Historical outline

The village lies about 10 km west of Trembowla and 6 km north-west of Strusov. The earliest mention of Darachovo dates back to the mid-17th century. It speaks of peasant rebellions in the area. It is also known that in the 1830s the estate was owned by Countess Ludwika Lanckorońska, and a few decades later by Count Włodzimierz Baworowski. In turn, the 20th century saw the ownership of Darachów by Dr Jakub Sommerstein.

Until the beginning of that century, the village was subordinated to the parish in Strusov. It was then that efforts began to establish an independent parish church on the site. The church, initially as a public chapel, was established here in 1903, and seven years later the Austrian authorities gave permission for a parish to be established in Darachowo. Interestingly, this parish was not finally established until 1925.

Its last administrator was Father Albert Kaszuba, who left the parish in the spring of 1944 in fear of UPA terror. In 1959, the Soviets turned the building into a kolkhoz fertiliser warehouse. After the collapse of the USSR, the building was handed over to the Greek-Catholic parish, which carried out repairs and heavily distorted the original character of the church.

Architecture

The building is located in the northern part of the village, on the road from Buchach to Strusov and Mikulinets. The church is a brick building on a stone foundation. It consists of a three-bay nave and a narrower, one-bay, three-sided closed presbytery, which faces north. A square vestry is attached to the altar area to the east. In front of the façade, in turn, is a small rectangular-shaped porch.

The exterior elevations are set on a stone plinth. They do not have a complex articulation. They are supported by buttresses that are set at right angles at the corners of the façade. The single-axis façade is closed with a triangular gable supported on rafters, i.e. on decorative supports. There is a circular window in the gable field. A cross was placed in the finial. The nave is covered with a gable roof, the chancel with a similar roof, but with a pyramidal roof. The sacristy, on the other hand, is covered by a gable roof.

The interior elevations have no articulation. The nave and chancel are covered with a pseudo-vaulted wooden ceiling, while the sacristy has a ceiling. The windows in the main body are rectangular, closed with a pointed arch. A rectangular window is used in the sacristy. The entrance openings are also rectangular.

The most important elements related to the decoration, furnishings and surroundings of the building include or belonged to:

• Interior painting decoration dating to the early 20th century;
• A wooden pulpit dating from the early 20th century (burned down in 2004);
• A stone wall surrounding the site on three sides;
• A screen belfry enclosed by a triangular gable.
  

As Tomasz Zaucha writes in his study of the site, the church was devastated when it was used as a warehouse. Nowadays, after a general renovation and its conversion into an Orthodox church, it has lost its original features.

Name: Parish Church of John the Baptist in Darachowo

Name in use today: Greek Catholic church in Darachovo

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, region: Ternopil, locality: Darachiv

Author: Unknown

Date of construction: 1903 r.

Technical data: Brick object, plastered.