The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin is one of the two preserved Orthodox churches of royal-era Lutsk and an architectural monument of national significance. The church stands at 12 Danylo Halytskyi Street, within the Old Lutsk reserve.
The First Church
In the western part of island Lutsk between the 13th and 15th centuries, there stood a church that may have also had a defensive function: the second line of city fortifications ran nearby. A 1583 document mentions it as old and in need of repair, and a later Lutsk court record names Vytautas as its founder. At the beginning of the 17th century, the church burned down, and its ruins were dismantled in 1625.
The Church of the Lutsk Brotherhood
In 1637, a new church was built on the same site — according to some sources, wooden, according to others, already masonry. The main founder was Ioan Voznesensky-Yarovytsky, a member of the Lutsk Brotherhood. In the 18th century, the church passed to the Greek Catholics, and Pope Pius VI granted it the privilege of indulgences. After 1795, the church was taken from the Greek Catholics and stood abandoned until 1803. In the 19th century, the church was rebuilt; frescoes were restored in 1932 and 1966, and the dome, destroyed by a storm in 1960, was rebuilt in 1988.
Architecture
The eastern part of the church is a mid-17th-century structure, while the western part with the bell tower is a reconstruction from the second half of the 19th century. It is a single-nave rectangular building nearly 31 meters long with a narrowed apse; the older part features cross vaults. Above the narthex is a bell tower with a tented roof, and above the nave is a small dome. Two pastors—Oleksandr Teodorovych and Oleksandr Ohybovskyi—are buried in the wall.
Volyn Mother of God
The Pokrova Church once housed the icon of the Volyn Mother of God—one of the oldest and most famous icons of Ukraine. Today it is kept at the National Art Museum in Kyiv.
How to Find
12 Danylo Halytskyi Street, near the Lutsk Brotherhood and Rynok Square. More in the article Lutsk.
