The Church of Saint Roch in Czułczyce is a brick building constructed in 1905 as the Orthodox Church of Saint Alexius. The village lies in the gmina of Sawin, Chełm County, about 10 km north of Chełm, along voivodeship road No. 812 to Włodawa. The church is listed as a historic monument, and in Czułczyce there also remain a wooden All Saints’ church in the cemetery, an old Uniate-Orthodox cemetery, and a medieval castle site.
Two Parishes in One Village
The Catholic parish in Czułczyce was first mentioned in 1513. For centuries it was based in a wooden All Saints’ church in a hamlet about 900 meters from the current church. Nearby there was also a Uniate parish, which in 1875 was replaced by an Orthodox one; until 1945, about a thousand Orthodox believers lived in Czułczyce.
The new brick Church of Saint Alexius was built in 1905 by the Moscow merchant Jan Kowalewski on the initiative of the Holy Mother of God Brotherhood in Chełm, on the site of a Uniate church from 1788. In the interwar period the church sometimes temporarily passed to Catholics and sometimes served as a branch of the Orthodox parish in Chełm. After the expulsion of Orthodox Ukrainians to the USSR on August 2, 1945, the Chełm starostwo handed the church over to Roman Catholics, and it received its current dedication to Saint Roch. In 1947 the parish seat was also moved here.
Inside
The building is single-nave, with a tower on the facade. Some of the decoration was transferred from the old parish church. The main altar is rococo, probably the work of Michał Filewicz from the late 18th century, with images of Saint Roch and Our Lady of Częstochowa. The side altars of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Saint Joseph were carved after the war by a folk carver from Biłgoraj. The rococo ambo and the baptismal font are early Baroque; two monstrances from the 18th century are kept in the sacristy. The indulgence feast in honor of Saint Roch is held annually on the Sunday after August 16.
Castle Site above the Uherka
In Czułczyce-Kolonia, on the marshy meadows by the Uherka River, there is a castle site: an earthen mound about 30 by 35 meters, surrounded by a moat up to 3.5 meters deep. Here in the 14th–15th centuries stood a small castle, probably abandoned already in the 16th century. The site is registered as a historic monument. Michał Kunycki, auxiliary bishop of Kraków and diplomat of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Holy See, was born in Czułczyce.
How to Get There
From Chełm to Czułczyce is about 10 km along road No. 812 towards Włodawa; further north, 6 km away, is the church in Sawin. On the way you can visit the Bagno Serebryskie reserve on the northeastern outskirts of Chełm. More about the region in the article “Polish Polissia: What to See Beyond the Bug”. The church is a parish one, so the best chance to get inside is before a service. This is Poland: Ukrainian citizens need a foreign passport.
