The Immaculate Conception Church (russian: Храм Непорочного Зачатия Пресвятой Девы Марии; pl, Kościół wezwaniem Niepokalanego Najświętszej Maryi) is an old

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in the city of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. This neo-Gothic building was built from 1884 to 1896 and hosted the Regional Archive of Smolensk. It is in a state of disrepair and is scheduled for complete restoration. It has a large body and remarkable stained glass windows. Religious services are now partial. The number of parishioners is around 9,000.

History

The church was consecrated on October 23, 1896. Records and parish archives were confiscated in 1918 during the Russian revolution. The parish meanwhile, which meets in one place, was closed during the Great Terror of 1937 and its curate executed along with a group of parishioners. The old church became a repository in 1940, just before the arrival of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

in 1941. The Catholic community obtained permission from the 2000s to use the former rectory of ceremonies as a chapel, which was restored. Governor Sergei Antoufiev said in October 2010 that a new repository for files would be built and the church would be restored from 2011 through funds provided by Poland. By early 2015 the building was empty and was classified as a specialized building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immaculate Conception Church, Church Buildings and structures in Smolensk Roman Catholic churches completed in 1896 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Russia Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of regional significance Cultural heritage monuments in Smolensk Oblast

History

See also

References