Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God

The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in the village of Sulymivka in the Boryspil area is one of the oldest architectural monuments of the Cossack era in Kyiv Oblast. The stone church was built in 1622–1629 on the family estate of the Zaporozhian hetman Ivan Sulyma, and its construction probably became a symbolic reflection of the hetman’s liberation from Turkish captivity.

The church stands out for its austere, ascetic form, typical of defensive construction of the 17th century: massive walls, high-set windows and a complete absence of decorative finishing on the facades make it resemble a fortification. In this laconic appearance, features of Cossack architecture and the Old Rus church tradition are combined.

Despite rebuilding in 1838 and 1900, the church has kept its original appearance and remains one of the oldest examples of Ukrainian architecture in Kyiv Oblast. For more than three and a half centuries it has attracted with the modesty of its outward dress while at the same time preserving the mysterious “autograph” of the ancient builders who raised it.