The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Lutsk: a Jesuit church by the castle gate

The first stone of this church lies in its own foundations. In 1610 Bishop Paweł Wołucki blessed the cornerstone — and it was built into the base of the new church, on which work began only six years later.

In brief

History

The Jesuits were invited to Lutsk in 1604 by Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski. In 1608 the mission school was reorganised into a collegium, and in 1609 King Sigismund III granted a privilege to buy a plot for the church and the new collegium. They built on the edge of the Outer Castle, by its entrance gate: the south-western wall stood on the site of former wooden fortifications and faced “the field”. Loopholes on the facades and in the basements are a reminder that the church also had a defensive role.

The design was created by the Italian Giacomo Briano, who supervised the work in 1616–1620 (according to different data, 1616–1619 or 1617–1621). After him the construction was led by Maciej Maik. The vaults were laid in 1630, and the dome was completed in 1637; the two towers and galleries appeared during the rebuilding of 1724–1730. Bishop Andrzej Gembicki consecrated the church in 1639 (according to other data, in 1640). Next to it rose the collegium, where, according to Wikipedia, from 150 to over 300 students studied.

The fire of 14 June 1724 badly damaged the church, and by 1730 it was rebuilt by the Jesuit architect Paweł Giżycki: galleries were added on both sides of the church, two towers appeared, and it acquired a Classicist look. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was not rebuilt after the fire of 1781, and in 1787 the see was moved to the former Jesuit church; according to “Monitor Wołyński”, it was consecrated as a cathedral by Bishop Jan Kaszkowski. The fire of 1818 forced the replacement of the shingle roof with a metal one, the fire of 1924 destroyed the high altar, and in May 1944 the church suffered from bombing.

After the war the see was abolished and the church was closed (in 1946, according to other data 1947 or 1948). Vegetables were stored in the vaults; in 1980 a museum of atheism was opened (according to other data, in the 1970s), and later the interior was remade for the “Cosmos” exhibition. The first service after the interruption took place on 27 September 1990; the church became a cathedral again in 1996, with the restoration of the Diocese of Lutsk.

Chronology

The figures in square brackets are the numbers of the sources in the list at the bottom of the page. The note “according to …” means that the fact is confirmed by a single source only. The “Legends” section contains traditions and legends: they are recorded in the sources but not confirmed by documents.

Era I. The earlier cathedral and the founding of the Jesuit house

1. 1427–1428

   Grand Duke Vytautas built the first wooden cathedral church of the Holy Trinity in Lutsk (1427 according to Suspilne); Latin plaques in the cathedral mention the transfer of the see from Volodymyr to Lutsk in 1428. ^{[1, 13, 15]}

2. 1538–1544

   Bishop Jerzy Falczewski replaced the wooden Trinity church with a masonry one (according to Suspilne, “probably in 1545”). ^{[5, 13]}

3. 1604

   The Bishop of Lutsk Marcin Szyszkowski initiated and endowed the Jesuit collegium. That same year a mission house with free public schools was opened. ^{[1, 20]}

4. 1609

   King Sigismund III granted a privilege to buy a plot for the church and the new large collegium. ^[1]

5. 1610

   According to the “Dziedzictwo Kulturowe” Foundation, Bishop Paweł Wołucki blessed the cornerstone, which was built into the foundation of the future church. Wołucki headed the Diocese of Lutsk from 1607 to 1616. The Ukrainian Wikipedia writes that he blessed the foundations after the laying of 1616. ^{[1, 3, 19]}

6. 16 July 1616

   The cornerstone of the church's foundations was laid with the participation of the Jesuit Giacomo Briano. Briano's supervision falls in 1616–1620 (according to Dziedzictwo, 1616–1619). ^{[1, 3, 24]}

7. 1616–1639

   Construction lasted 23 years. The church was built on the site of the entrance tower of the Outer Castle, so that it would replace a section of the castle wall, and the main facade faced the entrance gate. The plan is cruciform with a dome, based on a Greek cross inscribed in a square. ^{[1, 23]}

8. 1627

   Supervision of the construction passed to the architect Maciej Maik (May). According to Wikipedia, the vaults were laid in 1630 and the dome was completed in 1637. ^[1]

9. 6 October 1639

   Bishop Andrzej Gembicki consecrated the church; Catholics mark this date every year as a solemnity. Some sources date the consecration to 1640. ^{[2, 3, 4, 9, 21]}

Era II. The Jesuit collegium and the rebuilding

1. 14 June 1724

   A fire badly damaged the church and the collegium. Rebuilding continued until 1730 with the participation of the Jesuit architect Paweł Giżycki: galleries were added on both sides of the church, two towers appeared, and it acquired a Classicist look. ^{[1, 2]}

Era III. The see under foreign empires

1. 1773

   Pope Clement XIV abolished the Jesuit order; the complex was handed over to the Commission of National Education. ^{[1, 2]}

2. 1781

   The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity burned down and was not rebuilt. ^{[1, 5]}

3. 1787

   The see was moved to the former Jesuit church, which received the rank of cathedral. According to “Monitor Wołyński”, it was consecrated by Bishop Jan Kaszkowski. ^{[1, 4, 5]}

4. 1795–1798

   After the partitions of Poland, Volyn found itself within the Russian Empire; in 1798 the dioceses of Lutsk and Zhytomyr were merged, and Kasper Cecyszowski became bishop. ^{[1, 2, 15]}

5. 1818

   A fire; the shingle roof was replaced with a metal one. A round plaque about this work is set into the wall of the presbytery (according to “Monitor Wołyński”). ^[5]

6. 1831

   Bishop Kasper Cecyszowski died; he was buried in the underground church, and his epitaph was placed on a pillar of the upper church (according to “Monitor Wołyński”). ^[5]

7. 19th century

   In the middle of the century the Russian authorities closed Catholic monasteries and churches in Volyn; in Lutsk only the cathedral remained active. Valuables from closed churches were moved here, including the crowned image of Our Lady of Lutsk from the Dominican church (according to Wikipedia). ^[1]

Era IV. The interwar years, war and Soviet closure

1. 1924

   A fire destroyed the high altar together with the painting of the Holy Trinity by Kunitzer; according to Wikipedia, the crowned icon of Our Lady of Lutsk also burned. A new altar was built the following year. ^{[1, 22]}

2. 14 December 1925

   The Diocese of Lutsk was restored, and Adolf Piotr Szelążek became bishop (he governed until 1950). ^{[15, 18]}

3. 17 September 1939

   The Red Army entered Lutsk; Bishop Szelążek appointed Władysław Bukowiński parish priest of the cathedral. ^{[7, 16]}

4. 1940

   The cathedral was declared an architectural monument of state importance (according to “Monitor Wołyński”). ^[5]

5. The night of 4 January 1945

   Bishop Szelążek and Father Bukowiński were arrested. The bishop was released on 15 May 1946 and on 17 May was taken out to Poland; he died on 9 February 1950. ^{[16, 17, 18]}

6. 1946 (according to other data 1947 or 1948)

   The Soviet authorities closed the cathedral. The building was used as a warehouse and workshops; in the vaults vegetables were stored (according to other data, coal). ^{[1, 3, 4, 5, 11, 22]}

7. December 1980

   The Regional Museum of Atheism was opened in the former church (according to other data, 1981 or the 1970s). In 1982 the high altar was dismantled and the “Cosmos” exhibition appeared in its place (according to Wikipedia). The museum operated until 1992. ^{[1, 3, 5, 11, 22]}

Era V. Return and revival

1. 27 September 1990

   The first Roman Catholic service after the interruption took place (according to Wikipedia). ^[1]

2. 25 June 1991

   Decision No. 140 of the executive committee of the Volyn Regional Council to hand the church over to the Roman Catholic community (gcatholic gives 26 June). Services were at first held in a side chapel, while a museum still operated in the main hall. ^{[4, 5, 6, 23]}

3. 18 May 1996

   The Diocese of Lutsk was restored, and the church became a cathedral again. ^{[4, 15]}

4. 16 May 1998

   Bishop Markiyan Trofymiak was installed in the cathedral. ^{[1, 15]}

5. 1999

   An organ of 1953, the work of masters from Osnabrück, was brought from Germany and installed. ^{[1, 2]}

6. 1 October 2004

   The Diocesan Museum in Lutsk was founded on the basis of works preserved in the cathedral's galleries; Canon Augustyn Mednis became curator (according to Polonika). ^[11]

7. 2014–2018

   An expert examination (2014) found that the basements were getting damp because the roof had no drainage; in 2017 storm drains were laid, and in 2018 the chapel floor was restored (according to Dziedzictwo). ^[3]

8. 2016

   On 25 June the parish marked the 25th anniversary of the return of the church, and on 9 October the 400th anniversary of the laying of the foundation; the nuncio Claudio Gugerotti officiated at the celebration (according to other data from “Monitor”, the 25th anniversary was celebrated on 29 June). ^{[6, 7]}

9. 24 July 2017

   A Polish delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Culture Jarosław Sellin inspected the church and the vaults. ^[8]

10. 2020

    On 5 March updated exhibitions were opened in the vaults; on 13 July the first virtual tour of the Lutsk underground vaults on Google Maps was announced. ^{[12, 14]}

11. 2021

    Laser scanning of the cathedral (about 700 scans) for a Polish heritage protection project. ^[10]

12. 8 September – 6 October 2024

    A copy of the Kodeń icon of the Mother of God was blessed on 8 September; on 6 October, the anniversary of the church's consecration, it was solemnly brought into the cathedral. ^[9]

Lost and restored

Architecture

The facade has three vertical axes: the central nave with a large dome and two side towers. According to the Polish foundation “Dziedzictwo Kulturowe”, the wide two-tower facade was designed by Benedetto Molli. The height from the floor to the cross above the central dome is 42.05 m (according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia; the English Wikipedia gives about 42 m, “Monitor Wołyński” 41 m).

Below are two elements of the church, in a photograph and in a drawing. The drawings show the form, not exact dimensions.

The main facade with sculptures

The decoration of the facade combines Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism. It is adorned with five sculptures: three in the lower tier and two in the upper. Above the main entrance, on the balcony, is the Mother of God; on either side of the entrances are sculptures of the Apostles Peter and Paul, made by different authors. One tower is octagonal, the other square, with an arch and a clock. Some of the loopholes on the facades and in the basements are now below ground level.

The dome

The dome was completed in 1637 (according to other data, 1638); according to “Lubart’s Chronicles”, the diameter of its base is 13.37 m. According to the same source, a document on the completion of the building was placed in the orb of the dome.

Stone and material

The sources we reviewed do not detail the material of the walls. What is known is that the cornerstone of 1610 lies in the foundation, and that the basements go down about 6 metres. In the vaults a stone portal, burials and Latin inscriptions survive. After the fire of 1724 the walls, according to “Lubart’s Chronicles”, were reinforced with “additional sectors”, and after 1818 the roof shingle gave way to metal.

The main threat to the church today is not fire but water. An expert examination in 2014 showed that the basements get damp because the roof has no drainage; in 2017 storm drains were laid and the joints of the walls with the ground were sealed. The simplest detail, the gutter, sometimes matters more for stone than any restoration.

The figures of the apostles on the facade are a reason to think about sculpture in church architecture. Another church where the dome decides the composition is St Andrew’s Church in Kyiv.

Did you know

Legends

People

• Marcin Szyszkowski — Bishop of Lutsk (1604–1607), initiator and founder of the Jesuit collegium (1604). ^{[1, 20]}
• Paweł Wołucki — Bishop of Lutsk (1607–1616), according to Dziedzictwo he blessed the cornerstone in 1610; his coat-of-arms relief is in the cathedral, and his coffin was moved to the underground church. ^{[1, 3, 5, 19]}
• Sigismund III Vasa — king, granted the privilege to buy the plot in 1609. ^[1]
• Giacomo Briano — Jesuit architect, author of the church’s design (supervision from 1616). ^{[1, 3, 24]}
• Maciej Maik (May) — architect who led the work from 1627. ^[1]
• Benedetto Molli — author of the collegium design (1646). ^{[1, 3]}
• Andrzej Gembicki — Bishop of Lutsk from 1638, consecrated the church in 1639. ^{[9, 21]}
• Paweł Giżycki — Jesuit architect, rebuilding after the fire of 1724. ^{[1, 2]}
• Baltazar Tyszka — canon, founder of the confraternity of mercy at the church (1640). ^[1]
• Jerzy Falczewski — bishop who in 1538–1544 built the masonry Cathedral of the Holy Trinity; his burial was moved to the vaults. ^{[5, 13]}
• Kasper Cecyszowski — Bishop of Lutsk and Zhytomyr from 1798, died in 1831, buried in the underground church. ^{[1, 5]}
• Adolf Piotr Szelążek — Bishop of Lutsk (1925–1950); arrested in 1945, released in 1946. ^{[17, 18]}
• Władysław Bukowiński — parish priest of the cathedral (1939–1945), blessed (beatified on 11 September 2016). ^{[7, 16]}
• Augustyn Mednis — canon (1932–2007), curator of the Diocesan Museum. ^[11]
• Markiyan Trofymiak — ordinary of the restored diocese from 1998. ^{[1, 15]}
• Witalij Skomarowski — bishop-ordinary of the Diocese of Lutsk since 2014. ^{[1, 8]}

How to cite