In the village of Lukashi in the Baryshivka hromada of Brovary District, 19 km northeast of Baryshivka, stands the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael. It was built by the community in 1894–1896 and is one of the few 19th-century wooden churches in the east of Kyiv region that are still active. The temple belongs to the Baryshivka Deanery of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Cossack Village of Lukashi
The village was founded by the Lukash family — common peasants from the Right Bank who came here in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. On Guillaume le Vasseur de Beauplan's map of 1650, it is marked as Łikacz, and in the census of 1666, it is mentioned as Lukashovo with 25 homesteads. Although the founders were commoners, Lukashi went down in history as a Cossack village: from the second half of the 17th century, the majority of the residents were Cossacks — the Zhurbas, Butks, Hanzhas, Ladans, Morozs, Shaprans and other families. The village belonged to the Berezan sotnia of the Pereyaslav regiment.
The small Sukhoberetsia River flows through the entire village from north to south. Thanks to the dams, it looks more like a chain of ponds with a slow current. The coat of arms of Lukashi features a stork standing on one leg.
Community Temple
There was already a church in the village before, but in 1894 the community began building a new one. It took two years to build, and on December 19, 1896, according to the old style, the church was solemnly consecrated. It is a wooden church with domes and a bell tower, typical of Left-Bank rural churches of the late 19th century.
In 1931, the Soviet authorities closed the church and turned it into a grain warehouse. Worship services resumed in 1942, during the German occupation, and the church has not closed since. That is why much of the old interior decoration has been preserved inside. On January 21, 2019, the parish community decided to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
How to Get There
Lukashi is about 80 km east of Kyiv. Take the Kyiv — Kharkiv highway to Baryshivka, and from there 19 km northeast. It is about 58 km from Brovary to the village. The church stands in the center, near the ponds on the Sukhoberetsia.
Tip
The church is active, so please behave quietly during services, and women are advised to wear a headscarf. The trip can be conveniently combined with other churches of the Baryshivka region — the ruins of the Trinity Church in Hostroluchchia and the ruins of the Church of the Ascension in Lukianivka. Read more about the region in the article about Kyiv Polissia.
