On the distant outskirts of Lviv, in Vinnitsa, there is an interesting monument of sacred architecture from the mid-18th century. - The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built according to the plans of architect Bernard Meretyn.

Church in Vinnitsa

The church was built on a vast terrace on the slope of a hill rising above the town centre. It is a small, graceful building with late Baroque style features, with the original proportions of the church somewhat disrupted by the addition of a spacious vestibule in the late 19th century.

Construction dragged on for almost 30 years (from around 1738 to the 1760s). The author of the project was Bernard Meretyn, one of the most important Polish architects of the 18th century, active in Lviv and Red Ruthenia. The church in Vinniki dates from the early period of his activity, when the artist did not yet present a fully developed artistic individuality. A creative development of the solutions adopted in Vinnitsa are the projects of Meretin a few years later - the churches in Navarna and Hodovitsa, near Lviv, considered to be among his most important works.

Interior of the church

The church was famous for its miraculous image of Our Lady of Vinnitsa, which probably dates back to the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries and is a copy of the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. This painting was given by the last parish administrator, who left for Poland in 1946, for safekeeping in the local Greek-Catholic church, where it remains to this day.

The interior of the church was decorated with wall paintings from the second half of the 18th century, which were heavily repainted in 1912 and later suffered additional damage during the Soviet era. Also dating from the second half of the 18th century were the altars, pulpit and organ prospectus, which were lost after the Second World War.

The Vinnitsa church was turned into a warehouse during Soviet times, and was returned to the faithful after almost 50 years of devastation in 1992. Over the past quarter of a century, the church has undergone repairs to the roof and external walls, and a copy of the image of Our Lady of Vinnitsa has been placed in the main altar.

This year marks the beginning of a project, planned over several years, to conserve the wall paintings, with the aim of removing the effects of secondary repainting and post-war devastation and restoring the baroque interior decoration of the church. The conservation work will be carried out by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Lviv under the direction of Dr. Paweł Boliński of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. The project is funded by the POLONIKA Institute.

Vinnitsa

When talking about the church in Vinnitsa, it is impossible not to mention the town itself. It is picturesquely situated on the border of the Eastern Roztocze range, which surrounds Lviv from the north and east, and the flat and fertile valley of the Marunka River, a tributary of the Poltva. The river runs through a picturesque gorge through the Czartowska Skała range, and an old route connecting Lviv with Złoczów and Tarnopol runs along it. Although Vinnitsa is only a few kilometres from the centre of Lviv, the barrier of the steep and wooded hills means that the town has retained its individuality and has not merged with the Lviv agglomeration.

The town's name derives from the grapevines grown here in ancient times. The tradition of wine production declined over time, but the inhabitants of Vinnitsa were involved in tobacco growing and processing at least from the first half of the 18th century. The town is still famous for this today - back in Austrian times, a tobacco factory was established in the former castle, which still operates and is the main workplace for the inhabitants of Vinnitsa.