Historical outline

The village is situated on the Swiniucha stream (a tributary of the Seret), about 16 kilometres south of Ternopil. The oldest mention of Nastasov dates back to the 15th century. At that time, the village belonged to Kamenets chamberlain Janusz Kierdej of Orynin. At the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, the village had the status of a town. The owners and leaseholders of the estate include the Kalinowskis, Tobias Franciszek Rojowski, Józef Brzuchowski, and from the end of the 17th century the Potockis, who brought settlers from Mazovia to Nastasov. In the 19th century the village belonged to the Szeliski family, later to the Jabłonowski family, and from the end of the 19th century until the interwar period the estate was owned by Teodor Serwatowski.

The exact date when the first parish was established in Nastasov is not known. Allegedly, an unspecified pastoral unit existed here in the early 18th century. At first it was led by the Dominicans, and later, despite the existence of a Jesuit order in the village, by Father Grzegorz Wolff. The Dominicans then took over again, but left Nastasov in 1745. As Kinga Blaschke writes in her study of the building, in 1748 Franciszek Salezy Potocki founded a Jesuit residence near the temple, which was most likely intended to allow the order to take over the running of the parish. After the dissolution of the order, Archbishop Waclaw Hieronim Sierakowski demanded that the Austrian authorities equip the residence for the creation of a future parish.

The pastoral unit of undetermined origins, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, was already so important that villages such as Bohatkowce, Bucniów with Seredynki, Chodaczków Wielki, Józefówka, Kalasantówka, Kupczyńce and Marjanka, and towards the end of the interwar period Józefówka, Marjanka and Wesołówka came under it.

As Kinga Blaschke writes in her study on the site, there were chapels on the territory of the parish: in Nastasowo itself and in Marjanka. The latter was shared with Greek Catholics. A similar structure was also built in Jozefovka in 1933.

The first wooden church was built in the village in the early 18th century. The Potockis, who brought settlers from Mazovia here, founded a modest temple especially for the newcomers. Before the building was constructed, however, certain events took place. The impulse to speed up the construction process was a painting depicting the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, which, although a copy, was brought from Częstochowa itself and, according to witnesses, showed miraculous qualities. The Virgin is said to have shed 'tears of love', and when her image was profaned by a Saxon soldier and thrown into a fire, the apparently flammable material survived the ordeal. Soon after these events, the decision was made to move the image from a private house to the Orthodox church and to start building a wooden church. The building was modest in size, but the cult of the painting, which had already begun before the construction began and spread rapidly, was disproportionately large compared to the not very lavish church. The faithful brought in numerous donations and soon the church was better equipped than its outward appearance might have indicated.

However, the building deteriorated considerably over time and by 1827, the wooden church no longer existed. Its furnishings were kept in a friendly orthodox church, where Roman Catholic services were also held.

The consecration of the new brick church took place on 31 May 1830, although a few years later, the rededication was performed, during a visitation, by Archbishop Franciszek Pistek. This took place in 1839, at which time it was discovered that the roof needed to be repaired and the belfry repaired. The roofing was repaired in 1854 and the bell tower was built.

However, the further fate of the brick church is unknown. Historical sources tell of the removal of the miraculous painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which took place after the Second World War and was probably connected with the migration of the Polish population to the west. The image ended up in a church in Grobniki near Głubczyce.

The temple was recovered by Roman Catholics at the beginning of the 21st century and is today served by priests from Mikulince.

Architecture

The building was located in the western part of the village. The church was oriented, i.e. oriented towards the conventional east, by implication Jerusalem. The church was built of brick and plastered. It consists of a three-nave, three-bay hall and a single-bay chancel, the width of which corresponds to that of the nave. The altar section was closed with a straight wall. The nave is joined to the front by an additional half-bay with a square tower on the axis, which in the ground floor houses the porch, small rooms on its sides and a spiral staircase leading to the music choir located on the second storey. The exterior elevations are flanked by a low plinth at the bottom and an elaborate moulded cornice at the top.

The five-field façade is closed by a triangular gable from which a low tower rises. In the central part of the façade there is a flat risalit, which covers three fields. On the axis there is a rectangular entrance opening flanked by smaller window openings of the same shape. Above is a flat cornice and a rectangular window closed with a keyed segmental arch. The gable forms a kind of attic, which forms the base of the tower. In its central field there is a circular window from which rays carved in plaster extend as a kind of decoration. Above this section rises a not very tall tower with a square ground plan. The front of the tower has a niche with a sculpture of St Onufri. The whole is covered by a tin cupola (rhombus-shaped shell) in the shape of a tent roof. The other roofs are covered with simple sheet metal. There is a gable roof over the body, a triple-pitched roof over the altar area and two-pitched roofs over the annexes.

Inside, attention is drawn to the massive inter-nave pillars on a near-square plan. They are surmounted by wide lisens topped by profiled cornices. The rainbow arcade is semicircular. The entire building is covered with jagged vaults, except for the space between the bays of the side aisles. Collective vaults were placed there. Most of the building has rectangular windows, closed with a segmental arch and rectangular windows. There are circular windows in the front and in the chancel.

The choir communicates with the nave through five aisles. Its choir gallery is supported on the wall separating the aforementioned half-bay added to the front.

The most important elements related to the furnishings, decoration and surroundings of the building are or were:

• Neo-Baroque paintings dating from the second half of the 19th century, which include not only architectural elements and ornamentation, but also images of angels, figural scenes, religious symbols and others;
• The famous painting depicting the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, located today in Grobnice near Glubczyce. Formerly, this painting was the centrepiece of the main altar;
• A wooden side altar dating from the 18th century;
• Sculptures, including Christ Crucified (polychrome wood) dating from the 19th century;
• Pedestal, located in front of the facade of the building, with a stone plaque bearing the inscription AD | MAIOREM DEI | GLORIAM | HOC | MONUMENTUM | ERECTUM EST A(NNO) D(OMINI ) | 1780 PER COOPERATOREM | MICHAEL WISŁOCKI | FATIS CES(S)I(S) | A(NNO) D(OMINI) 1787 PRO ANNIVERSARIO), which can be translated: "For the greater glory of God and in memory, this monument was erected in the Year of the Lord 1787 by the collaborator Michael Wislocki, on the anniversary of his passing, which took place in the Year of the Lord 1780."

As Kinga Blaschke writes in her study of the building: "The church in Nastasowo, which is an example of the so-called official church (Musterkirche), was built (with minor changes) on the basis of a plan of a typical church for 1,500 people, drawn up by K.K. Genie und Landesbaudirection in Lemberg in 1810, which was also used in the construction of the church in Czernielow Mazowiecki." The author also draws attention to the relatively good condition of the building, despite its "long-term abandonment and devastation".