Church of Saint Michael the Archangel

The Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, now in the open-air museum in Uzhhorod, is the only fully preserved Lemko wooden church in Zakarpattia. Originally built in the village of Shelestovo, the church is known at least from the late seventeenth century and is generally dated to 1777, though some scholars believe that year marks a reconsecration after rebuilding. In the twentieth century the church was moved twice: first to Mukachevo, where it was reassembled after the old building became redundant, and then in 1974 to the Uzhhorod skansen, following restoration by specialists from Lviv. Since then, it has served both as a museum exhibit and as an active Greek Catholic church. Architecturally, it belongs to the Lemko school of vernacular sacred architecture. The church is three-part, with two principal log-built units and three upper roofed structures, and is covered with hewn shingles. The entrance is through a west gallery carried on carved posts and integrated into the tall bell tower. Above the nave rises a complex upper structure with three tiered setbacks and a pear-shaped cupola, while the apse is articulated as a drum-like volume with a related tented upper form. The Baroque bell tower combines a timber-framed upper stage, shaped boarding, flared eaves, a lantern, and a cupola. Inside, the narthex has a flat beam ceiling, while the nave and apse are covered by tiered vaults. The present interior is not original to Shelestovo: most icons and the original iconostasis were lost, and the current five-tier iconostasis and associated paintings were transferred from Kolochava in 1975.