The Zahoriv Monastery: The Zahorovskyi Family Shrine And The Legendary 1943 UPA Battle

The Zahoriv Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God is an ancient Volhynian cloister near the village of Novyi Zahoriv in the Lokachi district, whose history reputedly reaches back to the 12th century; its first documentary mention is dated 1492. Once the family burial vault of the Zahorovskyis and one of the region’s richest monasteries, today it is a partly ruined monument beside which lies the grave of Ukrainian insurgents. [2][4]

At a glance

Full name: Zahoriv Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God (historical, former men’s).
Address: village of Novyi Zahoriv, Lokachi district, Volyn Oblast. [4]
First mention: 1492 (inscription on the monastery bell); legend — second half of the 12th century. [2][3]
Masonry church: founded 1566 by Petro Zahorovskyi, consecrated in 1571. [4]
Union: 1719 to 1824; then Orthodox, from 1921 — Greek Catholic again; declined under Soviet rule. [1][3]
1943: the battle of 43 UPA insurgents against the Nazis right in the monastery. [1][5]

History of the cloister

Beginnings: from 12th-century legend to the 1492 bell

According to tradition, a cloister at Zahoriv was founded in the second half of the 12th century by monks from Kyiv fleeing the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The first documentary mention is connected with the inscription on the monastery bell cast in 1492: “By the grace of God I, Alexandro Yurievich Zahorovskyi, with my wife Nastasiia… gave this bell to the monastery in Zahoriv for the honour and praise of the Most Pure Mother of God” — in the year 1492 from the Nativity of Christ. [2][3]

The family shrine of the Zahorovskyis: 16th–18th centuries

Legend says the first monastery was wooden, and in 1566 the Volhynian lord of the court Petro Zahorovskyi, who later rose to be the key-keeper and marshal of Lutsk, founded here a masonry church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, consecrated in 1571. The donation deed of July 1560 granted the monastery a tithe of all harvests from the Stare Zahoriv estate, free milling of the monastery’s grain at the mill in the village of Khoriv, fishing rights on the river Khorivska, and forest for heating. [2]

The cloister served as the family vault of the Zahorovskyis: at least six members of the clan were buried in the monastery. Petro’s successor Oleksandr categorically forbade his descendants in his will to disturb the monastery’s estates, detailing the cloister’s sources of income. In the early 18th century, when the Volhynian starosta Mykhailo Khatskyi became master of the lands, the monastery barely made ends meet. The last great rebuilding of the complex was completed in 1780. [2][3]

Union, return and revolution (1719–1917)

In 1719 the monastery accepted the Union and until 1824 was Greek Catholic; from the visitation of 1824 we learn the local population had returned to Orthodoxy. In tsarist times, as of 1908, three churches functioned here: the main church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, a warm “small” church, and an elementary school founded in memory of the 900th anniversary of the Volyn diocese. The famed icon-painter Yov Kondzelevych is also associated with Zahoriv, where he introduced painterly and carving schools, and the young Yov fashioned a kiot (shrine case) for the monastery. [1][3]

The Catholic period, the 1943 battle and the decline

After the Civil War these lands fell to Poland: in 1921 the monastery was again returned to Greek Catholics, and in 1921–1939 it functioned as Roman Catholic; with the coming of Soviet power it reverted to Orthodoxy. [1][3]

The most tragic page is tied to September 1943. On the 8th, an UPA sotnia under commander Andrii Martseniuk (“Bereza”) entered Novyi Zahoriv and fortified itself in the monastery. The insurgents held out from 8 to 12 September against over 700 punitive troops with mortars and tanks; 29 defenders perished and the cloister burned — but the invaders’ assault failed. Local villagers buried the fallen, and the room of the surviving warm church was later returned to the community. [1][3]

Today: ruins and memory

After the war the complex was never fully rebuilt; today it is a majestic ruin among which local people have repaired one warm church where services are held. Nearby lies the grave of the Ukrainian insurgents, covered with crosses. Researchers call Zahoriv “one of the great ruins of Volhynia” and at once a heroic page of history that lay too long in oblivion. [3][4]

Architectural losses and what remains

The masonry church of 1566–1571 — the main plane of the ruins, roofless but with a readable Baroque church plan. [4]
The warm (“small”) church — survived and restored by the community’s own forces. [3]
The 1943 battle site — shrapnel scars and shell traces on the walls. [1][3]
The UPA grave — beside the monastery, honoured by the community and historians. [3]

Spiritual significance

The Zahoriv cloister taught, teaches and still teaches cruciform responsibility: three times it changed confessional allegiance, survived feudal complications, hunger and battles — and yet there remains a church holding the memory of the oldest Volhynia. A pilgrim sees in these ruins not a collapse but a silent choir of witnesses who stood for faith and land. [2][3]

Practical information

Address: village of Novyi Zahoriv, Lokachi district, Volyn Oblast. [4]
Getting there: from Lutsk by car toward Lokachi, then local roads; also reachable from Volodymyr. [4]
What to see: the ruins of the masonry church, the warm church, the UPA grave, the village of Staryi Zahoriv with old homesteads. [2][3]
Condition: a partially ruined monument; access only with care and permission. [3][4]
Historical context: best visited with a historian or guide — local elders preserve unique oral traditions. [3]

Frequently asked questions

Is it a working monastery?

No — Zahoriv is a partially ruined historical monument; services are held in the surviving warm church for the local community. [3]

Where does the name “Zahoriv” come from?

From the Zahorovskyi magante family, who laid down their family shrine here in the 15th–17th centuries. [2][4]

Who invested in the cloister?

Petro Zahorovskyi (the masonry church of 1566), his wife, and their descendants; their wills protected the monastery lands from private seizure. [2]

What happened in 1943?

An UPA unit under Martseniuk-“Bereza” defended the monastery against over 700 Nazi punitive troops with tanks and artillery; 29 defenders died and were buried by the villagers. [1][3]

Have old books and icons survived?

The plunders of the 18th century and subsequent ruinous history robbed the library; part of the old books ended up in Kyiv archives, and the works of Yov Kondzelevych associated with this cloister are considered lost. [2][3]

Conclusion

The Zahoriv monastery is a church that became a cross. From the bell of 1492, through the Zahorovskyi family, the Union age, the insurgents’ defence of 1943, to the partial ruins of our days flows a single lesson of fidelity: faith does not choose comfortable epochs — it holds a person in time when everything seems lost. [2][3][4]