Church of St. Michael, Synkavichy

Church of Saint Michael
Church of Saint Michael
Царква Святога Міхаіла
Consecrated	1407
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Completed	The middle of the 16th century
Specifications
Length	17.5
Width	13
Materials	Brick

The Church of St. Michael (

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Muravanka

.

History

Foundation

Some sources assume that the church was founded by

Jogaila, when they were at war. Lavretsky assumes that it was rebuilt from the semi-destroyed castle where Vytautas took shelter. In fact the construction of the church bears much resemblance to a defensive facility.^[2]^[3]

Reconstruction

By 1837 the church was in decay. In 1880–1881, the temple was significantly reconstructed thanks to the efforts of the local priest Efstafy Mikchailovsky. Mikchailovsky conducted research on church history and heritage. He raised donations for restoration and wrote reports to different commissions explaining the historical and cultural value of the temple. In 1886-1887 he managed to persuade the Imperial Archeological Commission [ru] to grant more than four thousand roubles for the restoration. By 1890 all the works were done.^[1]

After the Union of Brest, the church became subordinate to the Holy See. After Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned the parish stayed active, but after November Uprising the church was converted into the Eastern Orthodox.

In 1926 was rebuilt as a Catholic church by the government of the Second Polish Republic. In 1988–1990, it was turned into the Orthodox again.

Architecture

The church is an example of the Belarusian Gothic architecture. Its internal space is divided into the three naves supported by four pillars. The plan of the building is close to a square and has three apses on the east side. The walls are one and a half meters thick.

There are four defence towers on the corners of the church. The upper part of the western towers is made in the shape of octagon with three levels of arrowslits. Two eastern towers are cylindrical and also have arrowslits in the upper part.

The pediment has a number of niches varying in depth and size.