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Lidia Brzyska

SUMMARY
The end of World War II did not halt the destruction of cultural heritage, par-
ticularly in the Borderlands region which was seized by the Soviet Union. Many
churches were demolished and destroyed - sometimes on purpose, sometimes by
neglect. In those cases, when no original structure survived, an art historian should
look for iconographical sources that could support the written ones to do what an art
historian should do best - analyze the form.
This article focuses on the churches of Sieniawa Zbaraska, a small village in Ter-
nopil oblast, close to the city of Zbaraż in todays Ukraine. According to historical
studies based on the written sources, two churches were built in the village at the end
of the 19th century, with the second church being bigger in comparison. Despite the
churchs destruction after the war, some of its photographs survived, allowing us to
see what the latter building looked like. A careful examination of the iconographic
material led to the question of whether what we know about the parish churches of
Sieniawa is true, and if it was possible for such a small village to have two churches
built less than 20 years apart.