The St Louis Roman Catholic Church in Kraslaw, located in the city centre at 2 St Louis Square, is one of the most important monuments of Baroque architecture in Latvia. Antonio Paracco is cited as its architect. It belongs to the diocese of Rēzekne-Aglona in the metropolis of Riga and serves as a parish church. The temple is also the second largest pilgrimage site in the region, after Aglona, thanks to the relics of St Donatus, bishop and martyr, which are kept there.

History

The first Catholic church in Kraslaw existed as a branch of the parish in Indrica. In the 16th century, after Kraslav passed into the hands of the Lutherans, the church served the Protestants for a while. Between 1580 and 1590, Miķelis de Brunovs built a wooden Catholic church, which was probably a reconstructed earlier church.

In 1676 Juris de Lundingshausen-Wolf founded a new, larger wooden church, which he gave to the Jesuits. In 1729, Kraslawa was acquired by Jan Ludwik Plater, and between 1755 and 1767, the new St Louis church was built thanks to the foundation of Konstanty Ludwik Plater and his wife Augusta, née Oginska. The church was to have served as the episcopal cathedral of the Diocese of Livonia, which did not happen due to the first partition of Poland in 1772. Construction was led by the Italian architect Antonio Parocco. It was consecrated in 1777 by the first Archbishop of Mogilev, Stanislav Siestrzencewicz. After the First Partition of Poland (1772), Kraslaw, along with the whole of Latgale, became part of the Russian Empire, which made it impossible to realise the plans for the cathedral.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is a towerless, three-nave building. It is 42 metres long, 26 metres wide and 22 metres high. In the church grounds, surrounded by a stone wall, there is a bell tower dating from 1838 with several historic bells, including the 'Ludwig' (1787) and the 'Donat' (1853). Beneath the church are the tombs of the Plater family.

The interior of St Ludwig's Church in Kraslaw is a unique example of the harmonious combination of Baroque style and classical simplicity. The decoration, subordinated to the principles of order and symmetry, is notable for its lack of rich ornamentation and stucco decoration, characteristic of earlier Baroque eras. Instead, an orderly architecture dominates, with the monumental main altar as the focal point of the interior.

The key decorative element of the church is the frescoes by the Italian painter Filippo Castaldi, also known as Gastoldi or Gustelding. These works were executed between 1760 and 1762 using the al fresco technique. The main fresco, located in the central niche of the monumental main altarpiece, depicts the scene 'Saint Louis setting out on a crusade'. This fresco highlights the church's dedication to its patron saint and combines religious and historical themes.

Castaldi also created six other altar compositions depicting scenes from the lives of saints:

Saints Peter and Paul,
Saint Vincent a Paulo,
Saint Anthony,
Holy Trinity,
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Portraits of the church's founders - Konstanty Ludwik Plater and his wife Augusta, née Oginska - are also an important part of the decoration. Initially, these paintings were in the library of the Kraslaw Plater family and are now placed on the church choir, adding a personal touch to the interior and reminding us of the historical patronage of the Plater family.

Kraslaw's humid climate affected the condition of the fresco in the main altar. After 1884, it was replaced by a monumental oil painting with the same theme, 'Saint Louis setting out on a crusade'. This work, by the eminent Polish painter Jan Matejko, was created on the initiative of Eugeniusz Plater and Father Jozef Yalowiecki, the last rector of the Kraslaw Theological Seminary and later parish priest in Kraslaw. The Plater family significantly supported the realisation of this project financially.

The interior of St Louis Church is distinguished by the clarity of its composition, where the monumental altars and frescoes are subordinated to the religious and historical narrative. Thanks to the collaboration of eminent artists such as Castaldi and Matejko, the Kraslaw church combines various artistic traditions, becoming not only a place of worship, but also a unique monument of sacred art.

The church contains the chapel of St Donatus, where the saint's relics, brought from Rome in 1778, are kept. Initially, the relics were housed in the palace chapel. In 1784, thanks to the funds of Augusta Platerowa, née Oginska, a new chapel was built next to St Louis' church. The ceremony of the transfer of the relics to this chapel took place in the same year.

Seminary

A Theological Seminary was opened at the Kraslaw church in 1757, which was the first higher seminary in Latvia. Its foundation was initiated by Bishop Antoni Ostrovsky, supported by Konstantin Ludwik Plater. The running of the seminary was entrusted to priests from the Congregation of the Missionaries of St Vincent a Paulo, who were brought to Kraslaw in 1755.

Earlier, in 1756, the Jesuit mission operating in Kraslaw was transferred to Indrycy, and the schools founded by the Jesuits were taken over by the Lazarists. The seminary operated in Kraslaw until 1844, when it was moved to Minsk.

Conservation work

Since 2003, restoration work has been ongoing in the church. In 2018-2020, the Polonica Institute became involved.