The text describes the church in Smolensk, the road leading to it and the history of the church itself. The building in its present state was erected thanks to the efforts of the then church trustee, Franciszek Zabiełło. The furnishings of the church are also mentioned, including paintings and a statue of the crucified Christ (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1870, Series 2, T:6, p. 210, after: University of Łódź Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text.

Church in Smolensk.

The picturesque image we provide here shows a view of the Catholic church in Smolensk. Quite a distance from the town, behind the ruins of the former fortifications, on a small hill, rises a brick church with a small tower, next to it on the left a brick house - the vicarage, and further away a visible gaol - this is the Catholic cemetery. A gravel road leads to the church from the town from the side of Malachowska Tower. A tiny bridge, thrown over a deep tree-lined ravine, connects the hill with the gravel road. A dyke on the right side of the bridge forms a fairly large pond surrounded by scrub. Further on are scattered poor cottages at some distance from the church. Taken together, all this forms the backdrop of a picturesque picture, more like a village than a part of Smolensk, a town so famous in history. The hill on which the church is built is one big historical grave. In 1812, when Napoleon's army marched to Moscow and conquered Smolensk, thousands of Frenchmen died here during the storming of the fortress surrounding the city and the battle fought at the walls of the castle. The bodies of those who died in this memorable battle, assembled in one huge grave, formed this hill on which the poor Smolensk church stands today. On this spot, where the cemetery is today, a wooden church stood before 1812, burnt down during the assault. After that, Catholic services were held in a chapel in the cemetery until 1840, when the present church was built from contributions by parishioners, in particular from a several-thousand-dollar bequest by the Smolensk resident Italian Nolcini, thanks to the efforts of the then church administrator František Zabelála and his considerable personal donations. This temple has no special architectural feature. A few granite steps lead up to the four-column cloister, which supports a small tower that serves as a bell tower. From the cloister, one discovers a magnificent view of the town, girdled by a blackened high wall, which in many places is overgrown with bushes and even whole trees. In places, one can see half-wrecked bastions and trenches strewn all around the town, above which is a trench called the Royal Fortress. Opposite the entrance to the church, in the rotunda forming the presbytery, stands a huge cross, reaching from floor to ceiling, with a statue of the Saviour. At its foot is an altar with 12 candlesticks. The two side windows in the chancel, glazed with coloured glass, cast a blue-golden light on the figure of the crucified Christ and the people piously kneeling before him. To the left is a second altar with an image of the Virgin Mary, all decorated with live and artificial flowers, and above it an image of Christ blessing children. To the right is the altar of St Anthony of Padua. On the walls in the chancel four paintings of the Evangelists, in the church nave paintings of the Stations of the Cross and two paintings by Count Plater, "St Francis" and "St Peter the Apostle", and small gilded choirs with organ complete the interior of the church. The church is not very ornate, but the fact that every piece of equipment was donated by the parishioners, whose widow's penny the church depends on, shows such care for order, so much order, symmetry and taste in the arrangement that the whole makes a pleasant impression. It is still maintained with exemplary care by the noble and pious parish priest, Fr Denisewicz. And this care is also great, because the resources of this church are extremely poor. Smolensk has no permanent Catholic inhabitants; the parishioners are newcomers, mostly temporary, who are driven there for a piece of bread. The church is surrounded by gazebos of flowers, shrubs and trees, with a tasteful fence behind them. A paved path leads from the cloister to the cemetery, which adjoins the rectory and connects to an extensive garden. This garden and cemetery owe their existence to Fr Moszalski, who with his own hand planted an extensive fruit orchard and created today's cemetery, one of the most beautiful places Smolensk has. It is a spacious square, surrounded by a wide avenue of fir trees, thickly and highly overgrown. We have visited many churches and cemeteries in our lives, but nowhere have we found them so well maintained as in Smolensk. Dark fir avenues, so suitable for the solemnity of the place, covered with sand; among the bushes and flowers, graves carefully tended, and everywhere benches for the repose of pious passers-by.