Remains of an ancient Cossack church painted by Shevchenko were discovered at the bottom of the Kakhovsky Reservoir. VIDEO

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In the village of Pokrovsky, near Nikopol, at the bottom of the Kakhov reservoir, which is losing water after the Russians blew up the Kakhov dam, the remains of an ancient Cossack church were discovered. Read UP.Kultura in Telegram As Nikopolnews reported, the Pokrovsk Sich Church, which was written about by Oleksandr Dovzhenko and painted by Taras Shevchenko, was hidden from people by water for 70 years. Local residents are now sharing photos and videos of finds on the shallow bottom of the reservoir on social networks. In addition to the remains of the old church, the locals discovered a cemetery next to it. Human remains from the Second World War are also found. Larisa Sadovska, director of the Pokrovskoe village museum, said that local residents knew that the remains of the church were preserved in the water. At the end of the 20th century, divers were hired here, who discovered the foundation of a stone structure. In 1734-1775, Nova Sich (or Pidpilnenska Sich) existed in the place of Pokrovsky. It arose after the return of the Zaporizhzhya grassroots army under the Russian protectorate as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Lubensk. Sich was located on a peninsula that was washed on three sides by a tributary of the Dnieper – the Pidpilna River. On the territory of the main fortification – Kosha – there were houses of the Kosha chieftain and foreman, a military office, a treasury, houses of the clergy, as well as the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in Sich. It is known that the decoration for the temple was created by an outstanding carver of the 18th century, a friend of Kosovy Kalnyshevskyi and the general scribe of the Zaporizhzhya Sich Ivan Globa, Sisoi Shalmatov. Nova Sich, 1734-1775. Reconstruction of V. Lenchenko. Photo: nikopol.nikopolnews.net During the destruction of Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, the Pokrovsk Sich Church was looted by officers, soldiers and Don Cossacks. According to one of the reports to the Slavic Spiritual Consistory, from the Church of the Intercession were taken “vessels, chalices, royal silver gates, gospels, chalices, discs, stars, copies, crosses, local icons with silver plates and all other images of silver plates, plates for the blessing of loaves, candlesticks, censers, lamps, and all silver to the last, why the church remains without God’s service. In 1794, Metropolitan Gavrilo of Katerynoslav ordered to close the Intercession Sich Church. In the fall of 1798, a new stone church was built here, to which the locals handed over what was saved during the looting by the military. In 1843, Taras Shevchenko visited Pokrovsky. This is evidenced by the memories of his contemporaries and the drawings he created here: among them is the image of the Church of the Intercession. Local residents showed Shevchenko the ruins of the former Sich and narrated events from Zaporozhian history. Historians claim that Shevchenko planned to include the drawing of the local church in the album “Picturesque Ukraine”, which he hoped to publish in 1845. He reported: “in 1845, the following paintings will be published: 1) Views: Chigyrin, Subbotov, Baturyn. Pokrovskaya tserkov…” Holy Pokrovskaya Sichova church. Photo: nikopol.nikopolnews.net The stone church in Pokrovsky existed until 1954, when it was flooded by the waters of the Kakhov reservoir. Before flooding the church, the Soviet authorities removed most of the relics from there. What local residents managed to save is now in the Pokrovsky Museum. This is a key to the Sichov church, a crucifix minae, a mug of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, a Cossack pipe, the remains of a saber, etc. Oleksandr Dovzhenko wrote about the flooding of the village of Pokrovskoe and the stone church in 1954: “…The last memory I have of the church. I am sixty years old. I have not believed in God since I was fifteen and have not been to church since then. But in the village of Pokrovskoe I regretted, that there is no God. I desperately wanted him to appear for at least five minutes and, seeing the monument of ancient architecture destroyed by scoundrels, erected in honor of his God’s mother, punish with a fierce death the dark and vile Jews who committed this despicable business. Farewell, Pokrovske. Your faith in a non-existent God has not diminished. Your beauty has diminished.” Read also: Architect Oleksandr Dovzhenko: how an outstanding director filmed the HPP and built Nova Kakhovka

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