Among the buildings Slonim stands out for its architecture Church of St. Andrew the Apostle. The temple is located in a quiet area and is one of the main attractions of the city.
The architectural complex begins with a three-arch gate leading to the territory of the church.
Immediately to the right of the entrance you can see the sculpture of Jesus carrying the cross.
Andrew's Church began to build in the 60s, the 18th century, on the site of a destroyed wooden church. The construction was carried out for 6 years and was completed in 1775.
Until 2017, in niches on both sides of the main entrance, there were sculptures of the apostles Peter and Paul, carved from wood. Then they were removed, and the niches were left empty. Sculptures of saints made of stone have been preserved on the territory, on the back of the church, as well as figures inside the temple itself (near the altar).
After the defeat of the uprising of 1831, the church in Slonim was temporarily closed by the tsarist authorities.
The First World War had an extremely bad effect on the condition of the church. However, a few years after the end of hostilities, the temple was restored. During the reconstruction, not only large-scale facade work was carried out, but also the frescoes were restored, a new floor was laid and an organ was installed. The interior of the church is complemented by elements of elegant rococo (altar, wall painting and stucco).
The architecture of the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle is almost unique, there is only one similar church in Belarus - baroque church in the village of Luzhki. Pay attention to the high symmetrical towers, which are located at an angle to the facade.
The very plane of the main facade is, as it were, concave and convex at the same time, richly decorated with pilasters and cornices with decorative elements.
The church, despite its impressive size, is single-nave, but the nave is high, about 14 meters high. The main volume of the temple is rectangular in shape with small square sacristies adjoining on the sides.
The apse, which has a non-rounded shape, also looks rather unusual.
Services in the Slonim church were held even during the Second World War. They stopped at the time of the arrival of Soviet power. It is quite expected that a warehouse was made from the temple.
The building was returned to believers immediately after the collapse of the USSR. The architectural building was waiting for a second reconstruction, after which the church began to receive parishioners again.
Another interesting attraction in the nearby area is former hospitalbuilt at the end of the 18th century. The building is one-story and is very similar to the monastery cells.
The church is located near Lev Sapieha Square, below is a point with a mark on the map:
In Slonim it will also be interesting to see bernardine church и synagogue of the 17th century, and in the suburbs you can visit Albertin Manor.
