Information about the object:
The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Horodenka is one of the most valuable late Baroque monuments in the territory of the former Republic of Poland. The founder of the church, built in 1743-1755, was Mikolaj Bazyli Potocki, starosta of Kaniów. The design of the church was the responsibility of the Lvov architect Bernard Meretyn. The author of the sculptural decoration was Jan Jerzy Pinzel, who is credited with the authorship of the main altar with monumental sculptures, as well as the side altars and the pulpit. Adjoining the church to the east is the monastery of the missionary priests, which was closed down in 1782.

The project consisted of renovation work on the roof of the buildings of the former Missionary Fathers' Monastery in Horodenka (Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast), adjacent to the historic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (designed by Bernard Meretin). The buildings form one of the most recognisable ensembles of monuments of late Baroque architecture and sculpture of the 18th century in the entire Republic.

Completed works:
The results of the task include removal of the original roof tiles, replacement of the roof structure, restoration and re-laying of roof tiles, installation of guttering.

The activities concentrated on the most endangered part of the complex - a fragment of the roof of the monastery buildings. The church is now used by the Horden Roman and Greek Catholic faithful, although it remains in the hands of the Greek Catholics. The former Roman Catholic church was notorious, among other things, for the interior decoration by Meretin and Johann Georg Pinzel, with a main altar decorated with monumental sculptures, side altars and a richly decorated pulpit. The present fate of the Pinzl sculptures is not entirely clear; probably all the Pinzl works preserved there since the war have gone to the Pinzl Museum in Lvov, while in Horodenka only a sculpture on a column with the Potocki coat of arms has remained in the monastery courtyard).

The historical complex has been renovated many times. In the 1920s, damage from World War I was repaired. After the Soviet period, multi-phase renovations were resumed from the early 1990s. Despite systematic renovation efforts, this year the roof required urgent intervention, for which wooden materials and connecting elements were used.

The work programme included the repair of part of the roof over the north-west wing of the monastery building. In accordance with the recommendations, maximum use was made of the original elements with carpentry marks when replacing the roof structure. The original tiles with marks of the Kolomyia factory were dismantled, cleaned and reused.

Funding: Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage "Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad".

More about the project: https://polonika.pl

• Fundacja Partnerstwa Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej, realizacja w roku 2021.