St Anne’s Rotunda in Horyany

Horyany is a suburb of Uzhhorod that used to be a separate village. The name of the settlement comes from the word “horyany” – mountain people. Horyany is home to one of the oldest architectural monuments of Ukraine of European significance – the Church of St Anne or Horyany Rotunda. It is located on the last hill of the Carpathians on the outskirts of Uzhhorod.

The Horyany Rotunda of St. Anne is one of the most valuable monuments of church architecture in Ukraine, second only to St. Sophia of Kyiv in terms of its importance and age (St. Sophia was built by Yaroslav the Wise in 1011). The Horyany Rotunda is one of the most interesting historical monuments in Zakarpattia. This architectural masterpiece has been preserved since ancient times and is still a popular destination for tourists and locals alike.

Today, the Horyany Church of St. Anne is a hexagonal building with six semicircular niches with three windows cut into the walls, and a lightweight vestibule with six windows on top of the building.
The Horyany Rotunda is unique in that it is hexagonal from the inside.

There are only a few temples of this rare shape in the world. In this regard, there is a legend that the temple can cleanse evil spirits and demonic forces, as well as give people the opportunity to touch Eternity. It is based on the fact that the hexagram, or hexagon, is an ancient astral symbol. It came from Mesopotamia to Judea, where it became a symbol of God Yahweh, and then to medieval Christians.

Craftsmen who built such buildings in ancient times believed that the hexagon symbolised the supernatural powers of the Sun and Light, as well as Immortality and Eternity. People believed that when someone stood in the centre of such a hexagon, the dark forces retreated.