The Church of Saint Joseph stands in the village of Cyców — the seat of the eponymous gmina in Łęczna County, on the Swinka River, about 17 km east of Łęczna. It is a former Uniate church of Saint Michael the Archangel, built in the 1860s. For half a century, the church belonged to Greek Catholics, Orthodox, and Catholics, and it still preserves its distinctive octagonal nave.
The Church of Three Confessions
The Orthodox church in Cyców existed before 1473; in the 16th century, it was dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. After the Union of Brest, the parish passed to the Greek Catholics. In 1860–1870, at the expense of a state fund from which churches for Uniate parishes were then built in the Russian Empire, a new church of Saint Michael the Archangel was erected here.
After the liquidation of the Uniate Chełm Eparchy in 1875, the parish was joined to the Russian Orthodox Church, and in 1889 the church was rebuilt. In 1921, by the decision of the Lublin bishop Marian Fulman, the former church became the seat of the Roman Catholic parish of Saint Joseph. Later, it was rebuilt several more times.
Architecture
The church is three-part: a rectangular vestibule, an octagonal nave, and a directly closed altar section. Above the nave is one cupola. The octagonal nave is unusual for a rural church and reveals its former church character. Next to the church stands an old church bell tower, and the complex, together with the bell tower and a statue of the Virgin Mary, was entered into the register of monuments in 1988.
The Village on the Swinka
Cyców was long the seat of the gmina Wyśniewicze, and since 1973 — the gmina Cyców. On August 15–16, 1920, during the Polish–Soviet War, a battle took place near the village. Cyców preserves an old Orthodox cemetery, where a memorial cross was installed in 2008, as well as a Jewish cemetery.
How to Get There
From Lublin — about 40 km east, via Łęczna and Puchaczów. Nearby is the wooden church in Świerszczów, also a former church, and to the west — the Lachert estate in Ciechanki and the church in Dratów. The church is open during services. For Ukrainian citizens, this is Poland: a foreign passport is required.
