Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1865. wooden, architectural monument of local importance, protection number 1482-М The church is a characteristic monument of wooden church architecture of the region of the 19th century. The temple has historical, architectural, artistic and aesthetic value. The altar, iconostasis, royal and deacon gates, side thrones and images have artistic value.
The village of Perespa, Chervonograd district, Lviv region, is equidistant (at a distance of 11 km) from the city of Chervonograd (to the northeast) and the city of Sokal (to the southeast). The village is located on the right bank of the Mlynivka River, a left tributary of the Bialystok. The Ostriv river, a left tributary of the Bialystok, flows through the village.
The first mention of the village of Perespa is found in 1426. The village is named in the deed (Diplomacy) of princes Zemovit Troyden and Vladyslav Mazowiecki in the case of demarcation of the possession of Gothard from Falenice between Sokal and Radekhov. The owner of the village, in particular, was the Belgian voivode Adam Prusynovskyi (Prusinovskyi).
Inside the 17th century. the village was almost completely destroyed by the Tatars. People fled to forests and swamps. There are two legends about the origin of the name of the village of Perespa. The first of them is about the fact that allegedly after the Tatar invasion swept through our lands, the territory was deserted for a while. But not long ago, our Ruthenian ancestors returned to those already occupied places, who were captured by the night on the way and who stopped on the bank of the river, the trail of which is a peat bog, to sleep, staying here forever.
The second version is that our compatriots in ancient times overflowed the river by building a crossing. That is why the name of the village comes from the words “oversleep” or “oversleep”.
The local shrine is the wooden temple of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which is located in the central part of the village and is the dominant structure of the surrounding area.
The previous wooden three-log triban church, built at the expense of Pelagia Chaikovska’s grandfather in the 18th century, was called the Church of the Intercession of Pr. Mother of God
Probably, after the restoration of the late 18th – early 19th centuries. it was rededicated. In 1876, the old church was dismantled and the current wooden three-log, one-story church was built in its place, crowned by a large bathhouse with a lantern and a dome on the octagonal nave.
In 1912, a wall belfry with a gable top was built on the south-western side of the church. One of the old bells has been preserved to this day. It was hidden during the war. At night, they drove up to the bell with hay (so that the bell could not be heard), and the bell was cut off. They buried the bell behind the church. After the opening of the church, it was dug up and installed on the bell tower.
The following organizations were active at the parish: Education, Brotherhood of Sobriety, a theater group, which were managed by priest O. Radyo, who died as a chaplain in the ranks of the UPA.
From 1960 to 1988, the temple was closed. Before the church was closed, there were miraculous images of the Mother of God and Jesus Christ on both sides of the Throne. People decorated them (the image of the Mother of God with a blue handkerchief and the image of Jesus Christ with a yellow handkerchief). After the church was closed, the images disappeared. To participate in religious services, the faithful traveled to the villages of Tartakov and Bysheva, as well as to the underground priest Father Melany Paremskyi (Prystanskyi) in the village of Rozhaliv.
In 1991, the church was renovated. A chapel and presbytery were completed. During the replacement of the floor in 1993, human bones were found under the right throne, and in the other right corner (at the entrance) a nagan of 1938 was found. In 1997, a sacristy was added to the southern wall of the altar, complete with a bathhouse in the figure of eight.
At the beginning of 2011, an OUN flag (apparently hidden during the war) was found in the altar part.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a wooden, three-log, one-story building, partially built on oak foundations. In the octagon of the nave and sacristy, helmet baths with lanterns, crowns and crosses rise. A tented roof covered with sheet metal is installed above the altar part. Babinets is covered with a roof with three slopes. The walls of the church are made of pine beams, externally sheathed with wooden lining. The doors are authentic, well-preserved, painted, hung on blacksmith curtains.
The inner space of the church is highly open. The walls of the church are covered with paintings. Well-preserved iconostasis, altar, images.
In the altar part – on the north wall – the image of St. John the Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, on the south – St. Cyril and St. Methodius. Angels are depicted in the central dome, under them – 4 images with the image of Jesus. On both sides of the Throne – images of St. Olga and St. Volodymyr, in the choirs of St. Josaphat.
The design of the altar part is made of wood, ancient carving, covered with gilding, the iconostasis is carved four-tiered with a traditional arrangement of icons. In the middle – the image of the “Last Supper”, in a semicircle there are 6 icons with the images of the 12 apostles and 12 icons with the image of the Prophets of the Old Testament.
The royal gate is wooden, carved, covered with gilding, on it there are 4 painted stamps with evangelists. On the sides – the images of the Holy Mother of God with Jesus in her arms and Jesus Christ, above them – painted stamps with scenes of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Annunciation.
Deacon’s gate – wooden carved, covered with gilding, with painted marks of St. Nicanor the Archdeacon and St. Stephen the Archdeacon the First Martyr.
Side thrones – one on the right with the icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and the other on the left with the icon of St. Nicholas, painted on wood with gold decorations. The ark is an ancient carved, made in the form of a cabinet-chapel of an ancient shape with long rays in the shape of the hemisphere of the sun, covered with gilding. Figures of Jesus Christ and the Mother of God on wooden carved stands.
In the sacristy there are four ancient images returned to the community from the archive. One image depicts Jesus Christ in the olive garden, the second – the Image of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the third – the Image of the Healing of the Sick by Jesus Christ, the fourth Jesus Christ – the Shepherd. At the entrance to the church hangs an ancient Image of St. Peter.
In 1988, the temple was opened and restored. Until 1999, it was a subsidiary church served by priests from the villages of Komariv and Tartaki, as well as a priest from the village of Rozhaliv. Every fourth Sunday of the month, the Holy Liturgy was served in the church. Priests of the temple were Fr. Stepan Domashovets, Fr. Mykhail Pokrovsky, Fr. Mykhailo Witt, Fr. Bogdan Lilyk, Fr. Ivan Pigura and Fr. Mykhailo Patalai, who heads the parish to this day, and others.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a characteristic landmark of the wooden church architecture of the region in the 19th century. The temple has historical, architectural, artistic and aesthetic value. The altar, iconostasis, royal and deacon gates, side thrones and images have artistic value.
Main sources, information about the object, events: Accounting documentation for the architectural monument oh. No. 1482-M from 2011; V. Slobodian – Churches of Ukraine. Przemyśl diocese. Lviv, 1998; Sokal-Zhovkiv Diocese of the UGCC. Life and Service, Lviv, 2010 and other materials from Wikipedia and mass media.