The palace of the Uniate (Greek Catholic) bishops stands on the Cathedral Hill in Chełm, south of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral. It was built between 1711 and 1730, when Chełm was the seat of the Greek Catholic diocese, and together with the cathedral, bell tower, gate, and the former Basilian monastery, it forms a unified ensemble on the hill. From here, it is within arm’s reach to Vysoka Hirka, where the castle of Danylo Halytskyi once stood.
Residence of the Chełm Bishops
The Chełm diocese traces its origins back to the times of Danylo Romanovych, who moved the episcopal see to his new city. After the Union of Brest in 1596, it became Greek Catholic and remained so until 1875. Among its bishops were Yakiv Susha, who described the history of the miraculous Chełm icon, as well as Yosyf Levytskyi, Filip Volodkovych, and Maksymilian Ryło, during whose tenure the current cathedral was built. The palace was founded by Yosyf Levytskyi himself, who led the diocese from 1710 to 1730: along with repairing the old cathedral, he built a new brick residence for the bishops.
Rebuildings
The building is two stories tall, with a four-pitched roof. After the abolition of the union in 1875, the entire complex on the hill passed to the Orthodox, and between 1876 and 1886 the palace was rebuilt: a two-story eastern wing with a large hall on the second floor under a false mirrored vault was added, and an extension was built on the west side. The building was renovated again in 1920. Due to these changes, it lost its Baroque stylistic features, but inside fragments of 18th-century woodwork have been preserved, and some rooms on the first floor have vaulted ceilings.
What’s Nearby on the Hill
The palace stands above a steep slope, so from the courtyard you can see the southern part of the city. To the east, it adjoins 17th–18th-century outbuildings that belonged to the Basilians: a one-story building with arcaded galleries was once a carriage house and later a catechetical house. Nearby is the Basilian monastery building from 1640–1649, now residential, and the Baroque Ustyluzka Gate from 1616, through which one entered the hill. Today, the palace houses the office of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, so the building is mostly viewed from the outside.
How to Get There
The palace is part of the ensemble on Cathedral Hill (2 Lublinska Street), in the center of Chełm. Chełm lies on route No. 12 Lublin – Dorohusk: about 70 km from Lublin, about 25 km from the Dorohusk–Yahodyn border crossing with Volyn. On the hill, it is worth visiting the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral with its crypts and bell tower and Vysoka Hirka; lower down, on Lublinska Street, are the Church of the Apostles’ Mission and the former Piarist college, now the Museum of the Chełm Land. Ukrainian citizens need a foreign passport.
