Lutsk is one of the oldest cities in Ukraine. Mentions of this city are found in many historical sources, for example, in one of the chronicles, dated 1085, Lutsk is described as a fortified city that withstood a six-month siege by the Polish army of King Boleslav the Bold. In the 12th century, the city became the center of the Lutsk Principality. In different historical eras, Lutsk was part of different countries of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. Such a rich history has left many interesting monuments and places in the city. Today we want to talk about the unique Jesuit church, which is a real highlight of Lutsk.
If the temple looks gigantic in the photo, then in real life this temple is even more spectacular and mysterious. In general, this is inherent in the Jesuits - gigantism and mystery due to gloom. For example, if we recall the temple in Lviv - Peter and Paul, it is the largest temple in the city, and also with dungeons, as befits a real Jesuit temple. But the Lutsk temple is even larger and more characteristic than the Lviv one. One can even consider that the Lutsk Church of Peter and Paul is the largest Catholic temple in Ukraine: 39 meters wide, 53 meters long, the height to the top of the cross is 42.2 meters. In addition, it has an extensive network of dungeons and foundations, the depth of which reaches 6 meters.
The first project of the Jesuit church in both Lutsk and Lviv was developed by the same person – the Italian Giacomo Briano. The construction of the church in Lviv began in 1610, and in Lutsk – in 1616. When they were just starting to build the church, they immediately laid the foundation for the future construction of the Jesuit college, where the soldiers of Christ were to be trained – that’s what the Jesuits were called. They differed from other Catholic orders in their attitude to the place of education in the life of a Jesuit, and it was the most important, so the colleges were built first and foremost and everywhere. Bishop Pavel Volutsky contributed to the allocation of funds for the construction of this church.
The Jesuits' faith is characterized by a certain categoricalness, which systematically caused disputes and even fights with that part of the population of Lutsk that was of the Orthodox faith. It was the students of the college who took an active part in these clashes, attacking those representatives of the Lutsk brotherhood who were unfavorable to the order. This behavior of the Jesuits was observed everywhere, even representatives of the nobility and authorities fell under the hot hand. That is why in 1773 the order was finally abolished altogether. This was a century and a half after the foundation of the complex.
The construction of the Church of Peter and Paul lasted quite a long time, and as a result, it was supervised by various architects: Molly, Glazovich, Agorn, Gizhytsky, Sobolevsky, Uminsky, Grodzytsky.
The complex itself was built with the intention of being part of the Okolny Castle system, where all buildings must be suitable for defense, their walls must be strong and have loopholes. If we look at the right wall of the church (when viewed from the entrance), we will see that this is a real fortress wall, with loopholes, loopholes, that is, fully equipped for defense. Behind the collegium is a tower that remains from the towers that made up the Okolny Castle, it is called Czartoryski. Behind it, the remains of the old walls are visible.
The bell tower of the church is also impressive in its size and is not inferior to the overall scale of the temple. The temple from the inside looks simply gigantic, it seems that it could easily accommodate several more temples, slightly smaller. The walls are decorated with paintings, stucco, which were once made by famous masters and artists.
The temple is quite inhabited, but there are few visitors on weekdays. The dungeons are periodically closed due to reconstruction for the safety of parishioners and guests of the temple.
The temple attracts with its beauty and grandeur admirers of Ukrainian temples and just caring people. So, if you are interested in unique architectural monuments or just beautiful places, be sure to visit the Jesuit temple in Lutsk.
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