The Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

, Ukraine, forms part of the Bernardine Monastery and Church. It is located on Theatre Square in the center of the city. The

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

was built in 1721. The church, designed by architect Paweł Giżycki, was completed in 1789. Removed from ownership of the Bernardine monks in the second half of the 19th century, the complex of buildings was donated to the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

community of Lutsk. In the 1870s, the church was reconstructed by adding a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

above the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

and a central dome. Nowadays the church is the Holy Trinity Cathedral, belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The former Bernardine monastery is used as a library and for small shops.

History

Documentary sources show that a church already existed in the 15th century, located on the hill near Lutsk. In the 1640s, with the assistance of King

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

, the church was donated to the Bernardines. The chapel of the Crying Jesus was built in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cemetery near the church. In 1648, church was robbed during the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

attack. An attempt by the organist to guard against theft resulted in the wooden church being burnt to the ground in 1696. A member of the

Radziwiłł family The House of Radziwiłł (; ; ; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian origin, and one of the most powerful magnate families originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. Pa ...

granted 40,000 złoty to build a new monastery in brick while 16,000 zloty were allocated to build

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

s. Shortly afterwards, the architect Paweł Giżycki designed a new church in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. Although it was built for the Bernardines, the church was typically

Jesuit 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 ...

. With funding from Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, the church was completed in 1798. In 1793, Russian troops seized the complex and used it as a military warehouse until 1800. In the early 19th century, part of the monastery was used as a residence by Bishop Kasper Kazimierz Cieciszowski. Annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1795, Volyn had been independent for 30–40 years. It had ordinary cultural, religious and administrative status as a former

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. But, its autonomy was abolished by the Russian government in the 1830s. As a result of the Russian oppression of the Catholic Church, many churches and monasteries were closed. In 1853, the Bernardine monastery of Lutsk was closed and the monks of the Order left the city. The church was transferred to the Orthodox community of Lutsk. In 1876, the church was reconstructed by architect K. Rastruhanov. The gallery connecting the church and monastery was demolished. A central dome and a bell tower were added, symbolising Russian Orthodox architecture. Volyn belonged to

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

from 1920 to 1930. Lutsk was an administrative center of Volyn Viovodship as it was then known. The voivodship administration was located in the former Bernardine monastery. This building was used by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

police and the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

. On 12 August 1992, the church became the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Architecture

The

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

of monastery is in the shape of a

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

. The church is situated at the center. The transept of the church is located at the centre of the curve in the horseshoe semicircle. The complex consisting of the church and monastery represents a combination of Baroque and

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

styles. The church had a typically Jesuit appearance before it was reconstructed in the Orthodox style. The bell tower and the central dome rise above the roof. The main facade consists of decorated

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s. Eight small

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

s are set near the columns which separate the three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s. The walls and ceiling are decorated with bright painted icons. The interior is generally in the Orthodox style although it has a few Catholic features. A gilded oak

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

decorates the altar in a pseudo-Russian style. The

royal doors The royal doors, holy doors, or beautiful gates are the central doors of the iconostasis in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The sanctuary (sometimes called the ''Altar'', which contains the Holy Table) is separated from the nav ...

consist of two carved sections.

Gallery

File:ІнтерСоборЛуцьк.jpg, Interior File:Монастир і собор над майданом у Луцьку.jpg, Former monastery File:ВСоборЛуцьк2.jpg, Stained glass File:Ц2СоборЛуцьк2.jpg, Cross

Sources

* Колосок Б. В. Римо-католицькі святині Луцька. — К, 2004 * Mieczysław Orłowicz. Ilustrowany przewodnik po Wołyniu. Łuck 1929 *Терський С. Історія Луцька. Том 1. Лучеськ Х—XV ст. — Львів, 2006 {{Commons category, Churches in Lutsk Buildings and structures in Lutsk Cathedrals of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Tourist attractions in Lutsk Churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Monasteries used as prisons