The Charity Sisters Monastery is an architectural monument of national significance located at 17–19 Katedralna Street, within the "Old Lutsk" reserve. The name is somewhat misleading: the buildings are older than the monastery itself and once belonged to the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. They were erected in the 16th century and rebuilt in the 18th.
Vitold's See
In 1427, Grand Duke Vitold moved the Catholic see from Volodymyr to Lutsk, and the Church of the Holy Trinity was built around the same time. In 1545, under Lutsk Bishop Yurii Falchevskyi, a new church and several stone houses around it were built to serve the needs of the see. In 1781, the church burned down and was never rebuilt, but the cathedral buildings were restored.
School, Shelter, Orphanage
In the restored eastern part (19 Katedralna Street), a noble school operated, created on the basis of the Jesuit Collegium and the Trinity School, while the western part (17 Katedralna Street) housed a shelter for the elderly and disabled. In 1782, noblewoman Yuzefa Polianovska founded the "Angelika" girls' orphanage nearby, where she maintained up to 70 wards.
In 1829, Bishop Kasper Ceciszowski invited the Charity Sisters to Lutsk and handed over the orphanage and hospital to them. The rest of the buildings continued to be occupied by a school, later a gymnasium—where Panteleimon Kulish taught. In 1866, the Russian authorities abolished the monastery along with the noble school. The last abbess was Ioanna Yasynska. In 1917, the Queen Jadwiga School was opened here.
What to See
The buildings of the Charity Sisters Monastery are part of the ensemble of Katedralna Street, the oldest in Lutsk. From the outside, they are modest, but for centuries this was home to the cathedral, schools, shelters, and an orphanage—the heart of the city's educational and charitable life. Recently, archaeologists discovered the entrance to the underground rooms here, so the history of the buildings is still being written.
How to Find
The buildings stand on Katedralna Street, next to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the Bridgettine Monastery. More can be found in the article Lutsk.
