In the village of Potelych, in western Ukraine near the Polish border, a wooden church has stood since the early sixteenth century. The Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is one of the oldest wooden churches in Ukraine, built of logs with a tall roof covered in shingles, and its interior holds wall paintings and an iconostasis from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine, inscribed in 2013.
The wooden churches of this region were built by Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities, using local timber and building traditions passed down through generations. They have a distinctive shape, with three parts, each topped by a roof or dome, and the interiors are often painted with scenes from the Bible. Potelych was once a town known for its pottery, and the church was built with funds from the local community. The surrounding landscape of Roztochia is one of rolling hills, forests and farmland, straddling the border between Ukraine and Poland.
Travel in Ukraine is currently affected by the war that began with the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, and many governments advise against all travel to the country. If and when travel becomes possible, the roads in this region are generally paved but can be rough, with potholes, and traffic includes trucks heading to the Polish border. The landscape is gentle and green, with villages and forests. Before considering any trip, check the latest travel advice and conditions carefully.
Rava-Ruska, six kilometres away, is a town with fuel and shops, and Lviv, the main city of western Ukraine, is about fifty kilometres south-east. On the Polish side of the border, the wooden churches of the same UNESCO site, such as Chotyniec and Radruż, can be visited more easily. Ukrainian food is hearty: borscht, varenyky, dumplings filled with potato or cheese, and holubtsi, cabbage rolls. The church at Potelych, with its dark wood weathered by five centuries of sun, rain and snow, is a powerful symbol of endurance.