Saint Basil's Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Cemetery at Gorlitz, Saskatchewan.
This is the original church building founded and built in 1908.
There is also a bell tower with a bell and an attached rope. Ring the bell!
The main marker for the church and cemetery. As in most country cemeteries there are lots of hoof prints in the snow. These small protected areas are a refuge for wildlife big and small.
This area of Saskatchewan was settled largely by immigrants from the Bukovina area of Ukraine.
A small wooden cross at an unidentified grave.
New posts holding up the steel entrance gate.
An annual service and feast is still held on Pentecost Sunday.
The cross on the peak is a simple plywood cutout painted white.
A photo taken through the window showing the Royal Doors, iconostasis and candelabra on the left. This must have been a spectacular sight on a Sunday morning in the early 1900's...and still is to me in the early 2000's.
Last look at the little country church and then on my way.
Information courtesy of the Archdiocese of Canada and the Orthodox Church in America Archives.
Photographed on December 17, 2019.
Its plain and simple exterior belies the glory within!
ReplyDeleteIt's a beauty!
DeleteHave you been to Donwell, Sask just a bit north of Gorlitz? There are some old commercial buildings there including a vintage gas station worth seeing.
ReplyDeleteDonwell is one I didn't get to...maybe next time,
DeleteLove this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks BW.
DeleteMy idea of what a church should be - beautiful. And I assume those are your footprints leading to the door.
ReplyDeleteActually they're not my footprints. At least one person had been to the church a day or two before me and had walked through the cemetery and up to the church door.
Delete