Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and cells of 1769, Horodenka

In western Ukraine, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, there is a small town called Horodenka. The history of the town dates back to the 3rd millennium BC, when these lands were inhabited by the Trypillian people. After the Tatar horde burned the city of Kolomyia in the 17th century, Horodenka became a strategically important center. In the 18th century, large-scale urban development began. The city came under the ownership of the Polish magnate, political and military leader Mykola Potocki. In 1743, Mykola Potocki erected a Catholic church in Horodenka, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.

The Catholic shrine was built in the Baroque style and is now an architectural monument of national importance. The author of the church was Ukrainian architect Bernard Meretyn. When you get closer, you will notice that the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is a three-nave basilica made of brickwork. The three naves have different shapes. The middle nave is low and covered with a system of cross vaults, while the side naves have a domed structure. The façade of the building protrudes slightly forward, which is achieved thanks to the towers, which are slightly offset to the center of the building. The facade decoration belongs to the Corinthian order. The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is equipped with spacious vaulted cellars. Its choirs are represented by small balconies densely placed along the walls of the Catholic church. The exterior sculptural details on the window trimmings and balcony balustrades have similar images to St. George's Cathedral, which was also designed by Bernard Meretin. Cellars were attached to the Catholic church's vault at different levels. Compositionally, the church is designed as a one-story building in the north and a one-story building in the south.

In the 30s of the 19th century, a bell tower was added, the ringing of which can be heard before the beginning of the service. Also, the defensive fence around the church was replaced with a small crenellated fence. In the courtyard of the church stands the figure of the Virgin Mary, made by the great Ukrainian sculptor Johann Penzel.

Go inside the Catholic shrine and pay attention to the fresco masonry that has been preserved here since the 18th century. The carvings of the pulpit, the main altar with the Mother of God, the iconostasis and two small altars are by the sculptor Johann Pinsel.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is located at 1 Volodymyr Velykyi Street. The town of Horodenka can be reached from the regional center of Ivano-Frankivsk by car, from the bus station by shuttle bus or minibus.

Horodenka is a town, a district center in Ivano-Frankivsk region, on the lands formerly called Pokutia. The first written mention of Horodenka dates back to 1195. In 1668, the town received the Magdeburg Law. Horodenka was a part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship centered in Lviv and belonged to the Kolomyia Starostvo of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1772 (after the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), the Horodenka region, as part of Galicia, was occupied by Austria-Hungary. During the Austro-Hungarian occupation, two monasteries were liquidated in Horodenka, and in 1788 the first secular school was opened with German as the language of instruction.