The Orthodox Church of the Sts. Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Roscha: from a Wooden Church (1768) to a Masonry Building (1900)
Current issues of social sciences and history of medicine, Sep 2025
The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the history of the St. Archangels Michael’s and Gabriel’s Orthodox Church in the suburb of Chernivtsi, in Rosha, during the period of Austrian administration (1774‑1918) – from the construction of the first wooden church (1768) to the construction of a new brick church (1900). The research is directed at analyzing sacred continuity, administrative and financial mechanisms of church construction, the role of laypeople in preserving religious identity, as well as studying the material part of Orthodox cuilt in a multi-confessional urban space. Relevance of the topic. The development of Rosha’s religious infrastructure represents broader processes of modernization of Orthodox life in the urban suburbs of the Habsburg Empire. Analysis of the local church sphere allows us to understand better the ways in which the community adapted to imperial church policy, denominational competition, and urbanization transformations. The focus is on the functioning of the local church as a center of religious memory, a space for public gatherings, and a bearer of a cultural tradition that survived even after the physical destruction of the temple in the 20th century. The article was written as part of the international research project «RESTORY» (HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-№ 101132781), dedicated to the study of local memory and cultural heritage. Scientific novelty. For the first time, based on a wide source base, a number of archival documents have been introduced into scientific circulation, highlighting the condition of the old wooden church, its inventory, insurance, repairs, and preparation for replacement with a new church. The contents of the estimate and tender documentation for the construction of the church in 1900, with the names of the contractors and the amounts of payments, have been revealed. The personal composition of the clergy and active parishioners is recreated, the circumstances of the repairs of the parish building and the role of patrons in the material support of the parish are described. For the first time, the place of the old church has been localized and its future fate reconstructed based on expeditionary research in 2024-2025, which includes oral and history evidence and the current state of the sacred space. New facts are presented regarding the attempts of the parishioners of Manastyrska to separate from the Rosha’s parish. The functioning of the temple as a center of public action, confessional resistance, and sacred imagination is analyzed. The materials published in this work (including archival documents and photos from field research in 2024‑2025) are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Conclusions. The Orthodox Church in Rosha during the Austrian period became an example of enduring sacred continuity, which was preserved in spite of political changes, economic difficulties, and interdenominational rivalry. From the wooden building of the 18th century to the stone temple of the early 20th century, the church remained not only a religious center, but also an object of local identity. The community managed to preserve its cultural heritage even after the loss of the religious building: through the transfer of ritual objects, ritual redefinition of space, oral memory and symbolic restoration in new conditions. The article confirms the importance of an interdisciplinary approach – combining archival analysis and oral history – for a deeper understanding of the functioning of Orthodox communities at the local level
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Мойсей Антоній. The Orthodox Church of the Sts. Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Roscha: from a Wooden Church (1768) to a Masonry Building (1900), Current issues of social sciences and history of medicine, 2025, pp. 6-26,
