The Church of Saint Isidore in Pławanice is a small brick temple built in 1828 as a Uniate, that is, Greek Catholic, church. The village lies in the gmina Kamień of Chełm County, about 13 km east of Chełm. Over two centuries, the temple was Uniate, Orthodox, and Catholic—a typical fate of the shrines of Chełm Land. Today it is a filial church of the parish of Saint Michael the Archangel in nearby Kamień.
Church of Mr. Grodzicki
The church in Pławanice has existed for a long time: a wooden shrine is mentioned from 1744. The current brick temple was built in 1828 at the expense of Klemens Grodzicki; the church at that time was dedicated to Saint John the Theologian. In 1872, the Uniate parish had about 645 believers. After the tsarist authorities liquidated the Uniate Chełm Eparchy in 1875, the church was made Orthodox. Already in 1877, the roofs were rebuilt, and in 1896 the temple was repaired.
In interwar Poland, the church was still used by the Orthodox parish. In 1943, 614 Ukrainians and 28 Poles lived in Pławanice. After World War II, when Orthodox Ukrainians were expelled from Chełm Land, the temple was handed over to Roman Catholics and dedicated to Saint Isidore, the patron of farmers.
Simple Uniate Church
The building is two-part: a square nave under a gable roof and a narrower altar section closed polygonally. On the roof is a small belfry with one onion dome. Such a layout was common for Uniate churches of the first half of the 19th century, built by private founders. In 1979–1981 the temple was partially rebuilt; around 1986 the wooden vestibule was replaced with a brick one, and the sacristy was changed. There is a bell tower near the temple, and in the yard are two stone tombstones, probably of local Uniate priests.
Pławanice is also associated with the name of Stanisław Koguciuk (1933–2021), a Polish primitivist painter.
How to get there
From Chełm to Pławanice is about 13 km east, via Kamień. The church is filial, services here are less frequent than in the parish church, so the most reliable time to get inside is on Sunday. Nearby, a few kilometers to the north, are the Church of Saint Volodymyr in Brzeźno and the peat bogs of the Bagno Serebryskie Reserve. More about the region in the article “Polish Polissia: what to see beyond the Bug”. This is Poland: Ukrainian citizens need a passport.
