Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church in

Navahrudak Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus. In the Middle A ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

church erected in 1712–1723, replacing an earlier

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

building from the late 14th century, and originally consecrated under the title of Corpus Christi. Two Gothic chapels survive and are included in the Baroque building. In 1799 the poet Adam Mickiewicz was baptized in this church. Closed in 1857, re-opened in 1906. Currently active.

History

Vytautas the Great Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...

founded the church in 1395 on the site of a former pagan temple. In 1422

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. w ...

married here his fourth wife

Sophia of Halshany Sophia (Sonka) of Halshany or Sophia Holshanska ( be, Соф'я Гальшанская, translit=Sofja Halšanskaja; lt, Sofija Alšėniškė; pl, Zofia Holszańska; – September 21, 1461 in Kraków) was a princess of Halshany and was Queen o ...

, establishing the

Jagiellonian dynasty The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...

. In 1643 local

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

Jan Rudamina added a marble

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

in commemoration of the Navahrudaks knights fallen in the Battle of Khotyn in 1621. In 1712-1740 the church was rebuilt. The local masons Jacop Boksha, Jury Urlovsky, Andrej Sharetzki and Jury Stolpkovsky headed the construction. The keystone was consecrated on July 14, 1714, by the bishop . The building was designed as a one-nave basilica with round

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and two towers at the main facade. Two older faceted towers of XIV century were also included into the new building. On February 12, 1799, the poet Adam Mickiewicz was baptised here. In 1812 during the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

’s troops used the church as a food storage. After the war the services in the church were resumed, but in 1864 it was closed again in the aftermath of the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

. The building decayed until 1906. In 1921 it was reconstructed by prince

Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł Stanisław Albrecht "Stash" Radziwiłł (21 July 1914 – 27 July 1976) was a Polish diplomat, chargé d'affaires of the Polish government in exile at the League of Nations, delegate of the Polish Red Cross, real estate dealer, director o ...

and architect Bayle. The bishop Zygmunt Łoziński consecrated the restored church in 1922. In 1929 it was given to the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the city was occupied by

the Nazis The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. The sisterhood organized a clandestine school for Polish children with lessons on history and Polish language. On August 1, 1943, the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

executed 11 nuns and the school’s principal. The burial place of the Martyrs of Nowogródek existed near the church until 1991. Under the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

the church was closed in 1948 and reopened only in 1984. The services were resumed in 1992. The latest restoration was completed in 1998.

References

Sources

* * {{Belarus-stub Roman Catholic churches in Belarus Navahrudak Gothic architecture in Belarus Baroque church buildings in Belarus Churches completed in 1723 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Belarus