Photo: A church that was flooded 45 years ago has reemerged from the water in the Khmelnytskyi region

In the Khmelnytskyi region, as water levels in the Dniester River and its tributary, the Zhvana, have dropped, the remains of the stone foundation of the Church of St. John the Theologian have emerged from beneath the water. The church was located in the former village of Kryvchany, which was flooded during the construction of the Dniester Hydroelectric Power Plant. The remains of the structure have become visible for the first time in approximately 45 years.

The church stood on this site for several centuries but was rebuilt multiple times. Church records mention the church in Kryvchany, which belonged to the parish of the village of Lyskyvtsi, as early as 1725.

The last structure of the church was wooden and had a cruciform layout. It survived the 1930s, when Soviet authorities were systematically destroying religious buildings.

Sometime in the 1960s–1970s, the church was closed and converted into a warehouse. It remained in this condition until the village was prepared for flooding.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, during the construction of the Dniester Hydroelectric Power Plant, the wooden structure was dismantled. The stone foundation remained in place and ended up underwater.

Now, due to the river’s shallowing, the outlines of the former sanctuary can be seen again. Photographer Eldar Sarakhman took pictures of the church’s remains.

The Dniester’s shallowing reveals submerged historical sites.

In Bukovina, human remains found after the Dniester River’s water level dropped were reburied.

A historic reburial took place at the National Military Memorial Cemetery for Colonel Andriy Melnyk of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, head of the OUN, and his wife, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk.