History

The exact date of establishment of a separate parish in Laskowiec, which previously formed part of the Giełczyn parish, remains unknown. The church in Giełczyn was heavily damaged in the course of wartime hostilities of 1914-1918; since it had been located at the edge of the parish anyway, the local parishioners began to petition the authorities to move the centre of the parish to Laskowiec. During the 1920s, a wooden church was built there, consecrated by archbishop Romuald Jałbrzykowski. In the 1930s, the parish priest responsible for the administration of the churches in Giełczyn and Laskowiec took up residence in the newly erected rectory in Laskowiec. During the interwar period, a cemetery is believed to have been established in Brzeziny, near the road from Brzeziny to Laskowiec; it was there that a wooden chapel was built during the 1920s. In the earlier years, the parishioners from Laskowiec had to bury their dead in the Giełczyn church cemetery and then in another cemetery situated 1.2 kilometres away from the old one, in the part of the village of Giełczyn known as Gać or Pólko Gać. This cemetery, founded during the 19th century, continues to serve the needs of the Giełczyn parish to this day. The cemetery chapel underwent a comprehensive restoration after the year 2010.

Description

The Roman Catholic cemetery is located by the Laskowiec-Giełczyn road, on the southern side thereof, east of the village of Brzeziny. The chapel is situated in the eastern part of the cemetery, on the axis of the main entrance, standing atop a small hill.

Designed on a hexagonal plan, it is adjoined by two cuboid annexes containing the chancel and the vestibule, their height being identical to that of the main body. The low, hexagonal body of the chapel is covered with a six-sided pyramid roof. The chapel is a wooden structure with vertical board and batten siding, its roof clad with wood shingles. The walls are pierced with four narrow windows divided into a number of smaller panes as well as by two small lights in the shape of a rhombus. A low steeple rises directly above the chapel entrance.

The historic monument can be visited from the outside.

compiled by Iwona Górska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Białystok, 13-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Górska I., Cmentarze, [in:] Z biegiem Biebrzy. Przewodnik historyczno - etnograficzny, A. Gaweł, G. Ryżewski (eds.), Białystok-Suchowola 2012, p. 211.
• Kułak, A., Świątynie i sanktuaria, [in:] Z biegiem Biebrzy. Przewodnik historyczno - etnograficzny, A. Gaweł, G. Ryżewski (eds.), Białystok-Suchowola 2012, p. 182.
• Spis kościołów i duchowieństwa archidiecezji białostockiej 2008, Białystok 2008.