Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Dominican Sisters in Bełz. Dominican Sisters Church in Belz - Roman Catholic church with a monastery belonging to the order of Dominican nuns in Belz, functioning until 1784 and then in 1946-1951, now a Greek Catholic church.

History
The Dominican nuns were brought to Bełz in 1635 from the foundation of Jadwiga Olizarowa of Łaszcz Tuczapski, widow of Adam Olizar (Olizar-Wołczkiewicz) of the Kmita family coat of arms. The ceremonial introduction of the nuns to the previously built monastery in Przedmieście Lubelskie took place in 1644 or 1645. Already in 1648, the church and the monastery were burnt down by the Cossacks, and the reconstruction started a year later. A decision was also taken to change the site for new buildings in order to better defend against hostile attacks and permission was obtained to move the church and monastery within the city walls. The church and convent were built and occupied by the nuns before 1659. From around 1743, the construction of a new brick monastery began with the foundation of Anna, née Bełzecka of the Jastrzębiec coat of arms, 1° voto Michałowa Puzynowa, 2° voto Adamowa Rostkowska. It was led by an anonymous architect and finished in 1751.

. In the 18th century, the Dominican convent in Bełz was the most numerous institution of this order in the territory of the former Republic of Poland. In 1782 the Austrian authorities ordered the Dominican nuns to convert to the rule of the Ursuline congregation and to open an educational institution for girls. After a long legal battle, 30 of the 35 nuns of Bełz agreed to accept the Ursuline rule and the emperor finally allowed 5 Dominican nuns to remain in Bełz, despite the fact that no cloister of this order existed in Galicia at that time. In 1784, three Ursuline nuns were brought from Prague to Belz for leadership positions in the monastery. After the actual change of the rule to Ursuline, 18 nuns left the convent in Belz (two of them died even before the arrival of the nuns from Bohemia), and in 1784 only five nuns from the original Dominican nuns remained in the convent as Ursulines. The decrease in the convent's numbers influenced the authorities' decision to close the institution. The three Ursuline nuns were sent back to Prague and the former Dominican nuns received an annual salary. The monastery was dissolved by decree of 13 September 1784.

The church of the former Dominican nuns was handed over by the authorities to the Greek-Catholic parish of the Holy Spirit, which established a parish church in it, and the name was changed to Pentecost. Some of the liturgical equipment, including the monstrance, was transferred in 1796 to the former Dominican church, which was then used as a parish church.

The buildings of the former monastery initially housed the rectory of the Greek-Catholic parochial vicar, then it was planned to house officers' quarters, but eventually the buildings were put up for public auction (three times between 1820 and 1823). As there were no bids, the gubernium sold the buildings to the magistrate of the town of Belz. As early as the following year, the city sold the monastery to Andrzej Mierzejewski, owner of the Khlopiatyn estate, and from 1848 the building remained in the possession of his son Ludwik. At that time, architect Wincenty Rawski (the elder) prepared a project for the restoration of the building, and the construction work was headed by Ignacy Koliubiński and Vasily Dembicki. Among other things, the eastern and western wings of the monastery were added during the works. From the second half of the 19th century until 1939, the premises in the former monastery were rented by the magistrate of the town of Belz.

Very little information has been preserved about the church. It is known that the Greek Catholics took over the temple with all its furnishings and then converted them. The first information about the renovation dates back to 1861, when the roofs were covered with white sheet metal and the helmets of the towers with copper sheet metal. In 1892-1893, a new iconostasis was built on the model of the iconostasis in Przemyśl Cathedral (the former church of the Discalced Carmelites). A few years later, in 1900, the church was renovated and the interior polychrome was made by the Lviv painter Mikhailo Bojarski. In 1906, a new bell tower was built in the north-eastern corner of the wall, designed by the architect Filimon Levytskyi.

As a result of the Red Army's actions during the storming of Belz in July 1944, the buildings of the former Dominican monastery were damaged. The church was reconstructed and from 1946 to 1951 it functioned again as a Roman Catholic church. All the buildings of the former Dominican convent were recorded in 1948 as being in very good condition and had been renovated.

After the change of borders in 1951, the church was closed by the authorities of Soviet Ukraine and fell into disrepair. In 1991 or 1992 it was taken over as a Greek Catholic church and converted for the Eastern Rite. A school was placed in the monastery buildings, which functioned there until the 1980s; after its closure, the buildings fell into disrepair.

According to Tadeusz Kukiz's thesis, which is not supported by any archival sources, the painting of the Virgin Mary, which was transported after 1951 and is kept in the Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland in Ustrzyki Dolne, came from the Dominican Sisters' church in Belz. It was certainly not venerated as miraculous in Belz.

Architecture
The Dominican church and monastery complex is located near the ruined Dominican monastery and church complex, directly on the street. The church is rectangular in plan, three-nave and four-bay, ending with a two-bay chancel closed with a trilateral facing south. On its sides are rectangular annexes to the vault and sacristy. The interior is articulated by Tuscan pilasters supporting a full beam, with a barrel vault with lunettes. The façade is two-storey with an extended finial and towers added on the sides and set back from the central part. The façade is articulated with Tuscan pseudo-pillars, divided by a reduced beam. In the two storeys, in the side axes, four niches with sculptures of St Mary Magdalene, Rose of Lima, Ursula and Catherine of Siena from the 18th century. Entrance portal and portal to the sacristy with floral frame from the 17th century. Towers covered with neo-Baroque cupolas.

The two-storey wings of the monastery, walled in from the west to the church, consist of three wings forming a large rectangular courtyard and a fourth wing located inside, parallel to the church and enclosing a smaller L-shaped courtyard (this wing is currently unpreserved). The elevation facing the main street is thirteen-axis, with two entrances with portals. The monastery buildings remain in a state of far-reaching disrepair.