Historical outline

The village is located about twelve kilometres north-west of Chortkov. A stream named Biała, a tributary of the Seret, flows through the village. The recorded history of the place dates back to the 15th century, when King Władysław III granted the estate and the surrounding villages to Michał Mużyle Buczacki. Over the centuries, Biały Potok belonged to the Podlewski family, among others, and in the inter-war period to Jadwiga Horodyska and Franciszek Rudrof. Formally, the village was subordinate to the parish in Chomiakówka, but in the second decade of the 20th century the need for a separate religious building led to the initiation of its construction. However, the process associated with the transfer and adaptation of land was not easy and dragged on for quite a long time. In 1927, the foundation stone was laid and work began, which was slowed down by numerous problems along the way, including those of a financial nature. However, the temple was completed in the early 1930s. The consecration took place on 25 August 1933.

The post-war period was a time of uncertainty and anxiety. The building existed and was used as a church for fifteen years after the global conflict, but in 1960 the Soviet authorities decided to turn it into a kolkhoz warehouse. Some of the smaller furnishings were saved, but most were destroyed. It was not until 1990 that the church was returned to the faithful. Over the following years, renovations were carried out. Missing parts were completed and the roofs were covered with sheet metal. In 1997, the church was reconsecrated. The building still functions today and is served by priests from the village of Rydoduby.

Architecture

The building is located at the foot of the hill, on the eastern side of the road running from Rydoduby to Bychkovec. The church consists of a three-nave and three-bay body and a single-span presbytery, closed with a semicircle. It faces south-east. In front of the nave there is a front annex built on a rectangular ground plan. It contains a porch on the ground floor and a choir on the ground floor. It is flanked on the sides by rectangular rooms.

From the outside, the church has a very distinctive appearance. It is particularly notable for its rough stone construction, supplemented by bricks in some parts. The stone facades are set on a low plinth. Most of them were closed with cornices. In turn, the elevations of the side aisle annexes and the side rooms diverging from the porch (and on the other side of the identical ones supporting the presbytery) were articulated with pseudo-pillars.

The front elevation of the porch, which covers the front elevation of the nave section, attracts attention with a triangular gable framed by pediments. A similar solution is used on the other side over the presbytery part. The corners of the façade are framed by pairs of narrow lisens. In the central field there is a rectangular panel and a circular window inscribed in it. Above the arch enclosing this section is a stone plaque bearing the date 1933.

Gabled roofs were used over the nave and the porch. Above the chancel they are identical, but transition to conical. The annexes, on the other hand, are covered by triple-pitched roofs. The metal-clad bell turret is topped with an onion-shaped cupola surmounted by a knop with a cross. In its overall shape, it resembles this type of structure characteristic of Orthodox church buildings. The difference lies in the more slender and drawn-out figure. In contrast, it is not the typical, most common openwork structure characteristic of Latin churches.

Inside, the walls of the building are plastered. The pillars separating the naves are quadrilateral in shape, but with chamfered corners. They support a semicircular arcade with a profiled cornice above. The rainbow arcade is semicircular in shape. The interior is covered with ceilings. The window openings in the side walls of the nave parts are rectangular in shape. In the chancel, on the other hand, rectangular windows are used, closed with a semicircle, and rectangular in the other parts. The doors are rectangular in shape.

The music choir, protected by a wooden balustrade, is located on the first floor, above the porch. It is accessed via a staircase located in the room on the left.

Some of the most important associated with the furnishings and surroundings of the building include:

• A neo-Gothic wooden altar dating from the early 20th century with an image of the Virgin Mary in the central field and sculptures of Saint Casimir and Saint Stanislaus Kostka on the sides;
• Wooden pulpit;
• Neo-Baroque confessional from the early 20th century;
• Pheretrons, paintings and sculptures dating from the 20th and 19th centuries;
• A two-storey bell tower-gate leading into the courtyard.

The building is preserved in good condition. As Katarzyna Brzezina writes in her study of the church, a significant part of the furnishings, most of which come from other churches, has been preserved on the site. One example is the sculpture of the Virgin and Child transferred from Bialoboznica.

Name: Parish Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Bialy Potok

Current name: Same as above.

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, District: Chortkivsk region, locality: Bialy Potok

Author: Marian Teodor Wtórzecki

Date of construction: 1931-1933 r.

Technical data: Object built of stone blocks and brick