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ID: POL-002064-P

Holy Trinity Parish Church in Medenice

ID: POL-002064-P

Holy Trinity Parish Church in Medenice

Historical outline
Medenice is located 22 km north-east of Drohobych. It was first recorded in 1395. The name of the village evolved. For some time Medenice was "Medenica", later "Medynice". The form changed, but not the stem. It certainly comes from the Ruthenian word 'med', meaning 'honey', and is linked to the long-established beekeeping traditions in the area.

The sources do not give a clear date for the foundation of the parish in the village. All that is known is that by the end of the 16th century there must have been a community of some kind here and its physical centre. Several documents point to a wooden church, which, according to information from 1646, was already badly decayed by then. The first local parson was recorded before 1604 and there was a school attached to the parish from the mid-17th century. A new wooden building was erected in 1689, as the existing one was no longer usable.

In 1729, parish priest Jan Ratajowski founded the altar of St John the Baptist. However, it was demolished just 14 years later. In 1743 the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity was founded in Medenice. The parish originally belonged to the Sambork decanate. It later came under Drohobycz decanship. It comprised the villages of Bilcze, Dolhe, Horucko, Kawsko, Königsau, Krynica, Letnia with the Letnia Manor, Opary, Rabczyce, and Radelich.

The village grew, but in an irregular way. Therefore, German colonists were brought to the undeveloped areas in the 18th century. This led to the establishment of new settlements such as Brigidau (Brigidyn), Josephsberg (Korosnica), Königsau (Rivne) and Ugartsberg (Wypuczki).

A full-fledged brick church was built in the 19th century. But when exactly? Sources give very different dates. The story is further clouded by the great fire that occurred in 1880 and caused enormous damage. Towards the end of the cent. At the end of the 19th century, the parish included the German colonies mentioned above, as well as villages such as Lipice, Litynia and Tynów.

Quite a few changes to the building took place in the late 19th and early 20th century. Notable among them were the appearance of new altars (1891-1893) and the main altar (1894), the renovation of the exterior and interior facades (1897-1898), the restoration of the organ (1900) and the installation of an artificial stone floor (1913).

The First World War brought a lot of losses. Two of the four bells were confiscated and the church was shelled in 1915. Restoration was not undertaken until 1939.

The Second World War saw further devastation, but this was repaired in 1945. After the conflict, most of the parishioners were resettled and the building was used as a community centre for some time. In the 1950s the tower, roof and vaults were demolished leaving the open structure completely vulnerable to time and the elements.

It was not until 1989 that the building was returned to the faithful. In 1991, a thorough restoration began, with attention to historical detail. Only the vicarage was extended and modernised. The original church walls were retained to about half their height. To these the upper parts were added. A lapidarium has also appeared on the site, where fragments of the surviving parts of the former church, among other things, have been collected.

Architecture
The church is picturesquely situated on a hill. It consists of a three-bay nave and a smaller and narrower presbytery closed with a trilateral nave. On its sides are the sacristy and the treasury. The west bay of the nave contains a brick-built choir on the upper floor, and a vestibule and two small rooms on the lower floor. Above the choir is a rebuilt square tower.

The flanks of the rainbow arcade (i.e. the arch separating the chancel from the nave) on the nave side are framed by additional pillars. Collective vaults are used over the nave, chancel and choir. The windows in the building are rectangular and covered with a segmental arch, except in the sacristy and the vault, where rectangular openings are located. The floor throughout the building is of artificial stone.

The three-bay façade is surmounted by a sharply shaped turret topped by a cross. The initials and date are inscribed above the entrance: "A.M.G.O.D.E.L.S.S.0.0. MDCCCXVII A.". The elevations of the upper storey of the tower are framed in flat frames and topped by a moulded cornice. The remaining elevations of the church and the annexes at the chancel are without vertical divisions and are additionally surmounted by a cornice.

The roof of the nave and chancel is gabled and transitions to a multi-pitched roof over the apse. It has been tiled throughout. The signature turret is polygonal, topped with an onion-shaped banya, and of course covered with sheet metal. The simplicity and minimalism of the original design greatly facilitated the reconstruction of the building. It is only unclear to what extent the former baroque furnishings still come from the wooden churches and to what extent they have been completed in the meantime.

Other important elements related to the decoration, furnishings and surroundings of the church include:
. - Main altar (1894),
- Altar of Our Lady (restored 1893),
- Altar to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1891),
- Neo-Baroque altar, 1935-1939,
- Pulpit,
- Baptismal font,
- Organ,
- Two different sculptures depicting the image of the Holy Trinity,
- Sculpture of an unspecified saint or personification,
- Sculpture of the Virgin and Child,
- Sculpture of the Virgin Mary,
- Sculpture of John the Baptist,
- Sculpture of St John the Evangelist.

Time of origin:
19th century.
Bibliography:
  • Ewa Herniczek, Jan K. Ostrowski „Kościół pw. św. Trójcy w Medenicach.” W: „Materiały do dziejów sztuki sakralnej na ziemiach wschodnich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Cz. 1: Kościoły i klasztory rzymskokatolickie dawnego województwa ruskiego” T. 6. Kraków: Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury w Krakowie, 1998, 125-136.
Publikacja:
19.07.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
19.07.2024
Author:
Michał Dziadosz
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