The Church of St. Mary of the Perpetual Assistance located in Tarnopol,

Eastern Galicia Eastern Galicia (; ; ) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv Oblast, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil Oblast, Ternopil), having also essential historic importance in Poland. Galicia ( ...

(now

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), was a church located in the city's centre which functioned as the parish church of Ternopil's

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

community. The church was built by the Latin Deacon of Ternopil and local rector, prelate Bolesław Twardowski, in the years 1903–1908, as a parish church for the city. The design of the

neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church was made by Teodor Talowski. It was one of his alternative projects for the Church of St. Elizabeth in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. As a result of World War II, the city was annexed by the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. The local Polish Catholic population was transferred or expelled in line with the new Polish frontier. The local Soviet authorities decided to demolish the church, and on their orders it was blown up in 1954. Later, a department store was erected on the site.

The history of construction

The construction began with the creation of a committee in 1897 that began collecting voluntary donations. Charity concerts and festivals were organized. The funds for the "skeleton" of the building and two altars alone amounted to 250000 crowns. It was planned that 200856 crowns would be provided by the city authorities, 104285 crowns would be covered by competition - a special tax on the building, and 123000 crowns would come from voluntary donations. A design competition was held for the construction of St. Elizabeth's Church in Lviv, and the winner was a design by Professor of the Lviv Polytechnic Institute Teodor Talowski (1857-1910), a well-known architect of his time, a graduate of the Vienna and Lviv Polytechnics, and a student of the Lviv architect Julian Zacharewicz. The church in Ternopil was a "twin" of the Lviv church in terms of style and many structural elements. On 8 September 1904, the mayor of Ternopil, cs. Bolesław Twardowski consecrated the cornerstone of the building. The crowded ceremony was attended by processions from the surrounding villages: Bila, Dovzhanka, Domamorych, Dychkiv, Velykyi Hlybochok, Ivanivka, Kurovets, Kutkovets and Pronyatyn. Stefan Neuhoff, a railroad engineer, took charge of all the work on the church's construction. The work was carried out quite briskly. Interesting technical solutions were used to make the building stronger and lighter. In May 1908, newspapers reported on the consecration of a cross on the dome of the church, which was blessed by the Marianist wife of the ladies. In November of the same year, the city council purchased an altar with a coat of arms for 3000 crowns. On 11 November 1908, the parish church was solemnly dedicated and the parish officially moved from the Dominican Church (now the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary) to the newly built church. The bells were consecrated the day before. The interior of the shrine became increasingly rich. In 1909-1910, a generous gift was received from Ludwik Punchert - marble statues of the crucified Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. In 1911, the pediment of the building was decorated with another beautiful gift - marble statues of the Evangelist John and St. Joseph by the famous Lviv carver Petro Voitovych. In 1912, a wonderful manger-shop was installed in the side chapel. Its author was the artist Bernard Yarosevych, a teacher at the Ternopil Real School. During the First World War, the church was destroyed. But the "wounds" were quickly healed. In 1933, the main altar was consecrated. It was designed by Lviv engineer and artist Vavzhynets Daichak. The carvings were made by carver Yanina Reichert, assisted by a talented self-taught artist, Ukrainian Nazarko. This is the story of the birth of this original building. {{coord, 49.5533, N, 25.5947, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:UA, display=title 1908 establishments in Austria-Hungary Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Churches in Ternopil Demolished churches in Ukraine Gothic Revival church buildings in Ukraine Shrines to the Virgin Mary Polish diaspora in Europe Roman Catholic churches in Ukraine Roman Catholic churches completed in 1908