St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Grodno

Last updated

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier
Катэдральны касцёл Святога Францішка Ксавэрыя
Grodno Kostel Farnyi 01.jpg
A view of the cathedral
St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Grodno
Location Grodno
Country Belarus
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
StatusActive
Founded1687
Consecrated 1705
Architecture
Functional status Cathedral
Style Baroque architecture
Administration
Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Grodno
Clergy
Bishop(s) Aleksander Kaszkiewicz
Interior of the cathedral Bazylika katedralna sw. Franciszka Ksawerego w Grodnie (wnetrze).jpg
Interior of the cathedral

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral [lower-alpha 1] is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Grodno, Belarus. Originally a Jesuit church, it became a cathedral in 1991, when the new diocese of Grodno was erected. Nowadays it is one of only three minor basilicas in Belarus.

Contents

History

Construction

The construction of the church started in 1687, when the city was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The completed building in Baroque style became one of the most important baroque basilica in Europe. [1]

In the 12th to 14th centuries a pendulum clock was installed in one of the towers. Nowadays it is one of the oldest active clocks in Europe. [2]

The cathedral was consecrated in 1705 to St. Francis Xavier by bishop Teodor Potocki. The ceremony was attended by the Russian Emperor Peter the Great and the King of Poland Augustus II the Strong. [2] Sixty meters in length and thirty meters wide, it became one of the largest in Europe. During the 18th century the Jesuits were decorating the cathedral with frescoes, ordered altars and baroque domes. The retable (lat. 'retabulum') got more than 70 sculptures of high artistic value, 20 on the first level, 15 on the second, and 14 on the third. Among them there are four female figures as personification of the continents, two lions, 14 angels, etc. [1]

The monastery was dissolved in 1773 and the church became a parish one. [1]

20th to 21st centuries

The church survived World War II with no serious damage. [3]

In 1960 it was officially closed for public religious services (for 27 years). The Soviet authorities tried to convert the building into a museum or a concert hall. Despite this, people attended the church every Sunday for a common prayer, songs and rosary. The religious services were restored in 1987. In 1990 the church was granted the title of minor basilica, and a year later it became a cathedral for a diocese of Grodno.

See also

Notes

  1. Belarusian: Кафедральны касцёл Святога Францішка Ксаверыя, romanized: Kafedralny kascioł Sviatoha Franciška Ksavieryja; Russian: Собор Святого Франциска Ксаверия, romanized: Sobor Svyatogo Frantsiska Ksaveriya, Polish: Bazylika katedralna św. Franciszka Ksawerego w Grodnie

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grodno</span> City in Grodno Region, Belarus

Grodno or Hrodna is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities of Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Minsk, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the border with Poland, and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the border with Lithuania. Grodno serves as the administrative center of Grodno Region and Grodno District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2024, the city has a population of 361,115 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grodno Region</span> Region of Belarus

Grodno Region or Hrodna Region, also known as Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts, is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center, Grodno, is the largest city in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baroque architecture</span> 16th–18th-century European architectural style

Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to combat the Reformation and the Protestant church with a new architecture that inspired surprise and awe. It reached its peak in the High Baroque (1625–1675), when it was used in churches and palaces in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Bavaria and Austria. In the Late Baroque period (1675–1750), it reached as far as Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America. In about 1730, an even more elaborately decorative variant called Rococo appeared and flourished in Central Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinsk</span> City in Brest Region, Belarus

Pinsk is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Pinsk Marshes and is southwest of Minsk. As of 2023, it has a population of 124,613.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz</span> Belarusian Roman Catholic priest and pro-democracy activist

Tadevuš Kandrusievič is a Belarusian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Minsk–Mohilev from 2007 to 2021. He has been a bishop since 1989, and from 1991 to 2007 held posts in Russia.

The Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of nature, Baroque artists strove to create their own vision of the world. The result was manifold, regarded by some critics as grand and dramatic, but sometimes also chaotic and disharmonious and tinged with affectation and religious exaltation, thus reflecting the turbulent times of the 17th-century Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Lithuania

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in the 14th century, it was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XI on October 28, 1925. It has two suffragan sees of Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Perkūnas</span> Building in Kaunas, Lithuania

The House of Perkūnas is one of the most original and Gothic secular buildings, located in the Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. Originally built by Hanseatic merchants and served as their office from 1440 until 1532, it was sold in the 16th century to the Jesuits who had established a chapel there in 1643. The Jesuits have also completed the Church of St. Francis Xavier at the Town Hall Square in 1722.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James's Cathedral, Riga</span> Church in Jēkaba iela , Latvia

St James's Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Riga in Latvia. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint James the Greater. The building is part of the Old Riga UNESCO World Heritage Site and lies directly opposite the House of the Livonian Noble Corporation, the meeting place of Latvia's parliament the Saeima.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of the Holy Name of Saint Virgin Mary</span> Roman Catholic cathedral in Minsk, Belarus

Cathedral of the Holy Name of Mary is a Roman Catholic baroque cathedral in Minsk. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Grodno Castle</span> Castle in Grodno, Belarus

The Old Grodno Castle in Grodno, Belarus, originated in the 11th century as the seat of a dynasty of Black Ruthenian rulers, descended from a younger son of Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Grodno</span> Former Roman Catholic church in Grodno, Belarus

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Grodno. It was founded by Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania before 1389 during the Christianization of Lithuania. Because of its founder, it was commonly referred to as Vytautas' Church. Rebuilt as a Gothic church around 1494, it was one of Grodno's principal Catholic churches until the post-World War II Soviet occupation. It was used by the Russian Orthodox Church since 1804 for roughly a century after the Catholic church was confiscated by the Russian Tsar. It was given back to the Roman Catholic Church during the interwar and World War II, except during the Soviet occupation of 1940–1941. Neglected in the aftermath of World War II, it was finally demolished in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corpus Christi Church, Nyasvizh</span> Roman Catholic church in Niasviž, Belarus

The Corpus Christi Church in Nyasvizh (Nesvizh), Belarus, is an early Jesuit church, and one of the oldest Baroque structures outside Italy, influencing the later architecture of Poland, Belarus and Lithuania. Commissioned by Prince Nicholas Radziwill and constructed between 1587 and 1593 by Gian Maria Bernardoni during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it contains tombs of powerful Radziwiłł family members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transfiguration Church, Novogrudok</span> Church in Novogrudok, Belarus

The Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church in Novogrudok, Belarus, is a Baroque church erected in 1712–1723, replacing an earlier Gothic 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pinsk</span> Church in Lenina str., Belarus

The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary also called Pinsk Cathedral, is an eighteenth-century Catholic Baroque-style temple in Pinsk, Belarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Belarus</span>

The architecture of Belarus spans a variety of historical periods and styles and reflects the complex history, geography, religion and identity of the country. Several buildings in Belarus have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in recognition of their cultural heritage, and others have been placed on the tentative list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St. Charles Borromeo, Pinsk</span> Roman Catholic Church in Pinsk, Belarus

Church of Charles Borromeo is a former Roman Catholic church in Pinsk, Belarus. Constructed between 1770 and 1782, it was consecrated in the name of St. Charles Borromeo, then reconstructed in the second part of the 19th century and dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilnian Baroque</span>

The Vilnian Baroque or the School of Vilnius Baroque is a name of late Baroque architecture style in Catholic church architecture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which expanded well into Greek Catholic church architecture on territories covered by the Union of Brest. The style was formed by alumnus of the Catholic Jesuits' Vilnius University, mostly buildings in this style are preserved in Vilnius.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Asnorevsky 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Топ-10 исторических мест Беларуси" [TOP 10 Belarusian Landmarks] (in Russian). BelTA. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  3. Szulakowska 2018, p. 324.

Sources

53°40′41″N23°49′53″E / 53.67806°N 23.83139°E / 53.67806; 23.83139