It was built according to a design created by the Warsaw architect Wiesław Kononowicz. 

History 

The village was first mentioned in historical records in 1430. In 1474, there was an Orthodox parish church here, subsequently converted into a Greek Catholic one (1596). After the cancellation of the Union of Brest, the church was converted again (1875) into an Orthodox one. Roman Catholics belonged to the parish in Oszczów.

The present-day neo-Gothic church was erected thanks to the efforts of the then heir, Stefan Świeżawski, as a votive offering for the Holy See's dispensation, which had enabled him to marry the daughter of his father’s brother. The temple, modeled on St. Mary's Church in Krakow, was designed by the Warsaw architect Wiesław Kononowicz. The construction lasted from 1910 to 1914. The stained glass windows for the chancel were produced by the Warsaw company of Franciszek Białkowski around 1921, whereas the other stained glass windows were produced in the 1980s. For many years, the church was treated as a private temple of the founders belonging to the parish in Oszczów. The church was designated as an independent parish in 1948. 

The brick perimeter fence was built in the same period as the church. The fence has been renovated several times and has been partly replaced with a new one.

In 1905, a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was erected in the vicinity of the church. Funds for its construction were provided by S. Świeżawski as a votive offering of gratitude for the Tsar's Ukase of Tolerance.

Description

The church complex is located in the central part of the village, within a vast church cemetery, partially surrounded by a brick fence. It is a neo-Gothic church representing the “Krakow Gothic” style. The chancel is facing north-west. Built on the floor plan of a Latin cross, it has a single nave with chapels forming the arms of the transept. The nave is three-bay, preceded by a church porch, with a square tower above it from the east. The chancel is slightly narrower than the nave, single-bay, closed on three sides, with one-storey annexes on the sides: the sacristy is in the western part and the founder’s box (enclosed compartment) in the eastern part. The church was built from ceramic bricks and is set on a granite plinth. Individual parts of the building are covered with gable roofs (above the eastern chapel and the chancel, they are topped with a multi-span roof) and with two-span roofs (sacristy and box) with copper sheet cladding. The nave and the chancel are covered with ribbed groin vaults; in the eastern chapel and in the semi-circular termination (apse) of the chancel, there is a stellar vault. The western chapel is topped by a net vault. In the boxes (enclosed compartments), there is a false diamond vault and in the crypt of the Świeżawski family - barrel vaults. The walls of the nave are divided by wall pillars and in-between there are pointed-arch recesses with windows. The chancel, chapels and the choir gallery open onto the nave with pointed-arch arcades. The church has a multi-section structure, which gives it a varied appearance. The elevations, with partly plastered brickwork, imitate a stone cladding.

The façade is asymmetrical, with a six-storey square tower facing the east, whose cupola ends with a spire and is surrounded by a wreath of turrets. This tower is a replica of one of the cupolas of St. Mary's Church in Krakow. In the corner of the eastern elevation, there is a low cylindrical tower with a decorative triforium. In the central part, there is a church portal with a terrace at the top, surrounded by an openwork balustrade. On the ground floor, there is an entrance opening in a wide pointed-arch arcade decorated with stone bars and a cornice projecting stepwise. Above, there is a large pointed-arch window filled with traceries. The other window openings in the nave, chapels and chancel are also high, closed with a sharp arch, filled with traceries and stained glass windows. The windows in the tower, sacristy and the founder’s box are lower and some of them have the form of biforas. All the elevations are surmounted by stepped buttresses and finished with brick friezes; the chancel is topped with a frieze made of pointed-arch arcaded blinds. The top of the western chapel is stepped, divided by pointed-arch blind windows and topped with pinnacles. The eaves rest on decorative corbels. The furnishings are stylistically varied (including neo-Gothic: side altar, confessional, pews and Passion stations), supplemented after World War I, mostly with items transferred from the pre-existing churches.

The perimeter fence has the form of a full brick wall consisting of pillars divided into sections by shallow recesses terminated by a segmental arch – on the north-west side, there is a fragment of the preserved original fence. Elsewhere, the fence has been mostly reconstructed or replaced with a new one.

The stone statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, set on a high plinth on the axis of the church façade.

The heritage site is accessible upon prior arrangement by telephone.

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 27-11-2017

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, volume VIII: Województwo lubelskie, issue 6: Powiat hrubieszowski, Warsaw 1964, p. 5.
• Niedźwiedź E., Niedźwiedź J., Nowakowska U., Dzieje miejscowości gminy Dołhobyczów powiat hrubieszowski, Dołhobyczów-Zamość 2006, p. 33 and nn.
• Tur-Marciszuk K., Witraże w województwie lubelskim wpisane do rejestru zabytków, “Wiadomości Konserwatorskie Województwa Lubelskiego”, vol. 18, 2016, p. 220.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Małopolska, multi-author compilation, Warsaw 2016, pp. 351-352.
• Zahajkiewicz M. T. priest, Diecezja Lubelska. Informator historyczny i administracyjny, Lublin 1985, p. 346.
• Żywicki J., Architektura neogotycka na Lubelszczyźnie, Lublin1998, pp. 179-181.