Holy Trinity Church in Bolshaya Svorotva village

The Church of the Holy Trinity in the village Bolshaya Svorotva is a unique architectural monument of classicism, which has no analogues in Belarus or in Europe.

It was originally a wooden Uniate church, built in 1747 by clerk of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Nikolai Ovsiny. Triangular temple had exits at each of the three sides. In the corners the sacristy were made, which gave the main room an hexagonal plan. Hip shingle roof was ended by a small tower, at the corners of the roof there were three small towers. Decorated with carved and gilded a triangle altar occupied the center of the room. The choirs were in the form of a balcony round in terms with a fence with balusters, the icons of the Twelve Apostles were on the walls. The ceiling had the shape of the dome and was painted.

The wooden church day has not been preserved to our days. In 1823 Jakub Nezabytovsky in the same place built a church of rubble stone and brick, which completely repeated the architectural features of its predecessor. The church had a form of the right triangle with one blind dome. The shingle roof, windows arranged in one row, three doors. The church had a brick floor inside, the ceiling was hemed by boards and plastered. In 1868 iconostasis painted in light blue color, with gilded moldings, frames and carvings was set. It consisted of 13 icons arranged in a single row. In addition to the iconostasis there were four artistic icons of the Holy Evangelists in the church. The belfry built separately from the church had 3 bells, the largest of which weighed about three pounds.

In 1943, the church was burned. Thanks to the efforts of the local priest Father George and the support of fellow countrymen, in 2006 the restoration of the temple began. It was restore from the ruins by only one small picture of pre-war times, which was transmitted to father George by one of the parishioners. The restored church was consecrated in 2009.

Today, the church has retained its unique shape. Colorful wall of rubble look like the castle. From above they are framed by bleached layered entablature, the corners are plastered, decorated with a rustic, whitewashed and underlined slender vertical column. On top of the roof rises triangular tower with a tabernacle and a cross.

As for the unusual shape of the church, there are several versions. Some believe that there was not enough space to the construction of the temple, so it get this form. Others blamed on the eccentricity of the owner of the estate. Others associate it with the name of the church, as the church of the Holy Trinity, the shape represents the trinity of God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. Local historians also believe that such a form was designed to reconcile the three branches of Christianity, which co-existed in our lands at that time - Uniate Church, Orthodoxy and Catholicism, so 3 doors on 3 sides of the temple for the three confessions, and in the midst of a temple is a general triangular altar, on which three icons stood for people to pray together and remember that God is One.

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