Location:
Halych town
GPS coordinates: 49.12464142 24.72867393
The wooden church, most probably was built on the Halych principality outskirts, in the 12th century, at the place of pagan temple. The great devastation of Halych in 1286 occurred due to the Khan Telebuha hordes invasion. Almost all temples were completely destroyed. The Nativity of Christ Church was also burned. It was later rebuilt. However, during the conquest of Halychyna by the Poles in 1349, it was burned again. The burned Church has not disappeared without a trace, but has been reborn into a stone parochial Church. It is a composite-forming element of the central square of the modern city. The three-dimensional composition of the Nativity of Christ Church had a cross-shaped plan; it had three domes with a traditional entrance from the west. Later, the Church was completed from the west, the north and the south. The extension of the Church was built due to the adjacent construction to the Holy Cross Temple. Neighborhood with the monastery complicated the ritual procession around the temple, typical of the Byzantine rite.
Because of additions to the building, the west wall became blank and two doors were made on the north and the south sides. In the 16th century, the Nativity of Christ Church is mentioned in historical sources, as the main religious building of craft associations and workshops workers. In 1593, the Polish King Sigismund III had approved the statute of a pottery shop in Halych, and according to which the Nativity of Christ Church was its property. A year after the fraternity was taking care of the temple. In the second half of the 18th century, it was rebuilt adding modern exterior. One of the bells for the bell tower was made in 1785. A wooden, carved, gilded, single-tier iconostasis and three metal panicadillas were made at that time. The Nativity of Christ Church was built with local soft stone - marl and bricks on lime mortar. It is a valuable monument of late medieval architecture and one of the oldest Halych Deanery churches.
The Nativity of Christ Church is part of the National Reserve "Ancient Halych".
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