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Church in Majdan, photo Vgvg1, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Wikimedia Commons, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Church in Majdan
Church in Majdan, photo Vgvg1, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Wikimedia Commons, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Church in Majdan
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ID: POL-002063-P

Church in Majdan

Majdan | Ukraine
ukr. Majdan (Майдан)
ID: POL-002063-P

Church in Majdan

Majdan | Ukraine
ukr. Majdan (Майдан)

Historical outline
The village of Majdan is relatively difficult to trace. Commonly available information easily leads the searcher to completely wrong clues. The correct ones point to a village on the Rybnik River, located about 40 km south of Drohobych. It is there that a very interesting building from the 1930s is located. Although its origins go back to an even earlier century. The Roman Catholics who were brought to the area at that time to work in the ore deposits wanted to have their own religious building. This is why a modest chapel was built in 1861 under the parish of Dublany, and later in Schodnica. From the beginning of the 20th century, however, there was a realisation of the need for a more independent entity in the village.

The wooden chapel of St. Michael the Archangel, built a few years earlier, was the first of its kind in the village. The wooden chapel of St Michael the Archangel, built a few years earlier, was inadequate. Efforts to build a fully-fledged masonry building dragged on for decades, until finally, at the end of the 1930s, thanks to the initiative of engineer Kazimierz Wilimowski, the "Godula" company undertook to build a structure on a plot of land it had donated. Work began in the spring of 1938 and was completed, probably on the eve of the Second World War.

No information is known about whether the church was consecrated at all. All that is known is that Father Aleksander Kusik resided in the village during the global conflict and may have carried out some form of pastoral work.

After the war the building fell into disrepair. It is known that in the early 1980s it did not even have roofs. At some point it was adapted for tourist purposes, without changing the massing or the overall concept from the outside. The reconstructed roofs were covered with tiles and the interior was transformed according to the new needs.

Architecture
The building is situated in a very picturesque location on one of the mountain roads off the main roads, but close to the Rybnik River. It is surrounded by hills and sparse rural buildings. From the side of the apse-shaped presbytery, the church draws attention to the dominant shape of its gabled roof, reminiscent of architecture typical of mountain areas in a modern setting. However, this is misleading, as both from the side and front it already looks more conventional, i.e. historical. Where did this idea come from?

The designer's intention was most likely to create the illusion of a multi-phase building that has evolved over the centuries. Therefore, the church combines modernism with typically neo-Gothic (tower) and neo-Baroque (signature tower) elements.

The Catholic church in Majdan is a brick and plastered building with a south-facing chancel. Covered by a steeply pitched roof, the nave is rectangular. Two chapels have been added to the sides and a square tower dominates the front. The walls of the nave and chancel each have three tall windows closed in a semicircle. The same window is located in the tower at the front. In addition, rectangular, bipartite and tripartite windows can be seen in the tower. The other parts have circular windows.

The facades of the nave and the apse in the chancel are topped off with a profiled cornice. The corners of the chapels, annexes and tower are accentuated by low, oblique buttresses. Above the nave is a square turret topped with an onion-shaped cupola with a cross.

Related persons:
Time of origin:
1938-1939
Creator:
Józef Gołąb (architekt)
Bibliography:
  • Rafał Quirini-Popławski „Kościół w Majdanie”. W: „Materiały do dziejów sztuki sakralnej na ziemiach wschodnich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Cz. 1: Kościoły i klasztory rzymskokatolickie dawnego województwa ruskiego” T. 6. Kraków: Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury w Krakowie, 1998, 121-123.
Publikacja:
19.07.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
19.07.2024
Author:
Michał Dziadosz
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