Q & A

[This issue, Outpost Dispatch begins a new feature – Rusyn Q&A. Readers are encouraged to send whatever Rusyn-related questions they have to [email address], and we will try to find an expert to fill in the blanks. – ed.]

What is the location of the oldest documented Rusyn church in Europe? (Kim Krett)

The oldest wooden church is St. Nicholas in Kolodne, Zakarpattja. It is no longer in use. Built in the 1500's, it has the original stone carved altar – the only one of this type still extant – and it has a sort of clover leaf window (no glass) carved in the rear of the altar, called a quatrefoil window. This is an unusual feature. You can still see some of the original polychromes on the wall inside church. The Rotunda in Užhorod dates from the 12^th century. It is a masonry church, though only the part of the original left is part of the sanctuary. Everything else has been replaced. The oldest wooden church in Slovakia is at Bodružal, dating from 1666. Michele Parvensky.

Are Hutsuls Rusyns? (Brian Požun)

The simple answer to the question is that Hutsuls are who they believe they are. Traditionally, most Hutsuls identified themselves simply as Hutsuls and usually contrasted themselves with the Rusyns who, from their perspective, were lowlanders and, therefore, different, perhaps even inferior, as all non-mountain peoples are to mountain peoples. On the other hand, some Hutsuls certainly developed a sense of belonging to the distinct historical region called Subcarpathian Rus’. This precise question is discussed at some length in my piece, “Mapping Stateless Peoples: The East Slavs of the Carpathians,” which was later re-published in Of The Making of Nationalities There Is No End, Vol.I. Paul Robert Magocsi.