Пряшів

 



Many ethnic Ukrainians, of the ethnographic Lemko group, remain in eastern Slovakia, in the Presov (Pryashiv) area. They were referred to as “Rusyny” or “Ruthenians” in the past, as were Ukrainians in general. 


After WWI, the Austro-Hungarian empire was broken up, and borders were re-drawn.  The Lemky were split into two groups, north and south, between Poland and Slovakia.  In Slovakia, they were concentrated in the Presov (Pryashiv / Пряшів) region:







A map of Modern-day Slovakia



The Lemky of Pryashiv make traditional Ukrainian pysanky, both with a stylus, and, more commonly, using a pin-head in the “drop-pull” style.  The pysanky pictured on the following page are mostly from Odarka Onyshchuk’s book, as other books tend not to separate out Pryashiv from greater Lemkivshchyna.


There is a book about the pysanky of Pryashiv entitled “Rusyn Easter Eggs from Eastern Slovakia,” which I acquired fairly recently and have not had time to read in depth.  It covers all sorts of pysanky and decorated eggs made by these people, but the pysanky shown seem to be more modern and intricate, often utilizing a mixture of stylus and drop-pull techniques.  There is an interesting section on drop-pull symbolism, some of which can also be seen on the Carpatho-Rusyn web site here.