Church of Saint Joseph, Rubiaževičy, Catholic church in Rubiaževičy, Belarus
The Church of Saint Joseph is a neo-Gothic stone church built in 1907–1911 on a hill at the northern edge of the village. Its main rectangular nave has a high gabled roof, a lower semicircular apse and two symmetrical side sacristies. Two 45-metre three-tier bell towers with stepped buttresses and pointed spires flank the main facade, which has a crenellated gable with a round rose window and a Latin cross.
A wooden church of 1799 was taken from Catholics after the 1863 Polish uprising. After repeated petitions, including by townsman Antoni Tur, permission came in 1905, and the neo-Gothic stone church was built in 1907–1911 from cut stone, consecrated on 30 October 1911. The Lenskis of the Sula estate and parishioners funded it; the stone wall was finished in 1924.
The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph and belongs to the Rubiaževičy Deanery of the Minsk-Mogilev Archdiocese. Its 1935 main altar was made in Vilnius and holds a bronze statue of Jesus Christ. An icon of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn was reportedly given to the parish by Benigna Valasevich, mother of the poet Janka Kupala.
The church stands on a hill on the northern edge of the village, surrounded by a stone wall built in 1924. Next to it is a white-and-red monument to soldiers of the Polish Republic. The building is an active parish church of the Rubiaževičy Deanery, so visits should be timed around services.
The church bells were cast by various Polish craftsmen in the 1920s, and the stone wall around the grounds was finished in 1924. The main altar was made in Vilnius in 1935 and holds a bronze statue of Jesus Christ.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,611 contributors worldwide.