Polski

Sławatycze

The church of The Protection of The Holy Virgin

Owing to the project, the following works were done in the church :

  • vertical isolation of the church
  • renovation of the roof, elevation and plasters
  • renovation of the plasters and interior floor
  • stiffening of the ground near the church
  • maintenance of the interior and exterior polychrome of the church
  • maintenance of the iconostasis
  • renovation of the stairs and woodwork
  • renovation of the electric installation
panorama 3d

Video

Before and after

Photos show the monument before and after renovation. The slider allows to see the results of work
The church of the Protection of The Holy Virgin of Slawatycze – external view from the east
The bell tower of the Protection of The Holy Virgin church in Slawatycze is an example of the reconstruction works
Polychrome in the church the Protection of The Holy Virgin in Slawatycze – before and after the reconstruction

Gallery

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About

The church of The Protection of The Holy Virgin in Slawatycze was built in its present architectural shape in the beginning of the XX century and the fates of the faithful of the eastern Christianity can be seen in its history as in a mirror.

The Orthodox parish in Slawatycze was established in the end of the XV century. The first church was built in the beginning of the XVI century (according to some sources even in 1499) to meet the parish’s needs. It was founded by Ursul Woloszyn, a courtier of Alexander Jagiellonczyk.

The present church of The Protection of The Holy Virgin in Slawatycze was erected on so called Famine Mount in the years 1910-1912 on the spot of the older XVIII-century building. It was initiated by the head of the monastery of St Onuphrios in Jableczna, Archimandrite Serafin. The founders of the temple were Russians merchants — Klaudiusz and Elizabeth Paschalow who contributed to the construction of several other temples in Chelm Land. The church, despite its unfinished interior (the polychrome was completed in 1914), was consecrated on September 12, 1912 and since then it has had the status of a parish church. The new church is active for three following years till1915 when the local Orthodox people affected the drama of biezenstwo (forced deportations). The abandoned church till 1918 served as a field hospital.

At the beginning of the 20s of the XX century, the church in Slawatycze serves the Orthodox community again. In 1921 the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church in Poland manages to legally reactivate the parish and open the church. Twenty years later, in 1938, the building is on the list of the churches intended to be demolished within the action of destruction of Orthodox churches. However, the demolition of the church in Slawatycze is successfully prevented by a parish priest of the Roman Catholic church located vis-a-vis the Orthodox church. After 10 subsequent years, in 1947 the Orthodox people of Slawatycze (as well as the whole southern Podlasie district) are painfully affected by the “Wisla” action which indicates forced deportations and the church was left unattended. During the following years, the church had been gradually devastated by the local people (it had been even transformed into a public chalet).

The restitution of the church and its reopening is dated to the year 1952. The parish was erected in 1966. In this year, a small renovation of the building was made; further reconstruction works of the temple took place in next years. Current renovation in the years 2014-2016 is one of the largest since the inception of the present church.

The church in Słlawatycze was constructed in Byzantine-Russian style according to the project of Alexander Puring. It is a tripartite structure with a rectangular vestibule, a single, square nave covered with a tent-like roof, finished with a dome in an onion shape as well as a polygonal apse. The vestibule is surmounted with a bell tower covered with a spire with a small onion-like dome at the top. Above the presbytery there are five more domes, the largest of which closes the roof. Bellow, on the church’s elevation there is a row of niches with golden icons which present the scenes from the life of Christ, written on a sheet metal. What makes the church in Slawaytcze specific is the use of red bricks combined with white stones to its construction. An exceptional, one-row iconostasis without typical horizontal rows decorates the interior of the church. The church in Slawatycze takes pride in two icons from the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries: of Christ the Pantocrator and of St Nicholas the Miracle Worker.




Beneficiary:

The Orthodox Lublin-Chelm Diocese

eea grants Konserwacja i rewitalizacja dziedzictwa kulturowego Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego

Wsparcie udzielone przez

Wsparcie udzielone z funduszy EOG, pochodzących
z Islandii, Liechtensteinu i Norwegii oraz środków krajowych

Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
through the EEA Grants and co-financed by the Polish funds