Description of Historic Place

The compact Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a stucco-clad wooden structure built in 1940, stands near the western edge of Sundown in southeastern Manitoba. The municipal designation applies to the church, its free-standing bell tower and the grounds they occupy.

Heritage Value

Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with its distinctive cruciform plan, twin towers and central dome opening to the interior, is a significant example of a mid-twentieth-century church associated with the waves of Ukrainian immigrants who came to Manitoba in the early 1900s. Built by parishioners on a tranquil site that also includes a separate bell tower, the church is an attractive, modest-sized interpretation of traditional ecclesiastical architecture found in the villages of Western Ukraine. Most notable is the facility's intact and richly decorated interior, complete with an ornate iconostas, iconography and wall surfaces with folk motifs hand-painted by John Pushka. The landmark church, still used for services on a limited basis, remains a valued link to the homeland as well as a spiritual and focal point for parishioners, including descendants of pioneer families who settled in the Sundown area.

Source: Rural Municipality of Stuartburn By-law No. 086-2009, April 7, 2009

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church site include:
- the crossroads setting near the western edge of Sundown and the building's traditional east-west alignment, set back from roadways within a large grassed and treed plot
- the free-standing wooden bell tower, two-tiered, with hip roofs, louvred openings, cupola, etc.

Key external elements that define the building as a fine interpretation of traditional Western Ukrainian church design include:
- the boxy, tiered cruciform massing on a low concrete foundation, including the twin-towered front, short cross-gabled transepts and polygonal apse surmounted by a large central dome, and two lower volumes, a one-storey entrance porch with a gable roof and a sacristy with a shallow hip roof
- the symbolic trio of metal-clad banyas (onion domes) topped by three-bar Eastern crosses, including the main dome and cupola on an octagonal drum and the smaller tower domes
- the orderly arrangement of round-arched sash and fixed windows with clear glass and painted wood transoms throughout
- the unpretentious materials and finishes, including stucco cladding over walls of milled lumber, plain wood window surrounds and other trim, the double-door entrance, etc.

Key elements that define the church's liturgical functions and richly decorated interior include:
- the cruciform plan, including the vestibule, open-area nave, transepts, raised east-end sanctuary, west-end loft accessed by a small staircase off the nave, etc.
- the groin vault ceiling opened at the crossing by the broad, well-lit and intricately detailed dome on pendentives
- the painted wood finishes throughout, mostly in light blue with pale trim and contrasting panel and border motifs, including elaborate detailing depicting the heavenly world, faux marble, etc.
- the sanctuary, including the iconostas with royal and deacons' doors, the wooden altar, etc.
- other religious furnishings and features, such as the tetrapod, framed icons, brass chandelier, etc.