Historical outline

Bychkovce was also called "Byszkowce" and "Bychkovice" in the past. The village is located in the Podolia Highlands, about 12 km northwest of Chortkov. Bychkovce was first mentioned in the 15th century. At that time, the estate, together with neighbouring villages. was granted by King Wladyslaw III to Michal Buczacki. A few years later, he gave the estate to a certain Kasper, who was the progenitor of the Byczkowscy family of the Topór coat of arms. Over the following centuries, the village was part of a vast estate complex belonging to various owners, including Stefan Potocki (early 18th century), the Cielecki family (most probably from the early 19th century).

Initially, the village was subordinate to the parish in Chomiakówka, but the twentieth century, along with the development of the village, brought the need to create its own parish. This was possible thanks to the favour of Archbishop Józef Bilczewski and the good organisation of the inhabitants, who together purchased a large garden located near the public chapel that had existed since the end of the 19th century. The foundations of a religious building were already in place. The land was also available. What was missing were the facilities that every properly functioning parish needs. The Cielecki family came to the rescue, providing an interest-free loan, but also a substantial donation. It is worth noting that two small religious buildings already existed in the village, even before the above-mentioned chapel, whose consecration dates to 1897. The first was a private chapel (before 1816) and the tomb chapel of the Cielecki family (known to have been built around 1886).

Historical sources are rather silent about the fate of the church in the first half of the 20th century. All that is known is that in 1913, during the dean's visitation, its condition was described as good, although the absence of a baptismal font was noted.

Unfortunately, the Second World War was a tragic period in the history of the parish. In 1940, the deportation of some families to Siberia began, and the years 1942-1946 were a time of terror by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which resulted in the deaths of 81 Poles and 23 Jews. With the end of the global conflict, most of the Polish inhabitants left for Lower Silesia. During the second half of the 1940s, the church was cared for by priests from Chomiakówka, but under pressure from the new authorities, the building was taken over by the Soviets, who turned it into a kolkhoz grain warehouse in 1950, a state of affairs that persisted after the collapse of the USSR. To this day the building remains in ruins. Although the walls have been preserved, the roof, the vaults and most of the sculptures are missing.

Architecture

According to Rafał Quirini-Popławski, an analysis of the sacred buildings in the village should place more emphasis on the Cielecki sepulchral chapel, which is a more interesting example of architecture compared to the church. The art historian describes the church as "modest" and the chapel as full of interesting motifs. The author of the latter is most likely Julian Zacharewicz or someone close to him.

Parish Church

The building is located near the contemporary Orthodox church, in the south-eastern part of the village. The church is oriented. This means that the presbytery was turned towards the symbolic east, implying Jerusalem. The brick structure was built on a stone foundation and plastered. The shape of the church is based on a four-bay nave with a semicircular apse to the east. On the south side, there is a rectangular room that formerly housed the sacristy. The articulation of the walls is carried out by lisens with pseudo-capitals, which are formed by sections of profiled cornices. The simple façade has no vertical divisions. It consists of a rectangular main part and a crowning part in the shape of a triangular gable. Above the entrance opening is a semicircular panel with the inscription "Mother of Mercy | PRAY FOR US |R. 1897", and above it a rectangular window closed with a semicircle. On the sides of the main doorway there are panels analogous to the window, where sculptures once stood on plinths. The original gable was crowned with a metal cross.

The roofs were covered with sheet metal. A gabled roof was used over the main part, and over the apse it transitioned to a half conical roof. In contrast, a three-pitched roof was used over the vestry. The now defunct openwork bell turret was clad in sheet metal and topped with a pyramidal roof with a knop and cross in the finial.

Inside, the articulation of the walls was done with lisens with pseudo-capitals. Above the nave there was a barrel vault with lunettes, and in the apse there was a kochna, a shell-like covering. Rectangular windows, closed with a semicircle, were used in the nave and apse. A rectangular window was placed in the sacristy.

Cielecki burial chapel

The building is located on the main road leading through the village. It was constructed on a rectangular plan, deceptively resembling a square. A semicircular niche was added to the altar part. The chapel is oriented, brick-built and plastered inside. The exterior elevations are finished with carefully worked sandstone blocks. Above the chapel is a crypt, and on the inside the building is closed with a cross vault. The windows in the side walls are rectangular, closed with a semicircle. The floor was laid with red and white sandstone slabs. Rafał Quirini-Popławski, in his study of the building, draws attention to the interesting façade of the building, in particular to the portal house, with a triangular gable, overhanging on rafters, in which a semicircular arcade has been cut out, and a gable topped with a stone cross, in the centre of which is a circular medallion with the hierogram XP. Above the entrance opening is a semi-circular tympanum (i.e. a decorative architectural detail) decorated with bas-relief motifs of rosettes and crossed palm branches. The entrance opening was closed with an arch in the shape of a triangular triangle. The chapel is preserved in good condition, except for the heavily damaged wall paintings in the interior.

Name: Parish Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Bychkovce

Current name: Same as above.

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, district: Ternopil, locality: Bychkovce.

Author: unknown/author of the design of the tomb chapel of the Cielecki family: most probably Julian Zacharewicz.

Date of construction: 1897 r.

Technical data: Brick object.