The ruins of the Orthodox church dedicated to Transfiguration of the Lord in Berezka

Berezka is a small holiday village, located at Little Bieszczady Ring Road (Mała Obwodnica Bieszczadzka) between Myczków and Średnia Wieś. Aside of the village there are imposing ruins of the Orthodox Church of Transfiguration of the Lord. It was constructed in 1868 in the place of the former wooden temple dated1444. Part of the construction material was used to build a new temple, and on one of the beams this exact date survived. More than 1,000 worshippers lived here before the outbreak of the World War II. The Orthodox church was renewed in 1920, but during the Operation Vistula in 1947 it was destroyed. PGR’s (state-owned farms) employees ripped off the metal sheet from the roof and the property fell into increasing ruin. And so it has been like that until today.

The facility made of brick was constructed on an octagon plan with a rectangular presbytery and vestibule. Above the nave there was an octagonal dome of the wooden structure. This type of architectural solution – with an octagonal nave is unprecedented in Subcarpathia region. Similar Orthodox church was built in Michniowiec. Next to it, there was a bell tower, where two bells hung –  dated 1671 and 1697. To  this day, walls and polychromes on arches have survived. At the ruins, a board was erected with a short description of the Orthodox church, several old photos and a description of the invocation of the Orthodox church. There is also a memorial board dated 2005, in memory of parishioners from Berezka, Wola Matiaszowa and Bereżnica Niżna, who built this Orthodox church.