The former church of the Carmelite order rises in the middle of the historic center of the city Deep. The original name of the temple wasAssumption of the Virgin Mary“, but after the re-consecration, it became known as Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral is one of the first representatives Vilna Baroque on the territory of modern Belarus.
The construction of the temple began in 1639 year under the direction of Jozef Korsak and continued for about 15 years. The cathedral in Glubokoye has undergone several significant rebuildings. The first of them took place in 1735 according to the plan of one of the best architects of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Johann Christoph Glaubitz.
The greatest changes affected the main facade of the building, which was complicated and supplemented with decor. After the re-consecration of the church into a church, in the same year 1735, a three-arch gate in two tiers was erected in front of the main entrance.
It is known that in 1812, during the First World War, Napoleon set up his residence in the residential building of the monastery. According to rumors, he was even imbued with sympathy for the architecture of the cathedral in Glubokoye.
The residential building of the Carmelite monastery has been preserved in a dilapidated form, the top photo clearly shows that trees have already grown inside the building under the very roof. An old photograph from 1930 shows another building of the cathedral:
After the end of the Polish uprising of 1830, a military court was located within the walls of the cathedral. And the underground rooms that the monks used as a warehouse for the arsenal of the rebels became cells for prisoners.
In 1865, the Carmelite monastery was closed, and the building of the church was again transferred to the Orthodox Church. In 1872-78, another reconstruction was carried out, which changed mainly the interior of the church.
As for the appearance, only the color of the walls was changed in the cathedral. While the reconstruction was going on, the church was plundered. After the opening, the temple was re-consecrated in Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the city of Glubokoe.
A little later, the design of the temple changed again - the roof was lowered and a massive dome was installed. How it looked can be seen in old photos:
In the 20s of the 20th century, there were several attempts to return the temple to Catholics and monks of the Carmelite order, but all these attempts were unsuccessful. During World War II, prisoners were kept in the dungeons of the cathedral. The fire of 1944 significantly damaged the upper tiers of the towers; the dome, altar, icons and archive were destroyed.
Near the entrance you can see a stone cross.
The further fate of the cathedral in Glubokoe is similar to many other religious buildings. Thus, an oil factory was organized within the walls of the residential buildings of the monastery, and an archive and a warehouse of a cannery were organized in the basement.
Today, at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, there is a Sunday children's school, a choir and an Orthodox library.
Across the road from the temple there is another attraction of the city of Glubokoe - Trinity Church.
