Chmiel is located on the San River on the fuzzy border of Ukrainian ethographic groups Lemkos and Boykos. Most historians seem to consider the part north of the San Boyko, south undetermined. The village church was first mentioned in 1589. In the churchyard there are several tombstones of the XIX-XX centuries. The tombstone of Feronia Orlytska (Dubyanska) from 1644 has a Church Slavonic inscription and SAS coat of arms. Bishop Jeronim Ustrc’kyi owned the village 1715-1748
The village was founded on the Wallachian law, by the Kmita family over the descendant flowing from Otryt to the San. The name of the place is derived from the Ukrainian word chmil, meaning in Polish the name of the plant - hop. It was mentioned for the first time in 1526 as having a free zone, so it certainly existed after 1502. The first church was built in the first half of the 17th century. In 1868, the area of the village was 1786 acres. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, on the slopes of Otryt near its main range, two hamlets, Otryt Dolny and Otryt Górny, with 12 cottages before the war, were established. In September 1939, almost the entire village was within the borders of the USSR. The new border ran along the Third Reich along the San. The Russians cleared the 200 m wide strip stretching along the border of inhabitants and buildings. In one of the houses they set up an observation post connected with Lutowiska by a telephone line. The years 1941 - 44 brought the German occupation of Chmiel. From the fall of 1944, the Soviets seized the main part of Chmiel, located north of the San, and one of its hamlets, Chmielińczyk, situated on the other side of the river. San got into Poland. It was not until the fall of 1951 that Chmiel returned to Poland, but with no inhabitants. The remaining buildings were demolished for the construction of a forest estate in Dwernik.
In the years 1951-59, a state-owned farm operated here. It was not until 1957 that the first settlers and their families began to appear. Most of them lived in neighboring villages before the war. In 1960, the "Pax" Association began a disaster settlement campaign here. Out of 120 people who settled in Chmiel, only one remained. In 1973, at the initiative of STP "Nogi" and students of the sociology department of the University of Warsaw, a tourist shelter was built, the so-called "Sociologist's Hut".
The cemetery is located around the church and is surrounded by a modern wire mesh fence. Five tombstones have survived on its surface. A very interesting object located in the cemetery is a tombstone from 1641 with an inscription in the Old Church language and a coat of arms. The former church stood in the place where the plate is located. There are only hypotheses as to the year of its creation and the person underneath it. According to the local tradition, it is located on the grave of the Przemyśl Greek Catholic bishop, Hieronim Ustrzycki, of the Przestrzał coat of arms. Historical facts, however, do not support this version. Ustrzycki died only in 1746, and the coat of arms engraved on the plate is very similar to the Sas coat of arms.
The first church was mentioned in 1589. The next one was built in 1795, burned down in 1904. The last one that survived to our times was built by the inhabitants of Chmiel in the years 1904 - 1906. Preserved in 1907. The church has a log structure oriented and tripartite. Inside, in the presbytery, there is a ceiling with a façade, while in the nave and women's gallery, there is a nautical vault. The roofs are gable, above the nave there is an onion-shaped dome on an octagonal drum, above the presbytery and vestibule, spherical towers covered with sheet metal. In 1970, the church was transformed into a Roman Catholic church.
The church in Chmiel - the first mention of the endowment of the local church comes from 1584. The second wooden parish church of St. Nicholas the Bishop was built (probably in place of the old one) in 1795. It existed until 1904. The present church was built in 1906. The church has a log structure, three-sectioned, oriented. It was consecrated in 1907 under the original invocation of St. Nicholas.
After 1947, when the Greek Catholic population was displaced, the church was abandoned. In the sixties it was used as a warehouse.
In 1969, after long efforts, the abandoned and neglected church was turned into a Roman Catholic branch church.
It has undergone extensive renovations in recent years. Today it belongs to the Dwernik parish. In the cemetery next to the church there are: a tombstone of a certain Fieroia F. from 1644 with an inscription in Old Church Slavonic, a tombstone of the owner of local landed estates, Emil Rici (died 1875) and a classicist monument to the local parish priest Feliks Dołżyński (died 1903)
Permanent settlement of the Ruthenian and Wallachian people in the area of the present Lutowiska commune began in the 15th century, most of the villages were established in the 16th century. Foreign invasions, famines and epidemics in the 17th century resulted in a partial depopulation of the area. The eighteenth century was a period of resettlement of abandoned villages, political stabilization, economic recovery and the formation of a permanent national and religious structure of the population, consisting of Polish nobility, Greek Catholic Ruthenians and Jews.
After serfdom was abolished in 1848, land was fragmented and estates deprived of free labor collapsed. The auctioned properties were taken over by timber entrepreneurs who built sawmills and narrow-gauge railway lines.
In 1915, during heavy fights in the Carpathians, many villages were destroyed and the inhabitants were plagued by epidemics and hunger. In the 1920s, the needs related to the reconstruction of the country caused a boom in the wood industry, new sawmills and factories were built, and oil exploration was carried out.
The economic crisis in the 1930s led to the collapse of many plants and the liquidation of narrow-gauge railways. The end of the 1930s brought economic revival, and tourism began to develop. Under the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty in 1939, the San River became the border dividing the territory of the present commune into areas occupied by German and Soviet troops. On the Soviet side, 13 villages located in the so-called the border "zone", the local intelligentsia, state officials, priests and forest services were displaced to Siberia. In the left-bank part, the Germans began repressing the Jewish population, culminating in their total extermination after the entire area was incorporated into the General Government in June 1941, at the same time fueling the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. After the concentration of UPA forces in this area, the terror against the Polish population intensified, which was not interrupted by the invasion of Soviet troops in September 1944; numerous villages were destroyed in the fighting.
The new border between Poland and the USSR, running along the San River, divided the territory of the present commune again, forced collectivization of villages and the introduction of Orthodoxy began in the Soviet zone, the reluctant people were displaced to Siberia, and Lutowiska was renamed "Shevchenkovo". On the Polish side, the mountain areas up to Cisna were controlled by UPA units. As early as 1944, as part of the "repatriation", the deportations of the Ukrainian population to the USSR began (compulsory from 1946). As part of the Operation "Vistula", in 1947 another phase of displacement took place, which led to a complete depopulation of the area. The entire buildings were destroyed, and the vast areas of the former villages were again taken over by nature. After the so-called In 1951, due to the discovery of coal deposits in the Sokalski district, Lutowiska returned to Poland and the displaced inhabitants of the Sokal region came to the commune. The re-settlement of the Bieszczady has begun - despite this, only 17 out of 28 villages existing in the area of the present Lutowiska commune are now inhabited, and the population of the area has decreased tenfold (from 21,398 people in 1931 to 2,145 in 1994). Serious ecological threats in the times of the Polish People's Republic were caused by the location of large breeding farms in the commune, related to the so-called "Reclamation" of valleys leading to change.
For many centuries, the Bieszczady Mountains have been inhabited by many different nations, the most important of which are Ruthenians, Jews and Poles. The dramatic events of the twentieth century - World War II, and then the displacement actions ended with the operation "Vistula" irreversibly changed the face of this corner. The displacement of the indigenous people, which went hand in hand with the liquidation of the culture built so carefully over many generations, meant that from the second half of the 20th century, the Bieszczady Mountains are re-creating their cultural identity. Fortunately, a lot of material and non-material legacy of our ancestors has been preserved in the Bieszczady Mountains. Its uniqueness and color means that it does not go into oblivion, but is better cared for and displayed.
The village was founded on the Wallachian law, by the Kmita family over the descendant flowing from Otryt to the San. The name of the place is derived from the Ukrainian word chmil, meaning in Polish the name of the plant - hop. It was mentioned for the first time in 1526 as having a free zone, so it certainly existed after 1502. The first church was built in the first half of the 17th century. In 1868, the area of the village was 1786 acres. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, on the slopes of Otryt near its main range, two hamlets, Otryt Dolny and Otryt Górny, with 12 cottages before the war, were established. In September 1939, almost the entire village was within the borders of the USSR. The new border ran along the Third Reich along the San. The Russians cleared the 200 m wide strip stretching along the border of inhabitants and buildings. In one of the houses they set up an observation post connected with Lutowiska by a telephone line. The years 1941 - 44 brought the German occupation of Chmiel. From the fall of 1944, the Soviets seized the main part of Chmiel, located north of the San, and one of its hamlets, Chmielińczyk, situated on the other side of the river. San got into Poland. It was not until the fall of 1951 that Chmiel returned to Poland, but with no inhabitants. The remaining buildings were demolished for the construction of a forest estate in Dwernik.
In the years 1951-59, a state-owned farm operated here. It was not until 1957 that the first settlers and their families began to appear. Most of them lived in neighboring villages before the war. In 1960, the "Pax" Association began a disaster settlement campaign here. Out of 120 people who settled in Chmiel, only one remained. In 1973, at the initiative of STP "Nogi" and students of the sociology department of the University of Warsaw, a tourist shelter was built, the so-called "Sociologist's Hut".
The cemetery is located around the church and is surrounded by a modern wire mesh fence. Five tombstones have survived on its surface. A very interesting object located in the cemetery is a tombstone from 1641 with an inscription in the Old Church language and a coat of arms. The former church stood in the place where the plate is located. There are only hypotheses as to the year of its creation and the person underneath it. According to the local tradition, it is located on the grave of the Przemyśl Greek Catholic bishop, Hieronim Ustrzycki, of the Przestrzał coat of arms. Historical facts, however, do not support this version. Ustrzycki died only in 1746, and the coat of arms engraved on the plate is very similar to the Sas coat of arms.
The first church was mentioned in 1589. The next one was built in 1795, burned down in 1904. The last one that survived to our times was built by the inhabitants of Chmiel in the years 1904 - 1906. Preserved in 1907. The church has a log structure oriented and tripartite. Inside, in the presbytery, there is a ceiling with a façade, while in the nave and women's gallery, there is a nautical vault. The roofs are gable, above the nave there is an onion-shaped dome on an octagonal drum, above the presbytery and vestibule, spherical towers covered with sheet metal. In 1970, the church was transformed into a Roman Catholic church.
The church in Chmiel - the first mention of the endowment of the local church comes from 1584. The second wooden parish church of St. Nicholas the Bishop was built (probably in place of the old one) in 1795. It existed until 1904. The present church was built in 1906. The church has a log structure, three-sectioned, oriented. It was consecrated in 1907 under the original invocation of St. Nicholas.
After 1947, when the Greek Catholic population was displaced, the church was abandoned. In the sixties it was used as a warehouse.
In 1969, after long efforts, the abandoned and neglected church was turned into a Roman Catholic branch church.
It has undergone extensive renovations in recent years. Today it belongs to the Dwernik parish. In the cemetery next to the church there are: a tombstone of a certain Fieroia F. from 1644 with an inscription in Old Church Slavonic, a tombstone of the owner of local landed estates, Emil Rici (died 1875) and a classicist monument to the local parish priest Feliks Dołżyński (died 1903)
Permanent settlement of the Ruthenian and Wallachian people in the area of the present Lutowiska commune began in the 15th century, most of the villages were established in the 16th century. Foreign invasions, famines and epidemics in the 17th century resulted in a partial depopulation of the area. The eighteenth century was a period of resettlement of abandoned villages, political stabilization, economic recovery and the formation of a permanent national and religious structure of the population, consisting of Polish nobility, Greek Catholic Ruthenians and Jews.
After serfdom was abolished in 1848, land was fragmented and estates deprived of free labor collapsed. The auctioned properties were taken over by timber entrepreneurs who built sawmills and narrow-gauge railway lines.
In 1915, during heavy fights in the Carpathians, many villages were destroyed and the inhabitants were plagued by epidemics and hunger. In the 1920s, the needs related to the reconstruction of the country caused a boom in the wood industry, new sawmills and factories were built, and oil exploration was carried out.
The economic crisis in the 1930s led to the collapse of many plants and the liquidation of narrow-gauge railways. The end of the 1930s brought economic revival, and tourism began to develop. Under the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty in 1939, the San River became the border dividing the territory of the present commune into areas occupied by German and Soviet troops. On the Soviet side, 13 villages located in the so-called the border "zone", the local intelligentsia, state officials, priests and forest services were displaced to Siberia. In the left-bank part, the Germans began repressing the Jewish population, culminating in their total extermination after the entire area was incorporated into the General Government in June 1941, at the same time fueling the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. After the concentration of UPA forces in this area, the terror against the Polish population intensified, which was not interrupted by the invasion of Soviet troops in September 1944; numerous villages were destroyed in the fighting.
The new border between Poland and the USSR, running along the San River, divided the territory of the present commune again, forced collectivization of villages and the introduction of Orthodoxy began in the Soviet zone, the reluctant people were displaced to Siberia, and Lutowiska was renamed "Shevchenkovo". On the Polish side, the mountain areas up to Cisna were controlled by UPA units. As early as 1944, as part of the "repatriation", the deportations of the Ukrainian population to the USSR began (compulsory from 1946). As part of the Operation "Vistula", in 1947 another phase of displacement took place, which led to a complete depopulation of the area. The entire buildings were destroyed, and the vast areas of the former villages were again taken over by nature. After the so-called In 1951, due to the discovery of coal deposits in the Sokalski district, Lutowiska returned to Poland and the displaced inhabitants of the Sokal region came to the commune. The re-settlement of the Bieszczady has begun - despite this, only 17 out of 28 villages existing in the area of the present Lutowiska commune are now inhabited, and the population of the area has decreased tenfold (from 21,398 people in 1931 to 2,145 in 1994). Serious ecological threats in the times of the Polish People's Republic were caused by the location of large breeding farms in the commune, related to the so-called "Reclamation" of valleys leading to change.
For many centuries, the Bieszczady Mountains have been inhabited by many different nations, the most important of which are Ruthenians, Jews and Poles. The dramatic events of the twentieth century - World War II, and then the displacement actions ended with the operation "Vistula" irreversibly changed the face of this corner. The displacement of the indigenous people, which went hand in hand with the liquidation of the culture built so carefully over many generations, meant that from the second half of the 20th century, the Bieszczady Mountains are re-creating their cultural identity. Fortunately, a lot of material and non-material legacy of our ancestors has been preserved in the Bieszczady Mountains. Its uniqueness and color means that it does not go into oblivion, but is better cared for and displayed.