St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Białowieża

According to local accounts, there was already a small church in Białowieża in the 17th century, which was burned down together with the village during the plague that raged in 1710. Accounts locate the church on Browska Road. The only preserved memento of it is supposed to be a bell from 1661, located in the cemetery chapel. Unfortunately, there is no confirmation of this information in known written sources. Initially, the Białowieża residents were assigned to the parish church in Shereszewo, which received funds and privileges from Ivan Abramovich already in 1517. After the church in Suchopol was built in 1680 and the Suchopol parish was established, they moved to it. In 1704, the manor in Białowieża received the right to collate and present Suchopol priests from King August II. The affiliation of Białowieża to the Suchopol parish is confirmed by visitations from 1748, 1757 and 1769. In 1757 it had 733 believers, including 83 from Białowieża. In 1769 the parish had 251 families – 23 families from Białowieża (56 people were recorded in confession). Around 1782 the church in Suchopol burned down. Since the chapel built in its place could not accommodate all the parishioners, construction of a new church began. Work on its construction lasted seven years. In 1799 Białowieża with 30 families was still part of the Suchopol parish, although it had already had its own church for a few years. It is possible that the Białowieża people were assigned to the Suchopol parish as late as 1800, but the visit from 1801 does not mention them. The church in Białowieża was built in 1793. The act of the temple fund was issued on May 2, 1797 by the chief head of the treasury economy, Major Jan Szczepanowski.bialowieza.travel/zobacz-koniecznie/obiekty-sakralne/atrakcja/171

St. Nicholas - Orthodox parish church. The temple was built in the years 1894–1897. The founder of the church was Tsar Alexander III, who personally visited the construction of a new brick temple in August 1894.
There was a tsarist palace in Białowieża, which the ruler used when coming for hunting. Thus, the temple played the role of a tsarist church.
The Chinese porcelain iconostasis there is the only monument of this type in Poland.
The building is identical in terms of architecture in Belarus. It is the church of St. Włodzimierz Wielki in Czyżewszczyzna, with the difference that the church in Czyżewszczyzna was plastered and painted white. Both temples were built in the same period.
The period of the German occupation, however, was marked by tragic events in the history of Białowieża - it was a time of mass executions, and one of the execution sites was located at the entrance to the church square (now it is commemorated by a stone with a commemorative plaque). Gallows were mounted on trees near the church, and convicts were hung from them. Each execution took place in front of the residents who were spent from all over Białowieża. The first execution in the trees by the church was carried out on September 9, 1942, and the last one on September 17, 1943. In total, over 90 people were hanged there.

On Sunday at 4 p.m., there is a possibility of visiting for a small fee. You can listen to the pop and ask questions.