Костел пречистого серця Ісуса Church of the Immaculate Heart of Jesus

Rating 7110

In 1900 there were 18.696 people of the Roman Catholic rite in Chernivtsi. This was the reason for the construction of a new temple. For the construction they chose a place on the spacious Ferdinand Square, which was then located on the southern outskirts of the city. Here, at the request of the missionaries of the Order, led by F. Eberhard, during 1891-1894 a monastery complex with a stylish church was built. The project of the church was developed by Professor Josef Leitzner, director of the Chernivtsi School of Crafts. In 1894, Archbishop Severin of Moravia consecrated the church under the title of the Sacred Heart of the Lord Jesus.

The church was built in the best traditions of Gothic churches in Central and Eastern Europe: it had strict neo-Gothic forms, elegant interior, colorful stained glass, and during the services the room was filled with majestic sounds of the organ.
Due to its unusual appearance for the Orthodox region, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus immediately became one of the architectural highlights of the capital of Bukovina. With the establishment of Soviet power, the monks left Chernivtsi in 1945. The authorities first handed over the premises of the Jesuit church to the Orthodox Church, and then the State Archives of the Chernivtsi Region was located here.