Lytovezh is a village in western Volyn, on the Berizka River, a right tributary of the Western Bug. About 1,400 people live here, and the village itself is the center of the Lytovezh hromada in Volodymyr Raion. Once, Lytovezh was a town with a castle and Magdeburg rights, and today its main landmark is the wooden Presentation Church built in 1791, which survived two world wars.
The Lithuanian Castle
The name of the village recalls the Lithuanian princes who built a castle here in the 14th century with powerful earthen fortifications and watchtowers. The first written mentions of Lytovezh in documents date back to the 15th century. In 1501, King Sigismund I confirmed Magdeburg rights for the town. Near the village, archaeologists have found settlements from the Eneolithic and Early Iron Ages.
In 1615, Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozky's son, Janusz, who had converted to Catholicism, built the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael on the castle grounds. At the end of the 18th century, the bank of the Western Bug collapsed, and the church fell into a dilapidated state. Today, local legends and place names are all that remind us of the castle and the church.
The Presentation Church
The oldest landmark in Lytovezh is the Presentation Church. It was first mentioned in 1610: according to legend, it stood at the entrance to the castle, in front of the watchtower. Therefore, the southeastern bank of the Bug here was long called Vedinshchyna. The current wooden church was built in 1791 at the expense of the parishioners, much larger than the previous one, and a wooden bell tower was added to it in the 19th century.
The history of the church is complex. In 1800, Uniates and Catholics took over the church, and it became a three-altar church: priests of different rites conducted services here in turn, every third Sunday. It was only in 1830 that the church once again became entirely Orthodox. In 1915, Austro-Hungarian artillery destroyed the village's main temple — the Church of Saint Paraskeva — leaving the Presentation Church as the only ancient church left in Lytovezh. During Soviet times, authorities never managed to close it. Since 1992, the church has been an architectural monument.
Shrines and Museum Corner
The church preserves an 1810 Gospel with a through bullet hole, an ancient shroud that is brought out only once a year, and icons on woven and wooden canvas. Some of the images resemble Catholic painting — an echo of the region's multi-confessional history. Locals revere an icon of the Mother of God that miraculously survived World War I. The community has set up a small museum corner with antiquities inside the temple.
Lytovezh on Video
When to Visit
The best time is in summer and early autumn. After visiting the church, it is worth taking a walk down to the Western Bug: in spring, it overflows widely.
Nearby
Ivanychi is a former district center, Novovolynsk is nearby. More can be found in the article Volodymyr District.
How to get there
Lytovezh lies near the border with Poland, a few kilometers from Novovolynsk. Buses run from Novovolynsk and Volodymyr.
