Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Convent

Svaliava is first mentioned in written sources in the 12th century as a small settlement, and by the 13th it was a town; its name, by the convent's own account, comes from the Old Slavonic "solva" - "a place where salt water flows"¹. The convent here was founded in 1992¹. It belongs to the Mukachevo eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and stands on Drachynska Street³.

In 1994 a cross was set up on the plot allotted for building, in 1996 a superior was appointed, and by the end of that year the community had a residential block with a house church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, equals of the apostles¹. The dedication is explained by the convent itself: it is held that in the 9th century this region belonged to the Moravian state, where Saints Cyril and Methodius preached, and that their disciples, coming to Transcarpathia, planted the Orthodox faith in it¹. The large church of the Holy Trinity was built in 1997-2001, and the bell tower by 2001¹. Both the convent and the eparchy use a fuller name for it - Holy Trinity and Saints Cyril and Methodius convent^{1, 5}.

The community keeps two feasts as its own: the day of the Holy Trinity, the fiftieth day after Pascha, and the commemoration of Saints Cyril and Methodius - the two together on 11 (24) May, and separately on 14 (27) February and 6 (19) April². On 24 May 2016 the ruling bishop celebrated the hierarchical service here for the patronal feast: the superior and the sisters met him at the main church, the secretary of the eparchial administration and the superiors of the eparchy's men's monasteries concelebrated, the sisters' choir sang, and afterwards the customary procession went around the church with the appointed reading of the Gospel⁵. A year later, on 24 May 2017, more than forty clergy concelebrated at the same feast, and the choirs of the convent and of the Holy Spirit church in Mukachevo sang⁷.

The Trinity feast draws still more people. On 21 June 2016, the third day of the Holy Trinity, the ruling bishop led the Liturgy in the community's main church with more than fifty clergy of the Svaliava, Mukachevo, Perechyn and other deaneries concelebrating - the church could not hold everyone who came; after the Liturgy a moleben to the Holy Trinity and the rite of the blessing of the fields were served⁶.

People come here from other towns of the eparchy as well: on the Trinity memorial Saturday of 2018 the pupils of the Sunday school of the Mukachevo cathedral visited the community's shrines⁸. In the Mukachevo eparchy's own list of its monasteries the community stands among the women's houses - with its Svaliava address⁴.