Church of Our Lady of Kazan and Saint Elijah, Wojsławice

The Church of Our Lady of Kazan and Saint Elijah is an Orthodox filial church in Wojsławice. It belongs to the Parish of St. John the Theologian in Chełm, within the Chełm Deanery of the Diocese of Lublin and Chełm of the Polish Orthodox Church. Orthodox churches have existed in Wojsławice since the town's founding in the 15th century. The present building was constructed in the Baroque style between 1771 and 1774 as a Uniate church. It became an Orthodox parish church during the Conversion of Chełm Eparchy. The Wojsławice parish remained active until the expulsion of the local Ukrainian Orthodox population in the 1940s, when it was closed due to a lack of worshippers. The abandoned church, used as a warehouse, gradually fell into ruin. It was only at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries that it was renovated, but the absence of an Orthodox community in the town means it is only opened for religious services occasionally. The church has no iconostasis, and the only preserved piece of its original furnishings is a historic thurible.

The first church in Wojsławice was mentioned in the town's founding charter around 1440. It was dedicated to St. Elijah. This wooden structure was likely destroyed during a Tatar raid. Another church with the same dedication was built before 1508. By the 16th century, Wojsławice had three Orthodox churches serving a congregation of 2,600 people. A monastery operated alongside St. Elijah's Church.

The present church in Wojsławice was constructed between 1771 and 1774 in the Baroque style. It was funded by Marianna of the Daniłowicz family. Originally built as a Uniate church, it had a masonry structure, except for the wooden church porch. In 1841, the church porch was rebuilt in brick, making the entire church a masonry structure. The church remained the seat of a Uniate parish until the Conversion of Chełm Eparchy. In 1874, a year before the formal liquidation of the diocese, the Wojsławice parish was incorporated into the Chełm Vicariate of the Orthodox Eparchy of Chełm and Warsaw. In 1880, a series of frescoes by Michał Olechwier was added to the interior. The church unde

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).