In the village of Pyrohivka in the Shostka community, on a high dune bank of the Shostka River near its confluence with the Desna, stands a wooden Pokrovska Church with a separate bell tower. Once, there were hundreds of such rural churches in Left-Bank Dnipro region, but today only a few remain. The Pyrohivka church is one of them, and its history dates back to Cossack times.
Cossack Church
The first Pokrovska Church was built by the Cossacks back in the 1650s. Together with the bell tower, it was depicted on an old map drawn on October 26, 1708 — the day of the battle between Moscow and Swedish troops over the crossing of the Desna near Pyrohivka. In 1777, the village owner, Bunchukovyi tovarysh Matvii Kholodovych, renovated the church: he significantly extended it upward, and the church became taller than the bell tower. The bell tower standing nearby was built in the 19th century.
Village on the Desna
Pyrohivka is an ancient village: nearby was the Putyvl ferry across the Desna, known from a charter of 1552, and two Neolithic settlements have been found nearby. In February 1664, the Battle of Pyrohivka took place near the village between the forces of Prince Romodanovskyi and Hetman Briukhovetskyi and the army of Polish King Jan II Kazimierz. In 1669, the first water mill on the Shostka near Pyrohivka was built — it is also visible on the 1708 drawing.
Today Pyrohivka is the most tourist-attractive place in the Shostka community: forests, a sandy beach on the Desna, a winding river with oxbow lakes and ponds. The village’s coat of arms features a pie, with a backpack and a fishing rod beneath it.
A Church for the Military
In 2023, the wooden Cossack church in Pyrohivka became the first garrison church of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
How to Get There
Pyrohivka is a few kilometers from Shostka, on the T-2502 road; there is a Pyrohivka railway station. The church is on the bank of the Shostka, next to the bell tower.
What to Consider
Shostka region borders Russia to the north, and the community is shelled. Before traveling, check the security situation and restrictions of the Sumy Regional Military Administration.
