If you want to travel around Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine for one day, and all the interesting places have already been explored – I suggest you go to Ilyinka. This is a small village near Krynichki, about which almost no one knows, but here is a unique and inimitable church.
St. Michael’s or Malamin’s Church is unique in that there is no such architecture anywhere else in Ukraine. This massive building rises above the surrounding houses and its bell tower can be seen from several hundred meters away.
History of the Malamian Church in Ukraine
St. Michael’s Church was erected in 1796. It was built by Ilya Mikhailovich Malamov, the owner of the village of Ilyinka. This man was a retired assessor of the Russian army. He received possession of these lands from Catherine II, although earlier they belonged to the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were dispersed by the empress.
The village of Ilyinka was founded in 1769 and bears the name of its owner – the retired military man Ilya. And the church – Mikhailovskaya or Malaminskaya – is also in his honor.
Initially this building fulfilled its main role – for church ceremonies, but with the arrival of the Bolsheviks it was turned into a granary (no wonder, because the Communists did this to all churches).
During the Second World War the Germans planted a sniper in the belfry and even now on the walls you can see marks from artillery shells – the marks were covered with mortar and did not reconstruct the bricks.
A story is told that they found a miraculous old icon in the bell tower that was there in the garbage. Now the icon is in the church itself.
There’s also an old story that somewhere there is an entrance to the dungeon under the temple. But it hasn’t been found yet
Church services began again with the fall of the communist regime.
The church in Ilyinka now
Today St. Michael’s or Malamin Church is not going through the best of times. As I understand it, the village is small, the parish is mostly made up of older people. And the church is open only on Sundays.
The area is not very large and not very pompous, and there are no other buildings except for a small house and a few old benches. The inside of the church is not very luxurious either. Moreover, the building itself is in need of repair and the bishop constantly reminds about it after the service. Indeed, you can see from the street that the roof is being painted now (June 2024).
How to get to the unique church in Ilyinka
The village of Ilyinka is located in the Krynichanska territorial community, very close to Krynichki.
You can easily get here from Dnipro and Kamenskoye. If you go from Dnipro by bus, you go to Krynichki and then take the bus Kamenskoye-Ilyinka, which passes through Krynichki.
It is not difficult to get there by car. From Dnieper, take a single road to Krivoy Rog and turn to Krynichki, right after them and Ilyinka. From Dnieper it will be great to go here not on a straight road, but through Zelenyi Gai and Sursko-Mikhailovka.
On the way you will find many wonderful places in the outskirts of the Dnipro city – the beauty river Mokra Sura and Novonikolayevskiy quarry, eco-farm Zeleniy Gai, Snail-farm, and if you deviate to the side there is an opportunity to see Apollonovsky paleovolcano.
The address of St. Michael’s Church is 65 Shirokaya Street.
In general, St. Michael’s Church in Ilyinka is worth visiting and seeing this grandiose and unique building with your own eyes. It is better in person than on the photo.