Unique bells found in Ivano-Frankivsk region
In the village of Studinka, Kalush district, in the bell tower there are one active and one inactive bell manufactured by the world-famous craftsmen Falchinsky and Serafin. Local historians Vasyl Fitsak and Oleksandr Koval have found and identified them. The first is also a mountain rescuer and works in the area of Pip Ivan mountain, the second is a participant in the combat actions in eastern Ukraine.
“My friend Vasily Fitsak and I have been doing about two years studying the bells in Kalush district,” says Oleksandr Koval. “Our goal is to make a register of all bells and publish a directory. We have already visited twenty-four villages. That is, we visited the churches, measured the bells, identified them. Also, in parallel, we study the history of the Falchinsky family, who had a bell foundry in Kalush before the Second World War. Now their descendants continue this business in Polish Przemysl. We also explore the history of the bell foundry of Antony Serafin, who came from a wealthy Kalush family, who owned a lot of land and houses and was engaged in the casting of bells. This Sunday we went to the village Babin Seredniy and Studinka. In Studinka, we found bells that are of special interest to us in the existing bell tower.”
According to the local ethnographer, the villagers were quite pessimistic about the uniqueness of the bells. However, one of them, a cracked one, is unique. It was cast by Antony Serafin, another bell by Falchinsky.
“They are very beautiful, skilfully made,” says Oleksandr Koval. “The Falchinsky Bell weighs about 150 kilograms, encrusted with images of angels holding one side of the cup, on the other hand, a book with the inscription ‘alpha’ and ‘omega’, in the middle of a very beautiful cross. Thus we have come to the conclusion that this is a bell of the Falchinskys, because we know that they used their ornament in the foundry, that is, their bells are always identified thereby. The date of 1926 also speaks for itself. And Antony Serafin's bell was dated 1919.”
Antony Serafin's bell is already the third one, discovered in the area. The ethnographers have recorded the data of their unique findings for the future catalog and for their preservation. Natalia Paliy has reported it to RISU.
