Krekhiv Monastery


The Krekhiv Monastery of St. Nicholas of the Order of St. Basil the Great, founded in the early 17th century by monks Yoil and Silvestr from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra near the village of Krekhiv, Lviv Oblast.

History

The monastery was built between 1619 and 1658, and in 1669 it received stone walls with five towers. The monastery received stauropegia in 1628 and enjoyed the support of hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Petro Doroshenko, and Ivan Mazepa. In 1721, it became Uniate, and in 1751, the stone St. Nicholas Church was built. From 1902, it housed the novitiate of the Basilian Order.
The monastery was famous for its rich library, which housed unique manuscripts. In particular, Ivan Franko studied the 15th-century Krekhiv Palaea, and Ilarion Ohienko studied the 16th-century. The main shrines that attracted pilgrims are two famous icons: St. Nicholas and the Holy Virgin Mary of Werchrata.
After the liquidation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1946, the monastery was closed and partially dismantled. Its revival began in 1990.

Hegumens