Holy Trinity Church, Pidhaitsi

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Holy Trinity Church, Pidhaitsi

Holy Trinity Church in Pidhaitsi is a historic Roman Catholic church known for its Gothic-Renaissance style. It sits on the eastern edge of the town, near the Koropets River and at the junction of roads from Terebovlia and Monastyryska. The building is a national architectural monument made of sandstone blocks with herringbone-patterned faces. It has a single nave, a tower, and side chapels, including a polygonal chancel and a rectangular vestibule on the south side.

The church follows a cross-shaped plan. The nave and chancel are three bays wide and covered with rib vaults. A massive square tower with a tent roof stands to the west, and there is a rectangular annex on the north side that houses the former burial chapel of Zofia Zamiechów and a two-story sacristy with a treasury. The south side hosts the Potocki chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas. Crypts lie under the northern transept arm and under the Zamiechów and Potocki chapels. Inside, tall pillars with pseudo-pilasters support decorative entablatures, and there are pointed arcades and cross-ribbed vaults with grape-shaped keystones. A dome above the Zamiechów chapel marks a notable feature of the interior.

Zofia of Zamiechów, a former owner, funded the rebuilding of the church after a severe destruction. The chapel of Zamiechów and the Potocki tombs are significant memorials inside. The church’s Renaissance houses Gothic-style elements, and the Zamiechów mausoleum has parallels with other regional mausoleums.

History and significance

The church’s origin dates back to Michał Buczacki, a Podolian voivode and Przemyśl starost. After a decline, the foundation was renewed in 1463 by Michał’s son Jakub Buczacki and later expanded in 1490 by Jakub and Jan Skarbek. An older church likely stood in Stare Misto before the current site was established following the Tatar invasion. Over the centuries, the parish moved among deaneries, ending up in the new Pidhaitsi deanery in 1905 established by Metropolitan Józef Bilczewski.

Destruction and revival

Around 1620–1621, Turkish-Tatar raids caused extensive destruction. Zofia Zamiechów funded the construction of a new church, and she intended to be buried there. The Potocki family faced disputes over a large treasure deposited in Pidhaitsi, which Zamiechów reportedly used for the church’s construction. The church gained a polygonal burial chapel for Stanisław Rewera Potocki in 1643.

In the 20th century, the church fell into ruin after 1945 and was used as a warehouse. In the 1970s there were plans to blow it up, but that did not happen. A fire in the 1980s further damaged the vault and tower. The parish was re-registered in 1991, and efforts to restore the church began. In 2006, renovation work started, sacristy was turned into a temporary chapel, and the first post-war Mass was celebrated on 24 September 2006. By 2009, the tomb chapel of the Rewera Potocki family was the main secured space ready for liturgical use.