Church of the Virgin Mary in the village of Parafyanovo

The village of Parafyanovo is a small settlement in the Dokshitsy district of the Vitebsk region. It became known due to its main attraction - the refined church of the Virgin Mary, built in neo-baroque style at the beginning of the 20th century. The monument is included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Values ​​of the Republic of Belarus, and therefore represents a true masterpiece of Belarusian architecture.

The history of the temple in the village of Parafyanovo

The first mention of the village dates back to the 15th century, and a century later the first church was built in Parafianovo. Then it was still wooden and did not last long. Not in vain in later centuries, the sanctuaries were built mainly of stone: the wooden church did not survive the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667, as it was destroyed by Russian troops.

An architectural masterpiece could disappear from the face of the earth, but its image was preserved in the form of an engraving, placed in the book of the priest Eleuther Zelevich "Zodiac on the Ground". Therefore, the church was successfully restored in 1675 and soon again opened the doors to its parishioners.

At the end of the XIX century, the building was dilapidated, so it was decided to build a new temple of stone. In 1900, the cornerstone was consecrated. Then the information about the appearance in the church of Parafianovo of the stone diverge: according to one source, it was erected in 1904, while others maintain that the stone sanctuary appeared in the village only in 1908.

With the church of the Virgin Mary is associated the name of the priest Mechislav Bogatkevich. He was a parishioner from childhood, and here he performed his first mass after ordination. After the execution of the gestapo, he was counted among 108 blessed martyrs, beatified by the Pope John Paul II during his visit to Warsaw.

After the war, in 1963 a warehouse of a distillery was built in the building of the church. The temple returned to the parishioners only in 1988. The state of the church was deplorable, and the reconstruction dragged on for 11 long years.

Architectural appearance of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Parafyanovo

Now the Catholic church in Parafyanovo is a refined white temple, a monument of neo-baroque. Features of its architecture are:

The temple is active, so anyone can visit the Church of the Virgin Mary in Parafyanovo. Here lives history, here they remember their heroes and cherish the architectural heritage of Belarus.