According to a local legend, the church was built by Volodymyr Sviatoslavovych (960/963-1015), the Prince of Kyiv. In the late 10th century Prince Volodymyr and his troops returned from the Carpathians where they captured White Croatians. The prince stayed for a rest in our town and ordered his warriors to erect a church as a gratitude to God for the successful campaign. The legend tells that the warriors erected the church within one day.
Since Prince Volodymyr had the christening name of Basil, the church was devoted to St. Basil. Today, researchers of ancient architecture state that St. Basil’s Church was erected in the late 13th and early 14th century, i.e., for the period of Galytskyi-Volyn Princedom (1199-1349). But this ancient temple has many other secrets. In the early 20th century, a slate board with the phrase „God Save the Prince” was discovered. It dated to 1194 (in the northern portal). During the First World War the board was transferred to Zagreb (Croatia) and now it is kept in the Museum of Zagreb University.
This area is called Mykhailivshchyna, since there was St. Michael’s the Archangel’s Monastery stated in the Galytskyi-Volyn chronicles.
In 1958, professor M. Karger (1903-1976) discovered the foundation of an older rotunda church.

(Yulia Karpiuk Lviv Polytechnic National University, 2021)