Peremyshl is a city with many Ukrainian monuments, some of which have existed since Old Rus times. In the tenth century, the city became the center of the principality and the center of the oldest Ukrainian bishopric of the Eastern Rite in Galicia.
The oldest church in Peremyshl was the stone church of St. John the Baptist on Castle Hill, built by Prince Volodar Rostyslavych in 1124. The Ukrainian shrine in Peremyshl – the Church of St. Peter (XII – first half of the XIV century) – which doesn’t exist anymore, dates back to approximately the same period. In 2015–2017, during excavations, archaeologists discovered its foundations. Based on this information, Roman Frankiv, Candidate in Architecture, Associate Professor at the Department of Design and Architecture Fundamentals, the Institute of Architecture and Design, Lviv Polytechnic, recreated what the church hypothetically looked like.
The existence of an ancient church of the Old Rus period in Peremyshl was known from medieval documents, the earliest of which includes information about the transformation of the Orthodox Church into the first cathedral church of established in the fourteenth century Latin Diocese in Peremyshl. The results of archaeological excavations in 2015–2017 indicate the existence of two churches on this site.
«The older one corresponds to the traditions of Old Rus architecture (XII-XIV centuries), the later one to the Gothic era (from the XIV century). The first building was somewhat larger than the later one, and it was built in the form of a Greek cross», says Roman Franko.
In the Old Rus era, St. Peter’s Church in Peremyshl could have been similar to the early church in Tsarynka in Halych, but larger, the researcher says. Also, the Old Rus fragments of the Peremyshl church have a similar cross-shaped structure of its under-dome space to the Church of St. Nicholas in Lviv.
The medieval St. Peter’s Church in Peremyshl of the Rurik period was built of hewn stone, the use of which was typical of the Galician school of architecture. There were few window openings in the brick part and there was probably a carved stone bas-relief above the entrance, which is mentioned in historical documents.
Roman Frankiv posted his thoughts and visualizations on the website of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.