setting out. In calmer times, this is a region of great beauty and quiet hospitality, where a traveller can still find a bed in a village house and a meal of banosh, a dish of cornmeal cooked with sour cream, topped with cheese and crackling.