In 2021. Polonika Institute began work on the Christian cemetery in Chernivtsi. Due to the great historical significance and high artistic value of the objects there, it is another necropolis of Ukraine that is important from the Polish point of view. The cemetery was founded in the 1860s, but the first burials on its grounds date back to the beginning of the 20th century.

In 2021, the following objects were conserved:

Abrahamovich family tomb
The Abrahamowiczs were a Polish Armenian family from Pokuttya, some of whom moved to Bukovina at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Already in the mid-19th century they were among the wealthiest local landowning families. Buried in the Chernivtsi cemetery, Christopher Abrahamovich (1803-1864) was the owner of a landed estate in Hliboka (south of Chernivtsi, near the Ukrainian border with Romania). He married Teresa, née Ehrl (1830-1864), daughter of the Chernivtsi bourgeois Jacob Ehrl.

A more prominent figure was their son Christopher Abrahamowicz jr (1854-1916), a member of the Bukovina National Diet for several terms, who played an important role in the establishment of state schools with the Polish language of instruction in Bukovina. He died in Vienna and was probably buried there.

Also listed in the book of the dead of the Armenian Catholic parish in Chernivtsi was Christopher Abrahamovich's son Edward, who died shortly after his birth on 28 January 1864. The year of Teresa Abrahamovich's death allows us to assume that she died as a result of complications after Edward's birth. There are many indications that the mausoleum, topped by a sculpture of a woman, was put up by her husband to commemorate his wife who died young. Christopher Abrahamowicz outlived her by only a few months - he died on 19 November 1864.

The Abrahamovichs' tomb is one of the oldest structures in the cemetery, having been moved from the previous necropolis located in the city centre. It consists of four Doric columns supporting a rectangular canopy with a full-figured sculpture of a semi-recumbent figure. In the central section, under the canopy, an urn is placed on a high plinth.

The tomb was in a poor state of preservation, with its individual elements severely deteriorated. There were problems with water seepage. The sculpture of the semi-recumbent figure on the roof was covered with secondary layers of colour, also the entire mausoleum had been repainted several times. Numerous secondary, improperly executed restorations were visible on the tomb.

Conservation began with sampling for examination to determine the stratigraphy of the paint layers and to identify a possible original colour layer. The object was disinfected several times, then cleaned of chemical and biological layers, secondary restorations and colour layers. Locally, disturbed limestone elements were reinforced. Defects in the mould and surface layer were restored with a suitably worked mineral mass imitating stone using stainless steel wire construction. Larger defects were filled in with stone material. A reconstruction of the sculpture's attributes was carried out on the basis of the queries.

The tombstone of Rev. Florian Mitulski (1810-1891). Fr Mitulski served as the Armenian Catholic parish priest in Chernivtsi from 1862. At the time he took over the parish, it had about 1200 worshippers and no temple of its own. The priest quickly managed to raise funds to build a church, which was consecrated in 1879. The temple, which still exists today, now houses the organ hall of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic Orchestra. For his merits, Fr Mitulski was awarded the Golden Cross of Civil Merit with crown, and on the occasion of his 50 years of priestly service, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Chernivtsi.
The gravestone is in the form of a limestone cross with a statue of Christ placed on a base and a three-tier pedestal. The grave field is surrounded by a cast iron fence on a concrete foundation.

The object was covered with numerous microbial and atmospheric build-ups. Severe cracking of the plinth under the cross and the base of the cross was identified. The fence, which lacked a gate, was also in poor condition.

As part of the conservation work, the object was plumbed, disinfected, and cleaned of secondary, harmful build-ups and additions. The limestone rock was strengthened with organosilicon preparations. The cracked stone plinth under the cross was reconstructed in analogous material. Defects in the form and surface layer were filled in with mineral mass. The entire structure was unified in colour and hydrophobised. In addition, the cracked foundation of the cast-iron fence was repaired and the fence itself was restored (including the reconstruction of the missing gate).

The grave of Grzegorz Zadurowicz, who died in 1845, is marked by a full-figure sculpture of Saint Gregory. Grzegorz Zadurowicz was probably descended from a Polish-Armenian family settled in Sniatyn, part of which moved to Bukovina at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Over time, the Zadurowicz family became one of the more important and wealthy families in the region. The death book of the Armenian Catholic parish in Chernivtsi states that he was the owner of a landed estate in Galicia. Zadurovich's tombstone was moved to the cemetery on Zelena Street still from the previous necropolis in the city centre.
The object was particularly threatened by its tilting and spreading of the pedestal shaft, which was temporarily repaired with cement mortar. Also, the entire statue of St Gregory was covered with a very large amount of cement mash and secondary cement restorations. In addition, there was an intensive growth of microbial build-up in the form of green algae, algae, black mycelium and yellowish and red lichens.

The conservation work required dismantling the object and creating a new, stable foundation for it. The tombstone was then thoroughly cleaned, allowing its sculptural form to be authenticated and the stone surface to be exposed. The deteriorated limestone was strengthened with an organosilicon preparation, and injections were made in the cracked areas. Defects in the form and surface layer were restored with mineral paste. Larger cavities were restored using the flecking method, in similar stone material. It was necessary to reconstruct the left hand of the figure and to authenticate the inscription. On the basis of the last historical representation of the tombstone, a reconstruction of St Gregory's attribute was made.

Executor: Anna Kudzia Conservation of Monuments

The following objects have been selected for conservation in 2023:

tombstone of Tekla Simonowiczowa (1800-1873) née Krzysztofowicz
Tombstone of Lazar Mikhailovich (d. 1840) The figure of Mikhailovich appears in historical references to the Pieta monument placed in 1827 in Chernivtsi market square. Mikhailovich is said to have initiated and funded the creation of this sculptural representation of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Jesus Christ. In the 1920s, when Chernivtsi became part of Romania, the statue was removed from the city centre and moved to the area of the Jesuit church, and then, already in Soviet times, it was irretrievably destroyed.
The gravestone of Father Kajetan Kasprowicz (1854-1909) - Catholic priest of the Armenian rite. He was born in Chernivtsi and received his early education there. He then began to study law at the University of Chernivtsi, from which he resigned in 1879 and moved to the Faculty of Theology of the University of Lviv. He was ordained a priest in 1882. He began his pastoral ministry as vicar at the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv, from where he was transferred to his home town after two years. In Chernivtsi, he took over most of the responsibilities of the then already aged pastor of the Armenian parish, Fr Florian Mitulski, and after his death in 1891 became pastor himself. Rev. Kajetan Kasprowicz was involved in charitable and patriotic activities of the Polish population living in Bukovina. In 1896 he initiated the establishment of a boarding school for poor youth, to which he bequeathed all his property. He was one of the founders of the Society for the Care of the Blind and Deaf. Fr Celestyn Torosevich (1804-1861), founder of the Armenian Catholic Parish in Chernivtsi, is also buried in the same tomb.
The conservation work on the gravestones consisted of cleaning them from surface layers, possible secondary colour layers and later additions. The objects were then disinfected and strengthened. Defects were filled in with mineral paste and missing elements were reconstructed. In the case of the tombstone of Tekla Simonowiczowa, whose significant deviation from the axis threatened to collapse the object, a new foundation was made.

Executor: Anna Kudzia Conservation of Monuments

Conservation work carried out between 2021 and 2023, Conservation Programme, Polonica Institute