ST. NICOLAS CHURCH IN POLYANA

The back of the church

The church is the oldest sample of the archaic wooden church in Bukovyna which survived until now keeping its initial appearance untouched. The age of this tiny church resembling a peasant house is almost four hundred years. It was erected in 1618 from large oak beams.

The structure is covered with tetrahedral sloping metal roof supported by graded consoles of blockhouse tops decorated with tooth carvings.

The altar and the nave each have one miniature window, and these windows rather look like fortress loopholes. The weak light penetrating the church creates semidarkness in which church inner scenes look mysterious and romantic. The interior has retained a small Baroque-styled four-levelled iconostasis with a XVII-century carving.

The two-level framework tree bell tower, which was probably built together with the church, was embedded in the church fence and serves as the main entrance to the church complex.

The structure is located in Polyana village, Hlyboka District.

Travelling to this site from Chernivtsi by car through E85, you'll need to cover up to 40 km.

The bell tower