Carpathian Wooden Church Bibliography and Links

The following are books that you can most likely get your hands on today from a bookseller or library.  There were other books that were written in the early 20th century, mostly in the hands of a few libraries. 

BOOKS

1. Parvensky, Michele,  "Wooden Churches of the Rusyns"

Part One    Part Two

2. Bozova, John, "Wooden Churches in the Vicinity of Bardejov" Bardejov. 1997.

3. Buxton, David, THE WOODEN CHURCHES OF EASTERN EUROPE: An Introductory Survey, by. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1981  (Reviewed)

vii, 405 p. illus., plans, maps. $85.00 U.S., 47.50 U.K. Cambridge U.P., Pitt Building, Trumpingtn St., Cambridge CB2 1RP; in USA: 32 East 57th St., New York, N.Y. 10022.

4. Coleman, Arthur P., "The Wooden Churches of Ruthenia. Art and Archaeology" 1933.

5. Iwanusiw, Oleh, Church in Ruins, Hong Kong, 1987.

Text in Ukrainian and English.  Recent (1980's) color photographs, descriptive paragraph, location map, 350 pages hardbound.  Describes the condition and history of churches found in Poland, under the prior jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Peremyshl. 

6. Muzyk, Zbigniew, "Cerkwie" Volumes 1-4. Novy Sacz. 2001

Describes several churches found in Southeast Poland.  Text in Polish.

To purchase, contact Distributor:  Nova Bookstore (Ksiegarnia Nova), Mississauga, Canada L4X 2S3

7. Sirochman, Mikhail, "Churches of Ukraine Zakarpattia" L'viv, 2000.

Black and white photographs and text description of each church in the Zakarpattia region of today's Ukraine.  A massive, comprehensive book. Recent church photos along with many historic photos make comparison of old and new quite striking.   Hardbound, 879 pages.  Book text in Ukrainian.  Overview to the book (several paragraphs) in English.

8. Sopoliga, Miroslav, Perly l'udovej architektury, (Pearls of Folk Architecture), Presov, 1996.

"Perly ludovej architektury - Perlyny narodnoyee arkhitektury" by Miroslav Sopoliha. Preshov, 1996. Book carries text concurrently in Slovak and Ukrainian. 

See also: Ivan Marko "DREVENE CERKVI" (no longer on the web mojweb.sk, 7/06)

9. Zapletal, Florian, "Wooden Churches in the Carpathians" Vienna. 1982.

10. Dragan, Mykhailo, Ukrainian Wooden Churches, 1937

            Ukrainian National Museum Lvov

11.  J. Hollis (and students), Brandon (MO) High School  – Wooden Churches (no longer online)

Reports written by J. Hollis' Brandon Missouri high school class.  A clear and concise overview of wooden churches in the Carpathian Mountains.  Great introductory material.

12. "Drevene Kostoly, Vychodneho Ritu Na Slovensku", "Wooden Churches, Northeast Region of Slovakia", Folk Museum of Ukrainian Culture at Svidnik, 1971.

 Index of Villages Found in Book and translation of selected church passages

A very comprehensive book showing all the wooden churches in Northeast Slovakia.  Primarily an architectural description, includes important historical photographs from 1940-1971.  Includes scale drawings of building footprint, elevation and architectural details.   Not all churches have photos or drawings, but most do.  Text in Ukrainian.  Overview to the book (several paragraphs) in English, German and Slovak.  Out of print.  Part of a multi-volume set.  Hardbound.

13. Brykowski, Ryszard  "Wooden Orthodox Church Architecture of the Lemko People in Poland, Slovakia and Carpathian Rus'"

14. Slobodian, Vasyl'  CHURCHES OF UKRAINE ,PEREMYSHL' EPARCHY
Similar to "Church In Ruins", this book covers the Peremyshl Eparchy (Diocese), located in present-day Ukraine.  It describes the history and architecture of 800 churches, including many which no longer exist.

Distributor: Oleh Iwanusiw

15. Carpathian Wooden Pearls, Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia, 2003

Web page put together by the Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia.  Basically a spin off of "Perly l'udovej architektury", but in English, with a brief but informative description of the church.  Lovely pencil drawing of the church structure.

Includes the following village churches:

Bodruzal

Brezany

Dobroslava

Fricka

Hervartov

Hrabova Roztoka

Hranicne

Hunkovce

Inovce

Jedlinka

Kalna Roztoka

Korejovce

Kozany

Krajne Cierno

Krive

Ladomirova

Lukov - Venecia

Mirola

Nizny Komarnik

Potoky

Prikra

Ruska Bystra

Rusky Potok

Semetkovce

Topola

Trocany

Ulicske Krive

16. Art & Architecture Bibliography, Danusha V. Goska, 2004

Merchants

Scale Models of wooden churches and native homes can be purchased from Daniel Kisha and other vendors.  Dr. Michelle Parvensky recommends a gentlemen near Svidnik, Slovakia who makes quite authentic, though rather larger scale church models.

Books - For out of print or foreign books, the following web sites are a network of booksellers worldwide that allow one-stop shopping.  The most important feature of these sites is their search facilities.  Books are available in many languages.  I have purchased well over a dozen books, from booksellers in the U.S., Australia, Poland, Ukraine and Great Britain.  You just never know where these books might end up.  AbeBooks aLibris and Bookfinder When you don't find it, located a bookseller from the list that has similar material and send an email.  I recently asked a Poland bookseller to locate an out of print book on Gmina Cisna, Poland.  He located several copies in a warehouse in Warsaw.  Best of all, we corresponded in English.  What I like best about dealing with booksellers in Central/Eastern Europe is the price.  Including postage, the price is quite reasonable, oftentimes less than it would be if purchased though an American bookseller.

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Last Update: 15 November 2020                                                    Copyright © 2003-2021, Bill Tarkulich