Lubieszów is not only a picturesque town in Volhynia, but also an important place on the educational map of the former Republic of Poland. It was here, in the Piarist college, that Tadeusz Kościuszko began his education. Learn about the fascinating history of this place, its architecture, famous figures and heritage that has survived the centuries.

History of Lubieszów and the foundation of the Piarist college

Lubieszów (ukr. Любешів) is a town in Volhynia, on the Stochód River, located on the historic route from Pinsk to Rivne and Lutsk. In the last quarter of the 17th century, the surrounding estate belonged to Jan Karol Dolski (1637-1695), Grand Marshal of Lithuania. He founded here a private town called Nowy Dolsk (at the same time, the former name Lubieszów was used). Dolski built a residence with a garden and, together with his wife Anna of Chodorowska (1st voto Wiśniowiecka), founded a wooden Piarist church in 1689. The founders also planned to establish a school, which they intended to locate in Pinsk. However, following the suggestion of the Piarists (there was already a Jesuit college in the city), they decided to locate it in Lubieszów.

The church in Lyubieszov and its unusual decoration
After Dolski's death, the estate was inherited by his stepson and son-in-law, Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki (1680-1744), Grand Hetman of Lithuania. Together with his wife Catherine, née Dolska (the only daughter of Jan Karol from his first marriage to Elżbieta Ostrorożanka), he furnished the Piarist foundation.

Construction of the next brick church began in 1733 and was mostly financed by the Piarist Order. The basic construction work was completed in 1762, at which time work began on the interior decoration of the church, which lasted until 1765. The work was carried out by a Silesian-born monk from the Lubieszów monastery and painter Karl Hübel (monk's name Lukáš, 1722-1793). The illusionistic paintings covered the entire interior of the church. They consisted of vault decorations showing, among other things, the Ascension and scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. They were among the most artistically outstanding wall paintings in the former Republic of Poland.

Karl Hübel also produced a number of easel paintings for the Lubiesz convent. Only Hübel's self-portrait has survived to this day, made according to tradition on the recommendation of the Prior, in recognition of the painter's merits. The painting is now in the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius.

The Church of St John the Evangelist was consecrated in 1786, but its facades remained unfinished for a long time. They were plastered only between 1829 and 1840, and the construction of the projected towers on the front façade could not be realised. Inventory descriptions from 1829 and 1840 record that material - bricks and lime - had been collected for the construction, and scaffolding had even been erected, but the project was eventually abandoned due to lack of funds and the unfavourable political situation.

Piarist college - building and surroundings
The Piarists initially lived in a wooden building, which also housed the college from 1693. In 1696 Anna Dolska, widow of Jan Karol, donated the sum of 30,000 zlotys for the construction of a brick monastery and 1,000 zlotys for the purchase of books for the library.

Construction of the brick monastery began in 1700, but the building was not finally completed until 1730. The monastery was adjacent to the church and consisted of four two-storey wings surrounding an inner courtyard. One wing was occupied by a school with five classrooms, with physics and chemistry rooms housing a collection of minerals and instruments for teaching geometry. An extensive library was added to the school wing. Adjacent to the quadrangle of the monastery was a single-storey wing housing the farm buildings and a convict with pupils' quarters. There was a pharmacy in the monastery, which also served the townspeople.

Behind the monastery buildings an extensive ornamental garden was laid out, described in sources as a "botanical garden". It was landscaped with flowerbeds and young trees, between which a sundial was set on a pedestal. Further away were the brick buildings of the orangery and greenhouse with large windows, heated by a system of pipes supplying heat through openings in the brick floor. There was also a space planned for the display of hothouse plants, including citrus trees, in the summer, as well as two lined alleys and a wooden gazebo. The whole was surrounded by a wall with small turrets at the corners.

The ornamental garden and the greenhouses no longer existed in the 1870s, the only thing that remained was a functional garden with an orchard and fishponds, leading to the river, where a boat landing was located.

College students
In 1696, the next owners of Lubieszów - Michał Serwacy and Katarzyna Wiśniowieccy - bequeathed the sum of 20,000 zlotys for the education of twelve poor young men by the Lubieszów Piarists. Initially, there were three classes at the Piarist college; in 1804, the fourth class was opened, and in 1807 the fifth and sixth classes were opened (it then gained the status of a grammar school). After 1830, it again functioned as a four-class school. In 1833, 318 pupils were educated at the college. The school was closed by the Russian authorities by decree of 10 December 1834, as part of the repressions following the fall of the November Uprising.

In the years 1755-1760, Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817) - as commemorated by a plaque erected in 1921 - and his older brother Józef (ca. 1743-1794) were educated at the Lubieszów Piarists. In 1796-1799, the future botanist and Vilnius University professor Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł (1761-1847) studied here.

Piarist Monastery - further fate
. The monastery survived the mass cassation in 1832, but ten years later (1842) it was categorised as super-eternal and all property was confiscated. The monastery was still in existence until 1852, when it was finally abolished by decree of the Russian authorities. The abandoned building gradually deteriorated.

During the First World War, the monastery buildings and church were severely damaged as a result of fighting over the Stochod river in July 1916. In 1934, the Piarist Order regained the Lubieszów outpost, and the following year (1935) the monks opened a male gymnasium in the former monastery building, which was granted (1936) the rights of a state school.

During the German bombardment of Lubieszów in 1944, the Piarist church was severely damaged and remained abandoned from then on. It was finally demolished in 1969 on the orders of the Soviet authorities.

Only the building of the former monastery, which was used as a school after 1945, has survived to this day. Today it remains partly abandoned and partly used for offices and shops.