St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica, photo Rbrechko, 2012
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Wikimedia Commons, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica
St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica, photo Yurii-mr, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Wikimedia Commons, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica
St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica, photo Tarasovych, 2007
Licencja: CC BY 3.0, Źródło: Wikimedia Commons, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica
St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica, photo Mykola Zharkykh (Микола Жарких), 1992, Public domain
Źródło: Wikimedia Commons
Fotografia przedstawiająca St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica
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ID: POL-002249-P

St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica

ID: POL-002249-P

St Anthony Parish Church in Černelica

Historical outline
The village lies on the right bank of the Dniester River, about 15 km north of Horodenka. The first mention of Chernelitsa, formerly known as "Čerlenitsa", dates back to the 15th century. At that time, there were still two unconnected villages, "Chernelitsa Velika" and "Chernelitsa Gni". The owners of the estate include the Buczaccy, Czartoryski, Potocki, Raciborski and Krasnopolski families. In the 20th century, the village was ruled by Teresa Petrowicz and her various, changing partners. For several centuries Czernelica had municipal rights, which it lost in 1940.

. The beginning of the parish and the moment when the first sacral building was erected in the village is not fully determined. Some sources mention the 17th and others the 18th century. What is known for sure, however, is that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the parish was at the moment of its greatest splendour in terms of its impact on the area, as a unit comprising such villages as Chmielówka, Czernelica, Kopaczyńce, Korniów, Kunisowce, Olchowiec, Olejowa, Rakowiec and Semenówka. The parish was home to, among others, the Rosary Confraternity, the Catholic Women's Youth Association and the Third Order of St Francis.

The Dominican monastery in Černelica was founded in 1661 by Michał Jerzy and Eufrosina Czartoryska. To use the language that is contemporary to us, the order was ordered by the founders to build a brick temple and monastery, as well as appropriate endowments. At the same time, as a "starter package", the owners gave the clergy a wooden chapel, which had already been functioning in the village. Erected in 1669, the church bore the invocation of St Michael the Archangel. In 1739, the church in Černelica was profaned by Russian troops. A similar fate befell many other religious buildings in Pokuttia. In 1787, a decree of cassation was issued, on the basis of which several Dominican monasteries in Galicia had to be liquidated. The order also included Černelica, but according to sources, several monks were still functioning within the temple in 1815.

The 19th century was the time of several visitations, during which the poor condition of the sacred building was noted. At the height of this century, the church's name was changed from St Michael the Archangel to St Anthony. There is no information on what happened to the church during the global armed conflicts. What is known, however, is that after World War II, the Poles had to leave Černelica. Fortunately, they managed to save much of the church furnishings. The Stations of the Cross found a new place in the local church. From 1948 to 1980, the building was used as a warehouse. In 1985, a new roof was put on the church. Unfortunately, the church suffered a massive fire in 2007. It is now falling into increasing disrepair. A health centre has been set up in the vicarage.

It is worth noting that there are also ruins of a 17th century castle in the village, which at one time was one of the largest buildings of its kind in the First Republic.

Architecture
The church is located in the centre of the village, near the ruins of the castle. It is oriented, i.e. oriented towards the conventional east, meaning Jerusalem. It was built mainly of quarry stone and brick. It was built on the ground plan of a Latin cross. It consists of a two-bay nave and a single-bay, three-sided closed chancel. The transept is the same width as the nave, with single-span arms closed trilaterally. In the corner between the chancel and the south arm of the transept is the sacristy. A massive cylindrical turret has been placed at the north side of the west bay of the nave.

The external elevations are not articulated by any divisions. The only framework is the plinth at the bottom and the profiled cornice that surrounds the entire building. The façade attracts the most attention. It is not particularly elaborate, but is, as is usually the case, the representative element of the building. It is distinguished by a triangular gable with three rectangular arched niches and a rosette located symmetrically under the finial. However, the most ornate vector of the façade is the portal in the form of an aedicula. According to Tomasz Zaucha in his study of the building, this aedicula consists of canellated composite pilasters on plinths decorated with rectangular rafters. Above the portal is a bricked-up window in a moulded stone frame, topped by a cornice. The buttresses of the gable are decorated with stone pinnacles in the form of a pair of pyramidal obelisks, located at the edges, in the shape of spheres on brackets composed of volutes and cornice sections (1/3 in height), the whole is crowned with a sphere on a cubic pedestal.

The roofs were covered with shingles. After a destructive fire in 2007, barely a small part of the covering survived. There was a gable roof over the nave. Over the chancel and the arms of the transept were gable roofs transitioning to pyramidal. The sacristy was covered by a pyramidal roof and the staircase by a gable to conical roof.

Inside, the interiors also have no divisions. The chancel and transept were separated by wide, semicircular arcades supported by sections of moulded cornice. These parts are covered by multi-panelled vaults. The others are cross-ribbed.

The windows in the building are mainly rectangular and closed with three or four leaves, placed (in the main parts) in deep embrasures. They are supplemented by rectangular windows (west wall of the nave) and circular windows with an internal quadrilateral pattern. The wooden choir, which dates from the 18th century, is supported by two pillars and protected by a balustrade with a concave-convex design. Inside, it is also worth noting the painting decoration consisting of paintings imitating paneling with geometric and heraldic motifs. The rainbow arcade bears the inscription "UNDER YOUR PROTECTION WE Flee".

The most important elements associated with the furnishings of the building included :

  • The main altar with the paintings "Our Lady of the Rosary", "Saint Anthony" and "Saint Michael the Archangel" and the sculptures "Saint Dominic" and "Saint Thomas Aquinas";
  • Side altar "Sacred Heart of Jesus";
  • Side altar of Our Lady of Czestochowa with brick mensa and with images of "Our Lady of Czestochowa" and "Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus" and sculptures of Evangelists;
  • Side altar of St. Joseph with brick mensa and with paintings of "St. Joseph" and "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" and with sculptures of "St. Jack" and "St. Thomas Aquinas";
  • Side altar of St. Nicholas with brick mensa and with paintings of "St. Nicholas", "Our Lady of Sorrows" and "St. Francis of Assisi" and sculptures of angels;
  • Ten-voice organ from 1807.
Time of origin:
1669
Bibliography:
  • Tomasz Zaucha, „Kościół parafialny pw. św. Antoniego w Czernelicy”, w: „Materiały do dziejów sztuki sakralnej na ziemiach wschodnich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej”, cz. 1: „Kościoły i klasztory rzymskokatolickie dawnego województwa ruskiego”, Kraków: Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury w Krakowie, 2010, ISBN 978-83-89273-53-67, t. 18, s. 27-36.
Publikacja:
11.10.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
11.10.2024
Author:
Michał Dziadosz
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