Church of St. Michael the Archangel (Synkawitschy)
Coordinates: 53 ° 7 '23 " N , 25 ° 9' 25" E
The Church of the Holy Archangel Michael ( Belarusian : Царква Святога Архангела Міхаіла ; Russian : Церковь Святого Архангела Михаила ) is a Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus, probably in the 16th century as a fortified church was built. The church is one of the oldest Gothic buildings in Belarus and is on the tentative list of world cultural heritage along with other fortified churches .
location
The church building is located just outside the small village of Synkavichy ( Belarusian : Сынкавічы ; Russian : Сынковичи ) on the eastern border of the Selva Raion in the Hrodsenskaya Woblasz .
Building
The floor plan of the brick building is only approximately rectangular. The outer walls are not at an exact right angle to each other and the southern outer wall is slightly longer than the northern one. As a result, the three apses , which close the church to the east, deviate to the left of the escape axis when viewed from west to east. These irregularities are attributed to the fact that the structure was built by local master builders who only had simple and not very precise means of surveying. At the four corners of the building there are defense towers that are lower than the actual church building. The two eastern towers are cylindrical, the western ones have an octagonal floor plan. Numerous loopholes testify to the original defensive function of the building. The outer walls are up to 1.5 meters thick.
Inside the church is designed as a three-aisled hall church . The nine cross vaults are supported by the outer walls and four columns. Above the church space under the roof there is another room of almost the same height, which was used for defense purposes.
Building history
Due to its architectural features, the construction of the building is dated to the beginning of the 16th century. In contrast to other buildings of the same age, the church has hardly changed its appearance since its completion. Inscriptions inside the church, which go back to the 12th century, indicate that the walls of a previous building were included in the construction of the building.
literature
- Павел Бубнов: Крепость Духа: История и современность прихода Архистратига Михаила в Сынковичах , Minsk 2017, ISBN 978-985-581-119-1 .
