Orthodox congregational life was initiated at Kysylew in 1898–1899 by Ukrainian settlers from the village of Kyseliv, Bukowina who had only recently homesteaded the district. Work on a church was begun in 1902 and two years later the completed sanctuary was formally dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary by priests from the Russian Orthodox Mission.
Church bells were donated in 1911 and an extension to the sanctuary was constructed in 1921. This church served the Kysylew faithful until it was destroyed by fire at the end of the 1940s. In 1950 the congregation embarked on the construction of the present church, a more elaborate cruciform structure that was erected about 100 feet east of the original sanctuary and adorned with two large domes and three smaller cupolas.
Most of the iconography in the church was done by Father John Wasil, the icon of St. Nicholas being especially notable because its inscription is in both Old Church Slavonic and Hungarian. Also noteworthy is the bridge over the small creek that separates the church from its cemetery at the back of the congregational property. The original bridge at this location was put up by the government to serve the traffic along the South Victoria Trail.
See HERE for more information and a detailed history of this parish.
Play Memory Eternal Chants
Visit this Cemetery
GPS Co-ordinates: 53.914551, -112.358137
Cemetery Co-ordinates: 53.914324, -112.361635
Affiliation: Orthodox Church in America
