Description of Historic Place

The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, erected in 1921, is a wood-frame building in the Kosiw district near Dauphin. The municipal designation applies to the church and its grounds.

Heritage Value

The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, from its sheltered site overlooking farmland near Riding Mountain National Park, is a treasured link to a community whose settlers brought distinct and enduring religious traditions from Eastern Europe. The cruciform wooden structure with its five banyas (onion domes), including a large two-tiered central dome, is a fine interpretation of a type of traditional church architecture found in Western Ukraine. Services continue on a limited basis as direct descendants of the Kosiw-area pioneers care for the attractive church with its well-constructed bell tower and thoughtfully appointed interior.

Source: Rural Municipality of Dauphin By-law No. 2895, November 15, 2005

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul site include:
- the pastoral location on a large tree-sheltered plot in the Kosiw area, about two kilometres north of Riding Mountain National Park, with the building in a traditional east-west alignment;
- the separate two-tiered wooden bell tower with an iron Latin cross on its pyramidal roof, one window on each side, a panelled wood door and two bells.

Key exterior elements that define the church's traditional Ukrainian ecclesiastical style include:
- the compact cruciform massing, including gable-roofed sections of equal length and a small shed-roofed rear extension, all of wood-frame construction on a concrete foundation;
- the striking roofline dominated by five metal-clad banyas, including a large two-tiered dome surmounted over the crossing on a square base and four smaller banyas on low octagonal drums;
- the orderly fenestration, including round-arched sash windows with modest tracery and wood surrounds, oculi, also with tracery, in the gable ends, etc.;
- the attractive entrance sequence, including a shallow gabled porch with a round-arched opening, panelled wood doors, and a blind transom with painted letters and symbols, the date of construction, etc.
- the simple details and finishes, such as the painted horizontal wood siding, light contrasting trim, round-arched banya openings, scrolled wood trim under windowsills, etc.

Key elements that define the church's well-appointed and symbolic interior character include:
- the traditional layout, including a combined narthex and nave with transepts, a narrow loft supported by two shaped pillars, a raised sanctuary and an open dome carried on round arches and pendentives, etc.;
- the substantial wooden iconostas richly adorned with iconography; also with gold-painted trim, pillars, faux porticoes, arched doors, etc.;
- the modest materials and brightly coloured finishes, including wood panelling, vertical wainscotting, a sky blue ceiling with a star motif and applied icons, stencilled designs on the walls, borders in gold, round-framed icons in the pendentives, dark-stained wood trim and flooring, coloured window glass, etc.