The Holy Intercession Church () is a stone

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such church (building), churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as t ...

, built in honor of the feast of the

Intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer, praying on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy speci ...

. It is located in the village of ,

Khmelnytskyi Raion Khmelnytskyi Raion () is one of the three administrative raions (districts) of Khmelnytskyi Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Khmelnytskyi. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of ...

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast (), also known as Khmelnychchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The Capital (political) ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It functions as both a fortress and a church. The Intercession Church is a unique example of defensive construction in

Podillia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

, and is now a functioning church and museum. It is one of the oldest defensive churches in Ukraine and the only medieval defensive temple of the tetraconch type. Its closest analogue is the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

church of the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Étampes Étampes () is a Communes of France, commune in the functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a Subprefectures in ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

Originally, the Intercession Church was constructed as a defensive structure, as the village was located on the (part of the

Black Trail The Black Trail (; ; {{langx, tt, Dzorna islach) was one of three main trails used by Crimean Tatars in their destructive raids over southeastern regions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The trail was named either after black traces left ...

), which was periodically raided by

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

. In 1476 the fortress was rebuilt into a church with a brick ribbed

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

on the first tier and Gothic nervures above the second tier of the central space. In the 16th century, the walls of the first tier were painted with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es; fragments of them have survived to this day. Sutkivci_by_Napoleon_Orda

In the second half of the 18th century, a two-tiered wooden

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

with a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

spire was erected above the porch. It is likely that at the same time the western facade of the building was converted into a front façade and the entrance to the church was arranged there. In 1894 and later in 1903, the building underwent reconstruction with the dismantling of the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s; the slender shingle roofs were replaced with sloping tin roofs. As a result of this series of reconstructions, the church lost its old Gothic and Baroque forms and acquired features typical of diocesan churches common in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. During the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

anti-religious persecution, the temple was closed twice: from 1939 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1989. As a result of amateur unprofessional repairs in the 1990s, the monument was plastered from the outside and inside with cement mortar, which led to the walls becoming damp and the loss of most of the frescoes. In 2006, experts recorded the building's critical condition. A major restoration of the monument was carried out in 2006–2009 according to the project of famous Ukrainian restorers (1927–1994) and Candidate of Architectural Sciences . As a result of the emergency work, the walls of the temple were dried, the cement plaster was partially removed, and the emergency condition was eliminated. The lost medieval roof, which rested on a central pillar in the style of medieval towers-keeps, was returned to the monument. The pillar was fully preserved on the first tier, but was dismantled on the second during the dismantling of the gables (the remains of the lower part were preserved). The partially destroyed battle

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

with

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

s on the second tier and defensive galleries in the interior of the temple were restored. It is planned to complete the restoration with the complete removal of the cement plaster and the disclosure of the frescoes, restoration of the church's interior, and landscaping of the adjacent territory. The work was carried out with funds allocated by the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction in 2007–2009 at the request of the Yarmolyntsia Raion Administration and the church community of the village of Sutkivtsi. As of the 2010s, the Intercession Church is an active place of

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

. On 7 February 2019, the community of the church (without the priest) decided to transition from UOC-MP to OCU. In April 2021, the

Supreme Court of Ukraine The Supreme Court of Ukraine () is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.tetraconch A tetraconch, from the Greek for "four shells", is a building, usually a church architecture, church or other religious building, with four apses, one in each direction, usually of equal size. The basic ground plan of the building is therefore a ...

structures with a central volume (10 x 11 m) and four semi-cylindrical towers adjacent to it. The western semicircle along the façade and the entire height of the walls is highlighted by a straight section of 3.8 m. The walls are 1.5–1.8 m thick and made of small stone filled with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

mortar. The ceilings above the first tier are a system of brick cross and conch vaults with formwork on the nervures. In the central space they rest on a pillar, forming fan-shaped bundles of nervures at its corners; in the semicircles, separated from the central space by arches, there is some semblance of a star vault. In the places where the nervures rest,

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

blocks of various designs are laid, and the rock blocks with heraldic shields are located along the upper line of the vault. The stairs to the second floor are internal and made of stone. The façades were originally covered with ochre-colored

grout Grout is a dense substance that flows like a liquid yet hardens upon application, often used to fill gaps or to function as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand, and is frequently employe ...

mixed with crushed brick. On the second tier, machicules (for foot combat) have been preserved: the central machicule is above the entrance, the lower part of the pillar that rose from the basement tier and supported the hipped roof (the base of the pillar can be seen in the basement floor). The lower parts of the gables, disassembled and leveled with the roof, have been preserved. On the second tier, the corner turrets-bartisans at the corners of the central volume of the church are of interest. The roof is made of

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

. The frescoes are partially preserved under the cement plaster. They date back to the 16th century, and above them are the remains of a 19th-century oil painting, lost during amateur renovations in the 1990s. There were cellars under the church where many human remains were discovered. In addition, an underground passage led to the . The monument is a work of architectural art of the 14th–18th centuries, and has no analogues in its architecture and planning in the country. As of July 2011, the state has allocated 5.5 million

hryvnias The ( ; , ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiykas (). It is named after a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus'. Etymology The currency of Kie ...

for restoration work, but its start is still awaited.

Gallery

File:Fortified Church in Sutkivtsi.jpg, View of a semicircular side File:Покровська церква-фортеця (мур.) 14-15 ст.,д.п.18 ст..JPG, Corner view File:Оборонна церква в с. Сутківці, Аерофото 01.jpg, Top view File:Sutkivtsi̠Church̠Drone.jpg, Bird's eye view File:Sutkivtsi 2 2.webm, 360° view File:Покровська церква-фортеця Сутківці 05.jpg, Interior File:Сходи на другий поверх11.jpg, Stairs to the second floor File:Стовп15.jpg, Pillar File:Бойовий парапет з бійницями-машикулями.jpg, Parapet with machicolations File:Вхід до підвалу.jpg, Entrance to the basement File:Могила в підвалі.jpg, Grave in the basement File:186!--orda ~398.jpg, The church in 1861

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Покровська церква-замок (XIV-XIX ст.) // Око. Архітектура і краєзнавство України

''Дмитро Полюхович.'' Церква-фортеця, граф Каліостро та "скіфський скарб" // Zbruch, 13.05.2015

''Дмитро Полюхович.'' Сьогодення унікальної пам’ятки // Zbruch, 14.05.2015

Відеоекскурсія: Архітектура церкви-фортеці у Сутківцях на Хмельниччині
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520203314/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrAIT48S9JQ, date=20 травня 2021
Свято-Покровську церкву-фортецю на Хмельниччині передадуть у державну власність

Хмельниччина: процес оформлення церкви-фортеці у державну власність на фінальній стадії

Подібна є лише у Франції: чим унікальна подільська церква-фортеця в Сутківцях і чому УПЦ МП не хоче її відпускати // Еспресо Захід, 21.07.2024
Fortified church buildings Castles in Khmelnytskyi Oblast Churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Gothic architecture in Ukraine 15th-century religious buildings and structures in Europe Tourist attractions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast Buildings and structures in Khmelnytskyi Oblast