Василівська церква-ротонда
Ця невелика церква - унікальний зразок православної архітектури. За переказами місцевих жителів, церква була побудована всього за один день військом князя Володимира.
Address:
Vasylivska Str.,30, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, 44700
This small church is a unique sample of the Orthodox architecture. According to the local legend, the church was built in just one day by the army of Prince Volodymyr. In 992, returning from a campaign against a tribe of White Croatians, he stopped at this place. To show gratitude to God for the successful outcome of the battle, he decided to build a temple. Construction materials were collected by his entire squad - each warrior brought one brick. The church is named after St. Basil, Christian name of the Prince.
The age of the church is still a matter of debate among researchers. Official science assumes that it was built at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries. Historians believe that the temple was first built in the Romanesque style, and then rebuilt in the Gothic style. This reconstruction is associated with the patron of the church - Duke Vasyl Sanguszko. In fact, a charter to assign St. Basil church under the tutelage of duke Sanguszko in 1523 serves as a first written record of the temple.
St. Basil church belongs to a rare type of rotundas. Its foundation is made in a form of an eight-petal flower. Large rounded ledges alternating with small ones create the illusion of wavy walls. The church possesses a valuable historical artefact - the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria dating back to the 16th century.
