Svyato-Dymytrivsʹka Tserkva

Church of St. Demetrius was built in the village of Bystritsa in the XVII century, and in 1910 moved to the village of Vilkhovytsia and rebuilt. It was named after the Holy Great Martyr Dmitry, killed with spears and torn to pieces by wild beasts by order of the Roman emperor. Stone foundations (rubble on lime mortar). The porch and nave are rectangular, the eastern frame is pentagonal. Above the vestibule is a square in plan single-storey frame bell tower, completed with a four-sloped top with truncated corners. Flat and box-shaped floors are hidden under steep roofs (gabled - above the main volume, faceted - above the eastern volume). A distinctive feature of the structure is a huge porch, equal to a third of the temple building. Massive hewn wooden slabs were used for the porch. Above it is an arch. On it you can see the carved symbols of the Sun - Solaris, swastika - fire wheels, six-leaf clover and sunflowers. The interior of the monument is interesting figured cutout in the inner wall between the western and central rooms, as well as preserved works of easel tempera painting of the XVII century. Transcarpathian art school, in particular Ilya from Mukachevo. According to one version, it was bought out by more affluent members of the Olkhovitsky community, according to another - the daughter of the local owner got married and as a dowry took the temple with her. This is what saved the church from destruction. The uniqueness of the wooden temple is that from under the ground on which it stands a unique treasure - five bronze swords, the forging of which dates back to the tenth century BC.

The church was built without a single nail from oak logs in the 17th century in the neighboring village of Bystrytsia, and when a brick church was built there in the early 20th century, the wooden one was moved to Vilkhovytsia in 1910. As was often the case during the relocations, the church underwent reconstruction: the shape of the tower and completion were simplified, the ceiling over the nave and the altar was changed, the attic brackets on the western facade of the nave were cut, and the window openings were widened. That building has preserved the most important thing - the archaic appearance of an elongated nave with a pentagonal altar frame. Of particular note is the door frame, built of wide hewn planks in the ancient style. The upper part of the door jamb is cut with a figured arch. The whole door frame is exquisitely decorated with ancient symbols of the sun - and "sunflowers". A stingy ornament is cut along the inner edge. In the interior, a figured passage from the nave to the nave is interesting. The church was once decorated with an old iconostasis with images of local icon painters of the XVII century, but it was dismantled. The church is still active. It is used for worship, weddings, and funeral rites.

One of the few wooden churches that have survived to this day.

The only wooden church in the Mukacheve district. Ugly. Nevertheless, "the bottle is suitable". A huge covered porch, "carcass". At the very entrance to the village is located. Near the cemetery.