St Barbara Parish (Berdychiv)

In 1430, Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, granted this area to Kalynyk, governor of Putyvl and Zvenyhorod. Kalynyk’s subject Berdych founded a hamlet here that was later named Berdychiv. The Crimean Tatars destroyed it in 1483, but it appears again in documents in 1546. In 1846, Berdychiv became a county town. By the mid-nineteenth century, it was the fifth most populous city in the territory of present-day Ukraine, after Odesa, Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv. In 1923, it became the centre of the district and administrative area of the same name; today, it remains a district centre.

A wooden Catholic church was built in Berdychiv between 1759 and 1782, funded by Barbara Radziwiłł, hence its dedication to St Barbara. In 1826, the present masonry church was erected beside the old wooden building, which was dismantled in 1828. It was funded by donations from parishioners and benefactors, including a substantial contribution from the merchant Rubinstein, grandfather of the distinguished musicians Anton and Nikolai.

On 14.03.1850, the famous French writer Honoré de Balzac married the local noblewoman Ewelina Hańska in this church. The ceremony was conducted by Fr W. Ożarowski, a prelate of the collegiate church in Olyka.

A new masonry bell tower was built in 1878.

In 1909, the church façade was adorned with four sculptures: Our Lady of Sorrows and St John the Apostle, with Saints Peter and Paul on the pediments. A new organ by the Lviv firm of J. Śliwiński was also installed.

The church was closed from 1937 to 1941 and from 1950 to 1991, serving first as a warehouse and later as a sports school.

On 24 June 1992, the first Holy Mass was celebrated after the church’s return.