Church in Gorki

Date: 2024-09-24    |    Tags: Gorki

Gorki was part of Drohiczynski County, so it is worth mentioning the local church.

The exact date of its foundation is not known, but we will start from the oldest documents, which are available for this church.

Gorki is mentioned in the list of Christian Catholic settlements from 1726.

List of Christian Catholic settlements 1726
Document 1 — List of Christian Catholic settlements (1726)

RGIA has copies of the Uniate metric books of the Horeckiey church from 1748 to 1801.

Uniate metric books 1748-1801
Document 2 — Uniate metric books (1748–1801)

There is also a mention of Gorki in the Uniate metric books of the Ilyinska church in 1774-1822. After the 3rd partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Gorki was part of the Kobrin district.

Uniate metric books 1774-1822
Document 3 — Uniate metric books of Ilyinska church (1774–1822)

In 1815 a new church was built, it is not known for what reason the old one was destroyed or abandoned. At that time Gorki was already part of the Ivanovo deanery, Grodno diocese.

New church built 1815
Document 4 — New church built (1815)

After the Polotsk Cathedral, the temple was handed over to the Orthodox. The Volyn archive contains Orthodox registers of births from 1843 to 1933.

Orthodox registers 1843-1933
Document 5 — Orthodox registers (1843–1933)

On Rittich's maps of 1864, there is a church marked in Gorki.

Rittich map 1864
Map 6 — Rittich map (1864)

Also worth mentioning are Rittich's maps for 1866-67.

Rittich map 1866-1867
Map 7 — Rittich map (1866–1867)

The church was also marked on Russian maps of the early 20th century.

Russian maps early XX century
Map 8 — Russian maps (early XX century)

During the Second Polish Empire the church was in operation, which is confirmed by existing metrics and Polish maps.

Polish maps 1919-1938
Map 9 — Polish maps (1919–1938)

In 1944, the village was destroyed by partisans. There is a photograph of parishioners of the village of Gorki. Probably taken after the burning of the temple. Also, in the post-war period, the village was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR.

Parishioners photo 1941-1945
Photo 10 — Parishioners of Gorki (1941–1945)

It is worth noting that the priest in the photo could be Fyodor Levon. But this information is not accurate.

According to a local resident of Gorki, Evdokia Andreyevna, the last priest before the church was burned was:

And what do I not remember? His father was Fedor Levon, and his mother was Nina. And they also had a son, Vitya, then he left for America. Father Fedir served in the war, his voice was so beautiful.

She also mentions that after the war a priest came to Gorki and tried to raise the temple from the ruins. But unfortunately nothing came of it, because there were very few people in the village, few young people and the communist party was not loyal to religion.

In modern times, already in modern Ukraine, a new church was built. The village of Gurki is now located in the Lyubeshovsky district, Volyn region, Ukraine.

New church 2020
Photo 11 — New church (2020)

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