All Saints' Church in Švenčionys, photo Juste
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Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
All Saints' Church in Švenčionys, view from the car park, photo Tomasz Balbus, 2023, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
All Saints' Church in Švenčionys, side view, photo Tomasz Balbus, 2023, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
All Saints' Church in Švenčionys, interior, photo Tomasz Balbus, 2023, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
Main altar of All Saints' Church All Saints' Church, photo Vilensija, 2017
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Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
All Saints' Church and Market Square in Švenčionys, photo 1911, Public domain
Źródło: Wikimedia Commons
Fotografia przedstawiająca All Saints\' Church in Švenčionys
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ID: POL-001971-P

All Saints' Church in Švenčionys

ID: POL-001971-P

All Saints' Church in Švenčionys

The Catholic Church in Švenčionys was originally founded by Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas. In its present form, it was founded by Casimir Czechowicz, who also founded the town's Orthodox church.

Švenčionys - an outline of the town's history
. Swieciany is located in a valley on both sides of the Mery (Kuna) River, about 80 km north-east of Vilnius, on the historical route leading from the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Polotsk and Vitebsk. In the 15th century, it was one of the seats of the Lithuanian grand ducal court and a centre of craft production. It was granted town rights as early as 1486 and is thus today one of the oldest towns in Lithuania.

In the 15th-16th centuries, Švenčionys belonged to the powerful Gasztold family. In 1565, they were recorded as the seat of one of the three land courts of the Šiauliai district. After the Partitions of Poland, Swieciany found itself in the Lithuanian-Vilnius Governorate (from 1840 - Vilnius), from 1837 as the property of the Russian State Treasury.

Other important events in the history of the town include the year 1812: looting by Russian troops and the later march of Napoleon's army towards Moscow (Napoleon was to receive the parade of his troops in Święciany in July "that year"). The town and its surroundings were also the scene of clashes with the Muscovites during both the November and January uprisings.

At the end of the 19th century. "The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and Other Slavic Countries" (volume XI, 1890) described Święciany as: "a town in the district of the Vilnius Governorate [...] northeast of Vilnius about 11.5 versts from the station of the Warsaw-Petersburg iron road (Swieciany), in a sparsely populated area interspersed with lakes and marshes. It has 423 houses (2 brick), 6795 inhabitants (1880), of whom 613 are Orthodox Christians, 813 Catholics, 880 Dissenters, 2 Evangelicals, 4480 Jews, 7 Mohammedans [...]. The town has a wooden Orthodox church of Sts. Peter and Paul, a Catholic parish church, 3 Jewish houses of prayer [...]. The town has no commercial or industrial importance. In 1868 there were 124 craftsmen and a beer brewery [...]. The parish Catholic church, wooden, on a brick foundation, dedicated to All Saints, originally founded by Grand Duke Vytautas (1414?), renovated in 1638, consecrated by Abraham Wojna, Bishop of Vilnius, rebuilt in 1816 by parish priest Fr. Niedzwiedzki, restored in 1846-1847 through the efforts of then parish priest Fr. Mikołaj Kozłowski. The Catholic parish of the Swiecian deanery has 12,233 worshippers [...]. The Swiecian decanate has 15 parishes [...] and 73,041 faithful".

In May 1919, Polish troops crushed Soviet troops near the city, but in July 1920 they lost the battle against the Bolsheviks heading for Warsaw. After the so-called 'Zeligowski Rebellion', Swiecian County became part of Central Lithuania, to be finally annexed to the Republic of Poland in March 1922.

A short history of the church in Święciany
. The founder of the first church in Švenčionys was (probably in the second decade of the 15th century) Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania (1354 or 1355-1430). A new church was built in 1634-1636, and was thoroughly renovated a little over a century later. Subsequent restorations of the church took place in 1820 and 1853.

A design for a new brick church was drawn up in 1885, but planning permission was not granted until several years later. The neo-style church, in its present form, was built at the end of the 19th century. It was consecrated in 1899 by the then Ordinary of Vilnius, Bishop Stefan Aleksander Zwierowicz. The church and the main altar (neo-Gothic, wooden) were founded by a Pole serving in the Russian army, General Kazimir Czechowicz (1847-1923), who undertook to the Tsarist authorities to build an Orthodox church in Švenčionys, which he did.

Casimir Chekhovich was a graduate of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, and during his 45 years of service in the Tsarist army he was stationed in garrisons in Irkutsk, St Petersburg and Tashkent. He ended his service in Odessa as commander of the 5th Border District in the Independent Border Guard Corps. With the rank of lieutenant-general, he retired in 1909. He was the owner of the manor house of Święcianka near Święciany. He died in 1923. He was laid to rest in his family quarters in the village of Grygaluny.

Swieciany church - architecture and furnishings
. The territory of the Swieciany church is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence on a low stone wall. The church itself is three-nave with a trilateral closed presbytery; two-towered. Its plan follows the structure of a Romanesque basilica with a dominant nave. The two-door main entrance is finished with an arch, the elements of which are a reference to the archivolts (ornamented, profiled face of the arch) and sculptural ornamentation used in medieval churches.

The main nave of the church, 13 metres high, is separated from the lower side aisles by arcades raised on pillars. Just behind the main entrance to the church is a staircase located on both sides, which leads to the music choir.

The main altar of All Saints is wooden and three-tiered. Its central part is decorated with an image of the Virgin Mary with the saints, while the sides are filled with figures of saints in niches. The decorative elements of the altar are gilded, stylistically referring to Gothic patterns. The structure is crowned with triangular vimpergas (decorative trim), decorated with crawls (stone corner ornaments) and florets (flowers with spread buds surrounded by usually four leaves on several levels). The wooden pulpit, surmounted by a canopy with pediment and cross, is decorated with rectangular panels with rosettes and gilded volute brackets.

The church was extensively renovated in 1998 and celebrated the 100th anniversary of its consecration a year later.

Related persons:
Time of origin:
1898
Author:
Tomasz Balbus
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