This small Greek Catholic church lies on a hill above the village of Hrabová Roztoka in eastern Slovakia, just a few kilometres from the border with Ukraine. The church was built in the middle of the 18th century and dedicated to Saint Basil the Great. A sign on the rear wall of the church declares it to be a 'national cultural monument' of Slovakia (this type of metal sign is affixed to most of Slovakia's wooden churches), but interestingly a second sign declares it to be 'Ukrainian national architecture' written in the Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet.
The church has a simple, rustic design which is similar to the nearby church in the village of Ruská Bystrá. It follows a three-room plan with a nave, sanctuary and 'babinec' or entrance room, while above there are two towers with onion domes topped by three-barred iron crosses. In the front tower there are three bells which date from 1796. The roof and exterior walls underwent repairs and replacement of wooden tiles in the year 2000.
The impressive iconostasis in the interior dates from 1794 and is almost as old as the church itself. A rare feature of this church among those in Slovakia is the Czar door, in place of the usual 'Tree of Jesse' doors. In the second row of the iconostasis the image of the Last Supper is in the central position, instead of the more common image of Christ. Five icons were stolen from the church in 2003; they were later recovered, but were damaged and required restoration.
Kalná Roztoka can be reached by infrequent buses from the towns of Snina and Stakčín to the north, while the neighbouring village of Ruská Bystrá has bus services connecting it to the town of Sobrance to the south. Therefore it is possible to see both Ruská Bystrá and Kalná Roztoka in a day by walking along the forest trail between them and arriving and departing from each by bus. The church key keeper lives down the hill in the centre of the village, but they weren't at home when I visited.
No comments:
Post a Comment