Abandoned bernardine monastery и Church of Saint Veronica located in the village Settlement. This is Vitebsk region, Ushachi district. nearest route Lepel - Polotsk, from it to the ruins about 20 minutes by car. We turn on Ushachi and stay straight church ruins clearly visible from afar.
Bernardine monks settled in these parts at the end of the 17th century, and the construction of a stone church began in 1726, with the financial support and approval of the captain Yana Ragoza.
However, it was not possible to finish the work quickly, as a result, the construction of the church dragged on for many years and continued with varying success until the beginning of the 19th century.
However, fate was not on the side of the Bernardines, after the defeat of the uprising of 1830, the monastery was closed, and the church was converted into an Orthodox church.
After 1832, the building was partially rebuilt under the canons of Orthodoxy.
The architecture of the church has changed over its history, but the general appearance can be traced today. The temple belongs to the architecture of the late Baroque and was a three-nave basilica with 2 three-tiered towers.
During World War II, the church was badly damaged. One of the towers was destroyed, the monastery building burned down, and the interior decoration was lost. After the end of the war, it was not restored and continued to collapse.
The ruins of the church in Selishche today are almost completely in the power of nature. The birches on the roof have already grown up to 2,5-3 meters, and the general condition of the buildings raises big questions about the future of this sights of Belarus.
And if the church looks destroyed, then even less remains of the residential building of the Bernardine monastery.
Despite the general condition of the church, one can easily meet tourists and lovers of abandoned places here. After all, the temple in Selishche looks really impressive. I tried to convey the scale in the overview video:
Getting inside the church is also not difficult, but be very careful and careful. Inside, decorative elements, vaults and arches have been preserved, which cause sincere delight and admiration. What is frustrating is the rubbish that local drinkers probably leave behind.
Similar ruins of churches are found in other places in Belarus, for example: princesses, Benica и Smolyan.
If you go to see the temple in the village of Selishche, then include in the route and ruins of a church in Mosar.
