Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Lipsk
A Roman Catholic Parish (nowadays of Our Lady of the Angels) in Lipsk came into being in 1582. The first churches were made of wood, two of them bunt: the first in 1737, the second in 1857. After the last fire the inhabitants of Lips erected a makeshift chapel which was to serve them until the construction of a new church. They were not, however, given the consent of the tsarists authorities to build it, and in 1875 the parish in Lipsk was closed on the order of Alexander II. The rising of a new bricked church, began in 1906, after pronouncing the edict of toleration by the tsar. On 2nd August 1914 an enormous, Neo-Gothic temple was consecrated in the name of Our Lady of the Angels and the Catholic parish was reactivated.
The church is made of red brick; some of its elevation elements, such as blendes and fragments of traceries are emphasized with plaster. Many constructional (buttresses, relieving arches, pinnacles), and decorative (step meridians, traceries, a rose window) elements typical of the Gothic style can be seen in the architecture of the building. It is a two-towered structure, raised on the plan of a Latin cross, with a prominent transept and a chancel enclosed from three sides, encircled with a polygonal ambit (by-pass).
The interior of the church is plastered, and the constructional elements are covered with red brick (ceiling ribs, arcade, doorway and window opening borders, cornices). The naves are roofed with groin rib vaults with circular keystones. The intersection of the nave and transept, the church-porch and flanking side rooms (under the towers) have stellar vaults. Ribs of the vaultings end with flying buttresses; the capitals are ceramic, enamelled, with a motif of trefoils and withered twigs.
The interior equipment is wooden, with gilded elements, mainly of the Neo-Gothic style: the main altar, the side altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the pulpit and organ. A Neo-Baroque side altar of Our Lady the Basilian originates from the interwar period. In the main altar there are sculptures of Our Lady of the Angels, St. Peter and St. Paul the Apostles and St. Michael the Archangel. In the left side altar there is a figure of Jesus with fiery Heart, in the right altar – an icon of Our Lady the Basilian. It is believed to be painted in the 16th century and it has been worshipped as miraculous in the Lipsk church for a long time. After closing of the Uniate parish in 1875, the icon was moved to the Orthodox church, where it was still worshiped, and the faithful founded a metal jacket for it. After 1918 the Orthodox parish was closed and the bricked Orthodox building destroyed. The icon was moved to the Catholic church, where it was crowned with papal crowns in 2001.
The church is made of red brick; some of its elevation elements, such as blendes and fragments of traceries are emphasized with plaster. Many constructional (buttresses, relieving arches, pinnacles), and decorative (step meridians, traceries, a rose window) elements typical of the Gothic style can be seen in the architecture of the building. It is a two-towered structure, raised on the plan of a Latin cross, with a prominent transept and a chancel enclosed from three sides, encircled with a polygonal ambit (by-pass).
The interior of the church is plastered, and the constructional elements are covered with red brick (ceiling ribs, arcade, doorway and window opening borders, cornices). The naves are roofed with groin rib vaults with circular keystones. The intersection of the nave and transept, the church-porch and flanking side rooms (under the towers) have stellar vaults. Ribs of the vaultings end with flying buttresses; the capitals are ceramic, enamelled, with a motif of trefoils and withered twigs.
The interior equipment is wooden, with gilded elements, mainly of the Neo-Gothic style: the main altar, the side altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the pulpit and organ. A Neo-Baroque side altar of Our Lady the Basilian originates from the interwar period. In the main altar there are sculptures of Our Lady of the Angels, St. Peter and St. Paul the Apostles and St. Michael the Archangel. In the left side altar there is a figure of Jesus with fiery Heart, in the right altar – an icon of Our Lady the Basilian. It is believed to be painted in the 16th century and it has been worshipped as miraculous in the Lipsk church for a long time. After closing of the Uniate parish in 1875, the icon was moved to the Orthodox church, where it was still worshiped, and the faithful founded a metal jacket for it. After 1918 the Orthodox parish was closed and the bricked Orthodox building destroyed. The icon was moved to the Catholic church, where it was crowned with papal crowns in 2001.
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