The Church of Saint Nicholas () is a Catholic church in

Svir The Svir (; ; Karelian language, Karelian and Finnish language, Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky District, Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky District, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky District, Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad O ...

, Minsk Region, Belarus. It was built in 1653, then destroyed during the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667.

History

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

According to records, the first donations for the altar in Svir were made as early as in 1411 by the local Count Petr Petkovich Svirsky. In 1452 the wooden church was built by order of Ivan Svirsky. The church received of croplands, Lake Tusha with a mill and several villages. On August 1, 1472, the nephew of Ivan Svirsky, Senka Romanovich, donated money to build a new altar in the church. In 1490 and 1503 more generous donations were made by local noble families.

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1577 Count , a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, established a Calvinist parish in the church. In 1598 the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

sued the local Calvinists and got back all the church's property. In 1644 they started the construction of a new stone church. It was consecrated in 1653 but soon destroyed in the Russo-Polish war of 1654–1667.

20th century

Between 1903 and 1908, the new church was constructed on the site of the destroyed one. The National Historic Archive of Belarus has documents dated 1923–1940 regarding births, deaths, and weddings. The Soviet authorities closed the church on March 4, 1961, and dismantled the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

. In 1981 a branch of the Smorgon factory occupied the building. On May 31, 1982, four crosses were taken off the church. In 1985 three church bells were sold for scrap. The parish managed to save one of the bells, which is currently displayed near the church.

References

{{Coord, 54, 51, 11, N, 26, 23, 46, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Belarus