Forgotten Dome Art Unveiled in Ukraine After Decades in Hiding

During restoration work at the Holy Trinity Church in Berezhany, Ternopil region (Ukraine), early 20th century paintings were discovered on the central dome of the building.

This was reported on the website of the Ternopil-Zboriv Archdiocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"During restoration work at the Holy Trinity Church in Berezhany, paintings from the early 20th century were discovered, which had been hidden under layers of paint for a long time. The discovered paintings are gradually being uncovered in the central dome of the shrine thanks to the painstaking work of restorer Oleksii Cherednichenko and his team," the report says.

According to Cherednichenko, these are paintings that were considered lost.

“For now, we can only hint that this is not just an aesthetic discovery—it is a part of history that has been hidden for decades. We are gradually removing the layers of time—literally,” the restorer noted on his Facebook page.

The Holy Trinity Church has a long and complicated history. As mentioned in city records, it was built between 1626 and 1637 with donations from townspeople. But in 1748, the church collapsed. That same year, the then owner of Berezhany, Prince Augustus Chartoryisky, began construction of a new church, which was completed by the new owners, the Lubomirski family. In 1810, the church was damaged by a severe fire that engulfed the entire central part of the city. However, with the assistance of Princess Isabella Lubomirski, the church was quickly restored. The church acquired its modern appearance as a result of restoration work carried out between 1893 and 1903.

Today, the Church of the Holy Trinity houses the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God of Rome-Berezhany and the relics (part of the bone of the hand) of John the Baptist, which were donated to the church in 1715 by Prince Augustus Chartoryisky.

As reported, last year the state allocated UAH 650 million for the restoration of the monuments of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.