Location:
Maniava village, Bohorodchany district
GPS coordinates: 48.655618 24.39299
Maniava Skete is an Orthodox monastery, founded by Job Kniahynytskyi in 1606 on the bank of Maniavka River.
According to the legend, monks, who escaped from Kyiv during the Mongol invasion, founded Orthodox monastery in 1240. The first monastery was located behind the holy spring under the Blessed Stone. Russian princes used to come here for Blessing. The Skete was soon abandoned. Its revival in the early 17th century is associated with the name of the monk Job Kniahynytskyi.
In 1621, the Maniava Skete received the right of stauropegia and more than 500 monasteries of Halychyna, Bukovyna and Moldova were subordinated to it. The architectural complex of stone and wooden buildings is well fitted into the mountain terrain.
The monastery was surrounded by a stonewalls with three defensive towers, behind which the inhabitants of the surrounding villages hid during Turks and Tatars attacks. In 1785, the Skete was closed by an Austrian government, as part of the religious reform of Emperor Joseph II. At one time, it used to be one of Halychyna cultural life centers. It had a large library and was famous for the main iconostasis, made by Ukrainian painter J. Kondzelevych. After Skete was closed, its iconostasis was brought in the church of Bohorodchany village and since 1924, it is in the National Museum in Lviv named after A. Sheptytskyi.
In 1998, the Maniava Holy Cross-Exaltation Monastery was opened here.
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