Church of Saint Mary in Hłybokaje, Eastern Orthodox church in Hlybokaje, Belarus
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in Hlybokaye is a brick church with a pale blue facade and white trim, built in tiers with three sections at the top, the central one taller and crowned with a curved pediment and cross. Two flanking towers frame the front, each with an arched window and a niche holding a figure. The lower storey is white with pilasters and rectangular windows.
Built of brick between 1639 and 1654 as the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin for the Discalced Carmelite monastery, funded by Józef Korsak, who was buried in its crypt. In 1735 the architect Johann Christoph Glaubitz rebuilt the main façade, adding tiered towers and order decoration; the church was reconsecrated on 16 July 1735 by Vilna suffragan Jerzy Antsuta. The Carmelite monastery was closed in 1865, and the church passed to the Orthodox Church; interior alterations followed in 1872–1878.
The church is the second cathedral of the Polotsk eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its name comes from the Nativity of the Virgin, and the former Carmelite church was reconsecrated for Orthodox worship in the 19th century. The 1735 gate and the surviving monastery wing stand on the same axis as the facade.
The church stands close to the main road through Hlybokaje and is easy to reach on foot from the town center. Visiting outside of service times gives you more space to look at the exterior and the two bell towers up close.
Glaubitz rebuilt only the main facade in 1735, adding the tiered towers and order decoration; the brick core dates from 1639–1654. The 1862 inventory records four towers, two of them brick with a broken clock and three bells weighing 196 poods, and two wooden towers at the rear.
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