Bila Krynytsia

The Old Believer Assumption Cathedral in Bila Krynytsia was built in 1901-1908, and later became the main temple of the Bila Krynytsia Convent.

Moscow Old Believers Hlib and Olha Ovsyannikovy allocated large funds for the construction to perpetuate the memory of their son who died early. Architect Oleksandr Kuznetsov developed the project in the style of Russian Orthodox architecture of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The construction was carried out under the supervision of the Austrian architect Klik. Individual stone parts of the structure were delivered from Moscow.

The elegant brick cathedral with five onion baths, covered with glazed tiles on the outside, resembles the Moscow Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed. A carved oak iconostasis was made for him by masters from Volodymyr and Palekh. Sketches of paintings were prepared by Viktor Vasnetsov, but they did not have time to paint the temple due to the First World War.

In Soviet times, the premises were used as a warehouse for mineral fertilizers.

In 1988, on the initiative of Rayisa Horbachova, a branch of the Andriy Rublev Moscow Museum of Ancient Russian Art was opened in the Assumption Cathedral. Currently, the church has been returned to the Bila Krynytsia Convent.

It was the residence of the head of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church.

After the start of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, in May 2022, the majority of Old Believers voted for the registration of an independent church and exit from the subordination of the Moscow Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. Today, the Assumption Cathedral is the spiritual center of the Ancient Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The museum complex of Old Believers in Bila Krynytsia was opened in 2011.

The exhibition, located on the second floor of the wooden cottage, includes household items of Bukovyna Old Believers, traditional clothes of different times, old photos with views of the village, books and magazines about Old Believers.

The complex also includes living rooms where the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Old Believer Church stays during his visits to the Bila Krynytsia, a refectory kitchen.