Petro Kraliuk

On November 25, the Russian Federation’s State Duma endorsed the idea to return to Christians the Cathedral of Saint Sophia of Constantinople, which has been the Muslim mosque of Hagia Sophia for almost five centuries. In particular, Sergey Gavrilov, a Communist Party of Russia MP,...

The first day of winter, December 1, is the day when Yevhen Sverstiuk, a symbolic figure of Ukrainian dissident movement, passed away. There is some mystic symbolism about that, because on December 1 took place the referendum which strengthened the independence of Ukraine, a thing Sverstiuk dreamed...

The Russian news agency Novosti published lately a news, reading “One of the earliest books to have been printed in Russia will be auctioned.” It seemed to be just a run-of-the mill news, for antique books are sold everywhere and by diverse sellers. Trade in antiques is a serious...

About five years ago I wrote Finding Paradise, a novelette on Volyn, or, to be more exact, on the past and present of Volhynian Polissia. In an episode, the hero comes to Liubeshiv, one of Volyn oblast’s few district centers, where there was a Lenin monument until recently. Incidentally, one...

This year marks 1,025th anniversary of the baptism of Rus’. As is known, “looking for a faith” for his country, Prince Volodymyr chose Byzantine Christianity in 988. This made it possible to embrace high Byzantine culture and become an international power to be reckoned with by...

Prince Volodymyr, son of Prin­ce Sviatoslav of Kyi­van Rus’, later to be­come known as Saint Vo­lo­dy­myr, is a major historical fi­gu­re. Many Ukrainians regard him as the baptizer of Ukraine-Rus’. Rus­sia, in its turn, believes he was one of its prin­ces. In fact, he was proclaimed patron saint...

I am visiting Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski for a second time. When I first came here, I did not know that this Polish city stands next to such an interesting object as Lysa Gora (Bald Mountain) with what once was the Bernardine Monastery of the Holy Cross. This monastery, as, after all, Ostrowiec...

This August marks the 450th anniversary of the handwritten Peresopnytsia Gospels, a symbol of Ukraine and the book upon which every president of Ukraine takes the oath of office. There is a mystic touch to this book. It has survived wars and journeys from one hiding place to another. Scribes...

Khotyn is truly a unique city. Are there many Ukrainian cities with a thousand-year history? And what outstanding history! Can they boast of being depicted by classics of art and literature? Mikhail Lomonosov wrote the Ode to the Seizure of Khotyn in 1739, Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel Fire in...

In the spring of 1847, Russia’s secret police crushed the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius. When arresting Mykola Kostomarov and searching his place, they found the precious manuscript of Knyha bytiia ukrainskoho narodu (The Book of Genesis of the Ukrainian People), one of the...