Historical outline

Lying on the Seret River, on the road from Ternopil to Zaleszczyki, Chortkiv is one of the most historically and historically valuable towns in Western Podolia. The oldest mention of the town dates back to the end of the 15th century. The first recorded owner was Jerzy Czartkowski (1522). In the following centuries, Czortkow was ruled by, among others, the Sienawskis, the Golskis, the Potockis, the Wróblewski's and the Sadowski's.

Information about the first temple dates back to 1593, but it is worth noting that the genesis of the appearance of the Dominican monastery here is not entirely clear. Some sources, however, speak of the year 1610, when the Ruthenian voivode and owner of the town, Stanislaw Golski, brought the Dominican fathers from Szmańkowiec to Czortkow and founded a church and monastery for them.

Most probably, there were two churches in the town for some time, and the parish and the monastery functioned independently. In 1722 Stefan Potocki donated several squares in Chortkiv to the monks. In the following decades, the monastery suffered several attacks from the local nobility.

The following centuries saw the difficult time of the partitions. Interestingly, the monastery did not undergo the Josephine suppression, i.e. restrictions on clerical activities based on a decree issued by Joseph II of Habsburg in 1782. Only its activities were reduced by reducing the number of monks and prohibiting the admission of novices. In the 19th century, the abbey was a refuge for clergy involved in patriotic activities.

The Chortkov parish district included such villages as Biala, Cherkivshchyna, Chortkov, Maydan, Stary Chortkov, Strusovka, Szmańkowce, Szmańkowczyki, Tudorów, Uhryń and Wygnanka, and in the mid-1930s - Biala, Cherkivshchyna, Chortkov, Strusovka, Szmańkowce, Szmańkowczyki and Uhryń, among others.

As Jan K. Ostrowski writes in his study of the sites, there were several chapels in the Chortkiv area, including the cemetery chapel (1816), the chapel in Biała (1899), the chapel in Szmańkowce (1904), the chapel in Szmańkowczyki (1936), and the chapel in Czerkawszczyzna (1938).

At the beginning of the 20th century, a decision was made to expand the Dominican church. Eventually it was decided that it would be more advisable to build a completely new building. The project was entrusted to Jan Sas-Zubrzycki, who decided that a mature neo-Gothic style would be the best option. The temple was built on the site of a former church from the 17th century. Sas-Zubrzycki was also the author of the rich and historically valuable main altar.

In 1941, the monastery suffered acts of terror from the NKVD. First, some of the monks were murdered, and then part of the building was demolished. Among other things, the monastery and the roof over the presbytery were burnt down in an attempt to cover up the traces of the crime.

In 1946, the Soviet authorities closed the complex and turned it into a warehouse. It operated in this form until 1989, when the Dominicans recovered the site along with the property. The famous Sas-Zubrzycki altar has since been restored twice. The first time in the 1990s before its re-consecration and in 2009-2010.

Architecture

The former church (17th century)

Information about this building is not entirely clear, and it is only possible to reconstruct its shape and character on the basis of old descriptions. Unfortunately, they date from the turn of the 20th century, i.e. just before the old church was demolished. As Jan K. Ostrowski writes in his study, it was an oriented building (i.e. facing towards the symbolic east, presumably Jerusalem), on the plan of a Latin cross, with a two-bay nave and a one-bay chancel. Adjoining the altar area was a rectangular sacristy to the north, with a trilateral closure to the east. There were crypts under the temple. Above the bay in the cross of the building rose a cupola with a high tambour pierced with windows. At the ridge end of the galvanised sheet metal roof was a slender turret with an openwork gloriette and an onion-shaped cupola.

New church (20th century)

The current church, designed by Jan Sas-Zubrzycki, is one of the most impressive buildings in this architect's portfolio. According to Jan K. Ostrowski in his study of the building, special attention should be paid to the monumental mass, the complex composition of the space, but also the high quality of construction, both overall and in detail. The temple was built not only of brick, but also of carefully worked hard limestone and Trembovell sandstone.

The ground plan is similar in shape to a Lorraine cross. The building consists of a three-nave basilica body with a pair of chapels attached to the main part in the form of spacious apses. The transept is significantly extended beyond the nave section. In turn, there is a spacious porch at the front with a staircase and ancillary rooms at the sides. Above this is the music choir. Behind the chancel is the sacristy, which is part of the west wing of the monastery.

Also of note is the massive tower with its accompanying lower counterparts on the sides. The tower section is preceded by an ornate portal, which is crowned by high pinnacles. The second storey of the main tower is closed by a cornice on consoles. On its axis is a circular window. The third storey is resolved similarly to the front, filled in with a row of arcades and closed with a low, stepped gable entering into the fourth storey, resolved identically on all sides. Its corners are framed by flat buttresses. It is closed from above by a prominent cornice on paved consoles. The gable is topped by several turrets, the largest of which is the main pointed cupola.

The side elevations of the nave, the arms of the transept and the altar area are closed with the same moulded cornice on an arcaded frieze. A similar solution is used for the other modules.

The roofs over the nave, the eastern part of the chancel and the arms of the transept are gabled. In the other parts they are triple-pitched, pulpit or pyramidal. They are covered with tiles in the main parts and with sheet metal in the other parts.

The pillars between the naves in the main body and in the eastern part of the chancel were built on the principle of tall, octagonal columns supported on plinths. The arcades between the interior modules are pointed arched. Above them is a capitular cornice.

Cross vaults are used over the nave and the eastern part of the altar section. The western part of the chancel and transept, on the other hand, have stellar and ribbed vaults. The apses are closed with umbrella and ribbed vaults. The windows, for the most part of the building, are rectangular, closed with pointed arches.

The most important elements associated with the furnishings and surrounds of the building include or belonged to:

• The main altar with marble mensa by Jan Sas-Zubrzycki dated 1925, with a 17th-century painting of Our Lady of the Rosary inscribed into its structure;
• Interior painting decoration by Stanisław Teisseyre, Roman Sielski and Margit Reich-Sielska dating from 1943;
• Series of paintings depicting images of saints;
• Series of bas-reliefs with biblical motifs.

Monastery

The monastery building was also built of brick and stone. It is a single-storey building consisting of the old west wing (which connects to the church through the chancel) and the south wing, and the new east wing. The windows in the building are rectangular and closed with a semicircle. The facades are articulated with lisens supporting the cornice and plastered.

Name: St. Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr Church and Dominican Monastery in Chortkiv

Current name: the same as above.

Division: architecture

Location: Ukraine, district: Ternopil, town: Chortkiv

Author: Jan Sas-Zubrzycki

Date of construction: 1910 r.

Technical data: Brick building