Historical outline

When looking for the village of "Mlyniska" on maps, one must be vigilant, as there are several administrative units with this name in Ukraine. The easiest way to find Mlyniska is to first find Kobyllova, where the parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located, and then turn slightly to the north-west. Młyniska is located in the immediate vicinity. The origins of the village are linked to disputes over the estate (including the serfs) between the "lord and the vicar", or more precisely between the priest Samuel Sobieraj and the owners of Janov. This took place in the second half of the 17th century. Among the owners of Młyniska, from the 18th century onwards, are recorded: the Bogusz family, the Skarbeks, the Baworowskis, the Łosi family and the Dunin-Borkowskis. As Andrzej Betlej writes in his study on the site, there was a late-classical palace in the village, as well as a wooden chapel erected in 1877.

Originally, Młyniska was subordinate to the parish in Janow Trembowel, and later to the exposition in nearby Kobylloki. The village never lived to see its own parish church, but in 1912 a brick chapel was built here, which, although badly damaged by the teeth of time, has survived to this day.

The time of the Second World War proved to be a period of terror for the inhabitants of Młynisk by the UPA. Assaults and arson attacks were carried out in the village. It is likely that in 1945 the Polish inhabitants (who constituted the majority) left for the regained territories, taking the chapel furnishings with them.

Architecture

The building is located in the central part of the village. The chapel was built of brick and stone and plastered. It consists of a three-bay nave and a lower and narrower single-bay, triangular enclosed chancel, which faces north. A rectangular vestry adjoins the altar area to the east, and to the west, a polygonal annex has been attached between the chancel and nave to house a spiral staircase leading to the attic.

The exterior elevations sit on a stone plinth and are framed by single-jointed buttresses. The buttresses are accentuated by small gabled roofs.

The façade is single-axis, single-storey, but draws attention to the entrance framed by a portal house consisting of columns with bone capitals. It supports a semi-circular arcade and a triangular gable. The rectangular entrance opening is closed with a semicircle. The gable of this section is topped with a high pedestal capped with a profiled cornice, on which a stone statue of an angel is placed. Above the portal house is a circular window in a profiled frame. The top of the façade is topped with an overhanging pedestal with a cross, and the buttresses are decorated with an arcaded frieze. The pedestal of the chancel wall bears the inscription "HERE ARE R. 1911 | ACTS OF THE FOUNDATION."

The nave and chancel are covered with gabled roofs. There are multi-pitched roofs over the close of the altar area and the annex (with spiral staircase), and a pent roof over the vestry. All are tiled. The bell turret is topped with a broken pyramidal cupola at the base. It is crowned with a knob and an openwork cross. The latter element has now lost its geometry, most likely due to material fatigue, time and external influences.

The interior walls have no articulation. The nave was closed with a cross vault and the altar section with an identical vault, with the closure turning into a lunette. The windows in the main body are rectangular and closed with a semicircle.

In his study of the building, Andrzej Betlej points to the medieval style costume of the chapel, which was very popular in Galicia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An interesting and the only surviving piece of interior furnishings is the bust of Count Stanislaw Salmon, which is located in the centre of the building. Although the sculpture has been deprived of its head, its location and the preserved fragment of the inscription suggest that it is a fragment of a tombstone. The artefact is considerably older than both the brick chapel and its wooden predecessor. The building is currently in poor condition and the furnishings are missing from the site. Remnants of stained glass can be seen in the windows.

Name: Public Chapel in Mlyniska

Name currently in operation: Mlyniska Public Chapel

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, District: Ternopil, Town: Mlyniski

Author: Unknown

Date of construction: 1912 r.

Technical data: Brick building