A small stone Catholic church was built in 1785 next to the Vitebsk Catholic cemetery. After the construction was completed, the church was consecrated by the first archbishop of Mogilev Stanislav Bogush-Sestrantsevich in the name of the Holy Martyr Barbara. At first he played the role of a cemetery church, then he became a parish church.
At the end of the XIX century, the number of parishioners of the temple grew so much that the building ceased to accommodate believers. In 1884-1885, the church was rebuilt in the Neo-Romanesque style by architect V. Piotrovsky, which significantly increased its capacity. After the reconstruction, the church was re-consecrated on December 4, 1885.
In 1935, the Church of St. Barbara was closed, the building was used as a warehouse. During During the Great Patriotic War, the towers were destroyed, and in the post-war period the temple building stood abandoned.
Restoration of the church building began in 1988. Initially, it was planned to organize a concert hall there, but after the collapse of the USSR and the restoration of the structures of the Catholic Church in Belarus, St. Barbara's church was returned to the faithful. In 1993, the church, which was returned to the parishioners, was consecrated by the archbishop By Kazimir Sventek. October 13, 1999 from A separate diocese of Vitebsk was allocated to the Minsk-Mogilev archdiocese, and St. Barbara's Church became the cathedral of the new diocese.
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Людмила Решетник
Level 8 Local Expert
June 24
I studied at the 27th school next to the church... I remember when I was a child it was destroyed, there were various legends about it, we ran inside as children, everything was interesting, especially the spiral staircase around the towers...and now it's a beautiful Church, I'm going to go in, but I don't have enough time as always....
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Req_ Æt
Level 30 Local Expert
June 30
Definitely visit this vibrant landmark of the city. The walls of the church have been preserved despite everything, although the interior has been completely lost (in Soviet times it was used as a warehouse). It was built in 1783-1785 in the Baroque style, significantly expanded and rebuilt in 1884-1885 with elements of the neo-Romanesque style. If you walk from the city center over the bridge, the journey will take about an hour. If it's 15 minutes from the train station.