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ID: POL-001983-P

Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Wiesenberg

ID: POL-001983-P

Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Wiesenberg

History
The church was built in 1858 with funds donated by parishioners and was also consecrated in the same year. However, the information is very fussy, we know nothing about the church, any pastoral activities or alterations over the next almost seventy years.

Further references do not appear until 1925 and relate to the poor technical state of the church, which was then in need of major repairs due to the roof rotting away, causing dampness in the walls. The building was in a deplorable state. The vaults were in danger of collapsing, the walls of the upper nave were crumbling, and the walls of the porch were badly cracked. For these reasons, the starosty of Zhovkva decided to close the church. Later that year, the church was repaired and extended, extending the church westwards and raising the roof by 2 metres, and two masonry columns were inserted to support the ceiling. As a result, the shape of the building changed significantly from a single-nave to a three-nave building. The cost of the work amounted to £3,000 and was again covered by the parishioners. The 1930s brought further changes, and the furnishings of the church were gradually completed. In 1931, a new masonry main altar was erected, in which an 18th century painting depicting the temple's patron saint, St Michael, was probably placed. In 1936, new wooden capitals, picture frames and ornaments were added to the altar columns, at a total cost of 200 zloty. A wooden tabernacle was also added for 120 zloty. In 1937, the bell tower, which was in danger of collapsing, was demolished and construction of a new one began. The side altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was also erected and decorated with statues of the Crucified Christ and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A year later, another side altar was added, this time of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the old image of the Virgin Mary was placed.

During the Second World War, in 1941 at the latest, the church was burnt down. The German settlers who lived in the village left. In 1948, the ruins of the church were converted into a grain warehouse for the local kolkhoz. The building was also used as a shop until 1989. In 1994, it was decided to transform the church into a Greek-Catholic church, which eventually led to its complete reconstruction.

Architecture
The church is situated in the middle of the village, on an oval square. It is oriented, brick and plastered. It was built on a rectangular ground plan. It has a rectangular sacristy to the east. The interior is without articulation. The side walls of the nave each have three rectangular windows closed with a semicircle. To the west, again a rectangular entrance opening. The elevations are without articulation, with a prominent low plinth. The entrance opening is in a semicircular arcade, framed by a flat portal house topped by a triangular gable, truncated from above. Surrounding the church was formerly a brick-built, zinc-coated belfry containing two bells, one weighing 120 kg and the other 65 kg. The former furnishings of the church included the main altar, the two aforementioned side altars, a stone baptismal font, two paintings of St Anthony and St Teresa and 3-16 Stations of the Cross, a gilded and silver-plated reliquary. However, we do not know the fate of the furnishings. The church again remained in a state of disrepair until the mid-1990s: the vaults had collapsed, the walls were soggy and much of the plaster had been removed. During its conversion into an Orthodox church, the building was restored to its proper technical condition, its walls were also raised, two towers were added to the front, and a pseudo-transept and a dome were erected halfway up.

Time of origin:
1858
Bibliography:
  • Marek Walczak, „Kościół parafialny p.w. Św. Michała Archanioła w Wiesenbergu [w:] Materiały do dziejów sztuki sakralnej na ziemiach wschodnich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Kościoły i klasztory rzymskokatolickie dawnego województwa ruskiego.” Cz. I. T. 8. Kraków 2000, 253-255.
Author:
Izabela Miecznikowska
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