Церква св. Миколая та цвинтар в Арбака

The prairie landscape is dotted with hundreds of tiny churches, some of them built by the original pioneer immigrants from Ukraine who arrived in Canada in the early 1900s. These structures, often built by poor farmers at their own cost, bore witness to countless spectacles of human joy and sorrow. As time passed, younger generations moved to the cities and towns, at the same time abandoning the old church structures. A number of them have been completely lost to future generations, some by fire, but also by general neglect and eventual collapse. Arbakka’s first St. Nicholas church (old picture black & white) was built in 1914 by Winnipeg-based master builder Anton Prychun, who designed many of Manitoba’s Ukrainian churches. Prychun built St. Nicholas in the style of the churches of Bukovyna and Ternopil, the regions of Ukraine that most of Arbakka’s inhabitants left behind while seeking their fortunes in Canada. Fire destroyed the church and at a spot 2 miles away, the church was rebuilt after a local farmer donated the land. St. Nicholas cemetery is still found next to the site of the original church. At its peak, the parish had nearly 60 members. Now only 2 elderly couples remain.

Підготував Іван Парнікоза, НІАМ «Київська фортеця»