Rusyn Costume and Embroidery of Gerlachov, Gerlachiv - Ґерлахів, and Bardejov District, Slovakia

Hello all, 

I will try to complete more information about Rusyn Costume. This article will cover the information that I have found about the villages around Gerlachov, Gerlachiv - Ґерлахів and the rest of the Rusyn villages in the Bardejov District of Slovakia. Here we see the borders of the District overlain on the greater map of the Lemko/Rusyn distribution.

Here we have a closeup of the southwestern part of this region, around Gerlachiv.

I will be relying on images that I have collected from village websites. These show events that happen in the village, but do not really label who is what. I may be mislead. I will give the names of the villages first in Slovak, and then in Rusyn. 

This outfit must be from somewhere in this region, but I do not have precise information on it. I suspect Bogliarka. 

 Gerlachov,  Gerlachiv - Ґерлахів

The costumes that I have found for this village are obviously influenced by those of Bardejov, the most distinctive feature of which is the ornament on the front of the womens' vests, which is made of appliqued flat narrow ribbons. Otherwise they are similar to other Šariš costumes. 

Bogliarka, Bogliarka - Боґлярка 

This village lies southeast of Gerlakhiv. I have only been able to find a couple new images of the costume of this village, but I have found several photos of old costumes. They show substantial similarity to those of Gerlachov.

Livov, L'viv - Львів

This is a very small village southwest of Bogliarka. I have only found a couple of old images from this village. 

Kružlov, Кружльов

This village lies north of Bogliarka but south of Gerlachov. The performing group that seems to represent the village has a similar costume to Gerlachov, but somewhat simpler ornament. 

Here are some older performers with somewhat more elaborate outfits. 

Here we see performers from Gerlachov.

Here are a few images of other groups performing in Kružlov, most likely from other villages. These photos were not labelled except for the performance they were from. If anyone has information on the origin of these performers, please let me know. 

Lukov, Lukiv - Лу́ків

This village lies west of Kružlov. I have not been able to find any contemporary images of the local costume, just some old photos. 

 

Malcov, Maltsiv - Мальців

This village lies west of Gerlachov. This village has a group that keeps their local traditions alive. 

Lenartov, Lenartiv - Ленартів

This is the next village to the west, and is the westernmost village of this region. West of this village lies the Čirč region, with a completely different costume heritage. I have found photos of some old costume pieces. 

Here are photos from an exhibit that was held in this village. 

And some old phots from the village, some showing older women in a plainer and darker everyday version of the costume.  

Snakov, Snakiv - Снаків

This village lies north of Lenartov, and a bit to the east. Here are some photos of a performance held in this village. 

I believe that these performers are from further west, in Spisz. 

I think that these might be local. 

I am not sure which villages the following performers are from. 

These next few villages lie north of Bardejov, close to the Polish border. Here is a closeup map of this area. 

Petrova, Pitrova - Пітрова

This village lies in the west of this area, not far from the Polish border. Here are a few that I believe actually represent this village.

Here are a pair of singers performing in this village, on the left we see the Bogliarka costume, and on the right, the Habura costume. 

Here is another singer wearing a Rusyn folk costume that I have not yet been able to identify the origin of. 

And here are some images of what seem to be college students from somewhere in the area performing in various costume from Šariš.

 

Vyšný Tvarožec,  Vyshny Tvarozhets' - Вишній Тварожець

This village lies east of Petrova. I have only a single image from this village. 

Regetovka, Regetivka - Реґетівка

This village lies north and west of the last one. Here are some photos of just one pair of young people who seem to be in a ski resort as part of the attraction. I believe that we saw the young woman in the photos from Snakov.

Vyšná Polianka, Vyshnia Polianka - Вышня Полянка

This village lies to the east of the last one. I have only a couple of images from this village. These seem to be from a play. 

Nižná Polianka, Nyzhnia Polianka - Нижня Полянка

This village lies yet further east, right on the eastern edge of Bardejov District. Again, only a couple of images from this village. 

Beloveža, Bilovezha - Біловежа

This village lies to the east of Bardejov, and is still part of that district. I have not found any information on any other Rusyn villages in this area. The local performing group has a very generic costume, but I have found several embroidery designs from this village. 

Notice these young men wearing both Ukrainian and Russian style shirts. 

Just a couple of photos of people from Gerlakhiv performing in this village. 

And we have reached the end of Bardejov District. 

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have tound this to be interesting and informative. I also hope that this will be useful for those of Carpatho Rusyn heritage that wish to learn more of their culture. 

Roman K. 

email:  rkozakand@aol.com 

Source Material:

Many of the images are from village websites.

Elena Sotakova, 'Vychod v Kroju', Preshov, 2021

Pavol Markovic, 'Ukrajinske L'udove Krizhikove Vyshivky Vychodneho Slovenska', Preshov, 1964

Viera Nosalova, 'Slovensky L'udovy Odev', Martin, 1983