Picturesque Kryvorivnia and its ancient Hutsul Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From afar, you can see this beautiful church on a high hill above the village of Kryvorivnia and the valley of the stormy Black Cheremosh

Earlier, there was another church in Kryvorivnia, it was built in the early 1660s in the part of village - Zarichchia, on the right bank of the Black Cheremosh River. Then in 1719, due to the danger of flooding, the church was moved up to a hill. But something must have happened to the previous church, because the current one was built in 1818.

Many prominent figures, such as Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, Olha Kobylianska, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, and others, have prayed in the church. In 1901, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (at that time he was Bishop Stanislavsky) the church was visited the church was visite/ He wrote a message "To My Dear Hutsuls".

In the 1960s, Vasyl Romaniuk? Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox priest and human rights activist? who was Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate , began his first sacred service in the Kryvorivnenska church.

The film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a masterpiece of Ukrainian cinema, was filmed by Sergei Parajanov in Kryvorivnya. The church was directly included in the film's footage.

In early January every year, the Hutsul Koliada festival takes place here.

The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Kryvorivnia is considered to be one of the most famous creations of the Hutsul folk architecture school.

In 2011, the church underwent renovations, which resulted in its original appearance, getting rid of the ugly tin that had been covering it for about 40 years. Now the roof is covered with shingles. A little later, in 2016, the church's ancient altar was also restored.

My modern photos taken in May 2009 and July 2016

The church is wooden, cross-shaped, single-domed, and has a cruciform layout. The structure of the temple includes short side branches and an elongated nave. The central dome of the church is covered by a hipped dome on a low octagon that rises above the roofs of the church branches.

An additional room adjoins the eastern part of the single-domed church. The interior walls of the church are painted with tempera.

In 1972, the roof of the church was covered with tin. It was only in 2011, on the initiative of the priest and the parish, that the roof was replaced with shingles, so the church regained its original authentic appearance! Unfortunately, such decisions are the exception rather than the rule. Other priests should take into attention this manifestation of love for the church building and its history!

On the southeast side of the church stands a small old bell tower. It was also built in 1818.

During the restoration work, two dozen metric books were found in the dome! They contain records from 1775 to 1944. Thanks to these records, we now know the names of all the priests who served in this church since 1775.

Over the past twenty years, three new church gates have been built.

The Hutsul grazhda from Kryvorivnia is the central exhibit of the Hutsul region in the Klymenty Sheptytsky Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Lviv, Shevchenkivskyi Hai. It was transported in 1970.

A hrazhda is a special type of housing in the Carpathians. It's not just a house with outbuildings, it's a whole complex of residential and outbuildings that are connected to each other along the entire perimeter by a high log wall. From the outside, it looks like a small wooden personal fortification. It looks like a castle that is locked from the outside and has an open courtyard inside.

However, there is an interesting museum in Kryvorivnia - an old Hutsul grazhda - house located in the part of village Kryvorivnya - named Zarichchia. Now this house complex is a historical and architectural sightseen. But once upon a time people lived here. Palii and Paraska Haruki. Ukrainian poet, writer, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer - Ivan Franko, writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, and famouse Ukrainian ethnographers, writer, literary scholar, journalist Volodymyr Hnatiuk were guests of the family. This house can be seen in the film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Interestingly, the house stood empty until 1948. It was only in 1993 that the building was restored. A year later, during the First World Congress of Hutsuls, a museum was opened here.