The Holy Cross (Khrestovozdvyzhenskyi) Chartoryiskyi Men’s Monastery is a monastery on a hill above the river Styr in the village of Staryi Chartoryisk of the Kamin-Kashyrskyi district, whose masonry walls remember the Chartoryiskyi princes, the Dominicans, the tsarist confiscation and a Soviet granary. Since 1997 monks have again been serving on the ancient settlement, and the monastery has earned the reputation of the “Volhynian Athos” — a place of unceasing prayer. [1][3]
At a glance
- Full name: Holy Cross Chartoryiskyi Men’s Monastery (UOC, Volyn Eparchy).
- Address: village of Staryi Chartoryisk, Kamin-Kashyrskyi district, Volyn Oblast. [1]
- Historical foundation: Dominican monastery (1639, wooden; 1736–1741, masonry). [2][3]
- Orthodox period: after 1831 (as Dormition church); closed as a granary under the Soviets. [2][3]
- Revival: decision of the Synod of the UOC of 11 June 1997; namestnik — Archimandrite Volodymyr (Haponiuk). [1]
- Architecture: the Holy Cross cathedral — to the design of the Jesuit architect Paweł Giżycki. [3]
History of the monastery
Princely Chartoryisk: 1100–1600
Staryi Chartoryisk is among the oldest townlets of Volhynia: chronicles mention it under 1100, when the Rus’ princes gathered at a congress in Vytachiv and took the capital Volodymyr from David Ihorovych, compensating him with Chartoryisk as an appanage. [2][4] In the 13th century, after the destruction of 1240, the town was quickly rebuilt: Chartoryisk became the clan domain of the Chartoryiskyi princes — a concentration of power and a castle, the “key to Volhynia” at the upper Styr. [4]
The Dominican patrimony: 1601–1831
In 1601 the Chartoryiskyi princes sold their clan nest to the Minsk voivode Jan Pac, who passed it to the Leszczyńskis. Voivode Andrzej Leszczyński, a Protestant, after the death of his wife Hanna of the Korets princes, built in Chartoryisk in 1639 a wooden Dominican church and ordered her to be buried by the Catholic rite. [2][1][3]
In 1736–1741 the Dominican shrine was rebuilt in masonry at the expense of the next Leszczyński, to the design of the well-known Jesuit architect Paweł Giżycki. The complex developed swiftly: by 1720 it already included the church, a chapel-pillar, two two-storey residential ranges, a school, a hospital, a watermill in neighbouring Kozlynychi and a folwark. The Dominican monastery became a centre of religious and educational life of the surrounding Polissia in the Baroque age. [1][3]
After the owner Feliks (Fedir) Pac took part in the Polish uprising of 1830–1831, the tsarist authorities confiscated his property, and the Dominican monastery in Chartoryisk was closed. The buildings were handed to the Orthodox community and reconsecrated in honour of the Dormition of the Mother of God. [2][3]
The church from across the river and the Soviet granary
In 1921 the local parish priest bought from the owner of the village of Osnytsia a wooden Holy Dormition church; the building was dismantled and in a single night ferried over the river Styr to the townlet, where it was reassembled next to the former church. [2][1]
Under the second Soviet occupation the masonry church was taken from the faithful and turned into a granary; the parishioners were pressed to pray only in the wooden church. In this condition the ensemble lasted until the 1990s. [2][4]
The revival of 1997: the Orthodox age
By decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of 11 June 1997 (Journal No. 29), the Holy Cross men’s monastery was opened; its namestnik became Archimandrite Volodymyr (Haponiuk). In December of the same 1997 the wooden Dormition church, returned to the faithful, filled with prayer again. [1][2]
Since then the monastery — ringed by forests and remote from urban bustle — has built the reputation of the “Volhynian Athos“, a place of unceasing prayer for people and country, to which people travel for the silence above the waters of the Styr. [3]
Ensemble and shrines
- The Holy Cross cathedral (18th c.) — the former Dominican church after Giżycki’s design, surrounded by the princely settlement’s valley above the Styr. [3][1]
- The wooden Holy Dormition church — the “bought in one night” treasure of 1921, serving again since 1997. [2]
- The site of ancient Chartoryisk — the princely settlement and the ramparts of the Styr defences. [4]
- The Polissia environment — the forests and silence that earned the monastery the “Volhynian Athos” name. [3]
Practical information
- Address: village of Staryi Chartoryisk, Kamin-Kashyrskyi district, Volyn Oblast. [1]
- Getting there: from Lutsk — via the bypass to Kamin-Kashyrskyi, then local transport; the cathedral is visible from the motorway. [2]
- Services: an active monastery; liturgies on Sundays and feasts, daily rules per the brotherhood’s schedule. [1]
- Pilgrims: a monastery on a hill — a place of silence; the “Athos” status should be read positively: remoteness and natural surroundings. [3]
- Nearby: the historical settlement of the former princely Chartoryisk. [4]
Frequently asked questions
Why is the monastery called the “Volhynian Athos”?
For its reputation as a place of unceasing prayer amid forests and river — the remoteness from urban bustle turned the monastery into a centre of ascetic life. [3]
Who laid the masonry church?
Andrzej Leszczyński (the younger) in 1736–1741, to the design of the Jesuit architect Paweł Giżycki. [3]
How did the church become Orthodox?
In 1831, after the Polish uprising: the tsar confiscated the Pac property, the Dominicans were expelled, and the church was reconsecrated as the Dormition. [2][3]
What is the wooden church in the yard?
The Holy Dormition church, dismantled in neighbouring Osnytsia in 1921 and ferried overnight across the Styr; since 1997 it has served again. [2][1]
Who leads the monastery today?
Namestnik — Archimandrite Volodymyr (Haponiuk); the monastery was founded by the Synod on 11 June 1997. [1]
Conclusion
The Chartoryisk monastery is a rare example of European Baroque by Giżycki and Polissia wooden simplicity lying in a single valley of prayer. From the clan nest of the Chartoryiskyis through the Dominican patrimony, tsarist confiscation and the Soviet granary — to the Orthodox monastery revived in 1997. [2][3]