Historical outline

In order to find Chomiakówka today as an independent unit, it must be sought as part of the larger Kossovo, lying some 15 km north-west of Chortkov.

At the time of the Turkish invasions, Chomiakówka was one of the border villages on the Polish side. From almost the beginning of the 19th century, the Podlewski family was connected with the village.

Initially, Chomiakówka belonged to the parish in Chortkiv, but at the height of 1854 a chaplaincy was established here, which from 1884 was served by the Chortkivsk Dominicans. Already at the end of the same decade, it was transformed into an independent parish covering such localities as Bialobozhnica, Bialy Potok, Bychkovce, Khomyakivka, Kalinovshchyna, Kossiv, Romashivka, Rydoduby, Semyakovce, among others. Numerous religious organisations and associations were active here: the Rosary Brotherhood, the Catholic Women's Association, the Catholic Women's Youth Association, the Catholic Men's Youth Association and the Third Order of St Francis. A branch church in the village of Bialy Potok came under the parish.

The temple in Chomiakówka was built in 1854 from an extension of the Podlewskis' burial chapel, which had existed since 1846. Initially, the church bore the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the 1960s, St Anthony of Padua was appointed patron saint. In the following years, the church underwent various modernisations.

During the First World War, the church probably did not suffer any damage, but Russian soldiers partially destroyed the bell tower, fence and parish priest's barn.

After the war, minor and major renovations took place, the most important of which was in 1937 when the focus was on repairing the towers, which were in danger of collapsing. Paradoxically, the work was completed on the eve of the Second World War.

During the conflict, the church was not severely damaged. It is true that in 1943 the Germans robbed one of the bells and a year later the Soviets carried out further thefts, but the structure of the building survived. In 1945, some of the inhabitants of Chomiakivka left for the west together with the curate, Father Martin Niewieššík, but Father Fleischhacker decided to stay on and look after the church.

In 1947, it was possible to register the church under the new administration. A year later, the Ukrainians tried to take over the building as an Orthodox church, but without success. In 1950, the vicarage was converted into a school, and a year later the building was partially renovated. The church was not closed until the death of Father Kazimierz Fleischhacker in 1961. After the collapse of the USSR, the building was returned to the faithful. Today, the unit is called Kossow-Chomiakowka and is served by priests from Bialoboznica.

Architecture

The brick and plastered building is located in the centre of the former Chomiakówka. It is oriented, i.e. facing the presbytery towards the conventional east, by implication Jerusalem. As Katarzyna Brzezina writes in her study of the church, the church is a rare example of late Neoclassicism in Galicia. The strongest vector in this respect is the façade, in the form of a pillar-and-column portico.

The building consists of a four-bay nave, with a frontal massif containing the music choir in its central part and a superstructure in the upper part of the tower. On either side are annexes with staircases leading to the first floor. The presbytery is much narrower than the main body and closed with a semicircle. It is flanked by two rectangular annexes, which house the Podlewski chapel (to the north) and the sacristy (to the south). On the axis of the chancel to the east is a small rectangular annex, which shelters the entrance to the crypt.

The exterior elevations sit on a high plinth and are capped with a beam that encircles the entire building.

On the axis of the main entrance is a plaque with the inscription:

"AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM ET | FIDELIUM ANIMARUM SALUTEM AETERNAM TRANSFORMAVTT | SACELLUM IN ECCLESIAM PAROCHIALEM ANNO DOMNNI 1854 | VALERIANUS BOGORJA PODLEWSKI | PLACANDO CLEMENTIAM OMNIPOTENTIS PRO SE | ATQUE UXORE VANDA MARIA KOZICKA ET PROLIBUS SUIS".

ie:

"FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD AND | FAITH TRANSFORMS THE ETERNAL SALVATION OF SOULS | CHAPEL IN THE PARISH CHURCH IN THE YEAR 1854 | WALERIAN BOGORJA PODLEWSKI | APPEALS FOR THE PRAYER OF THE ALMIGHTY FOR HIM AND HIS WIFE WANDA MARIA KOZICKA AND CHILDREN".

Above the plaque is a cornice supported by volute consoles which is the base for the semicircular window. In the side fields of the portico are stone sculptures depicting St Peter and St Paul. In the tympanum (decorative finial) is a sculpture of Caritas.

Catherine Brzezina, in her study of the building, draws attention to the neoclassical layout of the building. The tower's elevations are enriched with narrow, rectangular niches closed with semicircles. The other facades are articulated with Tuscan pilasters. The windows in the side walls of the front massif are placed in rectangular panels, closed with a semicircle, with rosettes carved in stucco on the axis of the arch. In turn, the facades of the annexes at the chancel were closed with a profiled cornice. Above the cornices of the side elevations of the chapel and the sacristy is an attic filled with longitudinal panels, surmounted by vases set at the corners. The elevation of the eastern annex, containing the entrance to the crypt, is topped by a small triangular abutment with a vase bearing the date 1846.

Gabled roofs were used over the nave, chancel and annex, and conical roofs were used over the close of the chancel. The annexes, on the other hand, were covered with pulpit roofs. All were covered with sheet metal. The helmet of the tower was topped with an onion-shaped cupola covered with tin rhombus scales, topped with a knob and cross.

The walls of the nave section have no vertical articulation. The exceptions to this are the lisens, which capture the clearances at the level of the rainbow arcade and the music choir. In the presbytery, on the other hand, the walls are framed by Tuscan pilasters supporting a beam. The interior is covered with ceilings. The windows in the nave and chancel are rectangular, closed with a semicircle. In the other rooms they are similar or rectangular. Some articulated elements are enriched with geometric and floral ornaments.

As Katarzyna Brzezina writes in her study of the building: "Numerous epitaphs of the Podlewski family and their relatives, as well as memorial plaques, give the temple the value of a true monument to local history."

Highlights related to the furnishings and surroundings of the building include:

• Stained-glass windows from the foundation of Wanda Maria Podlewska, by the Czech firm Carl Ludwig Türcke, dated 1825;
• The main altar of St Anthony of Padua, with a painting depicting the image of the saint, by Marian Soloviev (1923);
• Side altar of the Lord Jesus, from the foundation of, among others, Józefa Bogdanowiczowa of Kossovo, by Jan Olszewski (1895);
• Stations of the Cross, purchased from the firm of Johann Heindel in Vienna in 1894, mainly from the foundation of Daniel and Catherine Bryndio of Rydodub;
• Sculptures by Theodor Stachiewicz (including Christ Crucified and Christ Risen);
• Wall tombstone of Walerian and Waleria Podlewski in the form of a plinth;
• Wall paintings by Julian Kruczkowski from Lviv.

The building is preserved in good condition. It is worth noting the partially preserved original furnishings. However, the fate of the objects taken to Poland in 1945 remains unknown.

Name: Parish Church of St Anthony of Padua in Chomiakówka

Name in use today: Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Kossowa-Chomiakówka

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, district: Ternopil, locality: now Kossovo.

Author: Unknown

Date of construction: 1854 r.

Technical data: Brick object, plastered.