Provincial Heritage Site
St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church
Dauphin, Manitoba
Also known as Cross of Freedom, Le musée et le site historiques de Trembowla, Trembowla Historical Site and Museum

Context view from the northwest of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, Dauphin area, 2005
Photo: Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport, 2005
- Built
- 1898
- Recognized
- 1999
- By
- Province of Manitoba
The register’s text, word for word
Description
St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, constructed in 1898, is a 11/2-storey vernacular wood-frame structure with a free-standing bell tower and simple grotto beside it. Its pastoral location on the bank of the Drifting River north of Dauphin forms part of the Cross of Freedom site at Trembowla. The provincial designation applies to the church and the lot upon which it sits.
Heritage value
St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church is the oldest remaining Ukrainian Catholic church in Canada. Originally located near Mink River, the church was erected by Ukrainian settlers after Father Nestor Dmytriw, a visiting American priest, blessed a cemetery, celebrated the liturgy and urged the pioneers to erect a chapel on the site. With its compact design, simple massing and minimal ornamentation, the early vernacular structure is a good representative of the kind of basic ecclesiastical buildings the settlers could erect with the minimal materials and skills available to them, yet which served their purpose very effectively. Now part of the Trembowla Cross of Freedom site, where the first Ukrainian Catholic divine liturgy on Canadian soil was celebrated on April 12, 1897 by Father Dmytriw, the church also holds a significance as a symbol of the religious freedom enjoyed by the immigrants.
SourceManitoba Heritage Council Minutes, May 15, 1999
Character‑defining elements
Key elements that define the St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church site include:
- its location in a rural situation alongside a small creek and proximity to the Cross of Freedom site
Key elements that define the church's unpretentious vernacular style include:
- its two volumes, including the nave denoted by a tall gable roof and the sanctuary denoted by a shorter rectangular volume terminating in a three-sided curve
- the intact horizontal wood siding covering mud-plastered and whitewashed log walls
- the modest cupola located on the west peak of roof, featuring a wooden drum topped by a metal onion dome and patriarchal cross
-the minimal openings, including the sanctuary's rectangular windows, the nave's round-arched windows, the bull's eye window above two small rectangular openings in the gallery and the V-joint wooden plank door, all with decorative wooden trim
Key elements that define the church's interior layout, finishes and details include:
- the diminutive two-frame rectangular plan composed of the nave, with a small gallery in the west end, and the raised curved sanctuary, measuring four by five metres and containing the altar with tabernacle
- the floors, walls and gambrel-shaped ceiling of wooden planks
- the details, finishes and intact furnishings and iconography, including the arched opening between the nave and sanctuary, the utilitarian wooden benches lining the nave, the intact cantor's ledge and tetrapod, the ornate chandelier, the hand-carved wooden crucifixes, etc.
End of the register’s text
Location
NW 20-26-20 WPM, Dauphin, Manitoba, R0L, Canada
51.27008° N, 100.24899° W
Get directions (opens in a new tab)Being on the register doesn’t make a place open to visitors. Many are private homes or businesses; please view them from the street.
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Nearby
All 9 places in Dauphin
Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church13 km · 1926
Negrych Homestead15 km · Gilbert Plains · 1897
Dauphin Town Hall19 km · 1904
Dauphin Canadian National Railway Station19 km · 1912
Former Canadian Northern Railway Station19 km · 1912
Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection National Historic Site of Canada19 km · 1936
Similar places
Places whose register descriptions are closest to this one.
St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic ChurchGimli, Manitoba
St. Michael's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church National Historic Site of CanadaStuartburn, Manitoba
St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic ChurchGimli, Manitoba
St. Michael's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox ChurchStuartburn, Manitoba
Historic Ukrainian Catholic Church of the ResurrectionDauphin, Manitoba
St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchWinnipeg, Manitoba
From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.