Kamai. Church of John the Baptist.

Story

The church stands in the very center of the village on a hill. It was erected at a crossroads, at a crossroads, where in the Middle Ages five directions converged at once. The initiator of the construction of a Catholic church in Kamai was the owner of the town, Jan Rudomin-Dusyatsky. The construction of the church took place in 1603-1606, the name of the architect is unknown.

Initially, the temple had a longitudinal-axial composition, was three-nave, four-columned, the naves were covered with cross and star vaults (preserved in the apse). In 1643, a hospital was founded at the temple. During the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1657, the temple was burned by Russian troops, and after the fire the vaults collapsed. During the restoration, the columns were dismantled, the temple became single-nave, and the main space was covered with a wooden mirror vault. After the restoration of the temple, it was re-consecrated in 1673.

During the Northern War (1700-1721), the temple was fired upon by the Swedes from cannons and received serious damage. During the restoration of the church, Swedish cannonballs were built into its wall. In 1726-1736 and in the middle of the 19th century, paintings were made on the vaults in the form of clusters of plants and flowers.

In 1778, a large rectangular chapel with a crypt, covered with a barrel vault, was added to the temple on the south side. In 1861, the temple was restored and slightly rebuilt. In 1915, the Belarusian poet Kazimir Svayak served as priest of the Church of John the Baptist in Kamai.

The Church of John the Baptist is one of the few Catholic churches in Belarus that has never been closed since its foundation (excluding periods of restoration and restoration). The temple operated continuously even during the Soviet period. In 2007, one of the towers was damaged by a hurricane. In 2010-2011, a major restoration of the entire temple took place.

Architecture

The architecture of the Church of John the Baptist uses techniques and forms of defensive architecture, Gothic and Renaissance. The nave is close to square in plan; it is adjacent to a large semicircular apse and a small sacristy. The main facade is flanked by two cylindrical towers with round embrasures. The towers (their height is 16 m, their diameter is over 5 m), the thickness of the walls (up to 2 meters), as well as the general monumental nature of the entire structure, indicate that the temple also served defense purposes. The exterior of the church is completely devoid of decorative elements. The only decoration is four arched niches located at the top of the main facade.

The main altar (2nd half of the 18th century) stands out in the interior of the temple. The altar is two-tiered, its base is made up of 4 Corinthian columns, between them in the niches of the first tier there are wooden statues of Saints Peter and Paul (early 18th century). In the center of the altar, in an octagonal carved gilded frame, there is an icon of the Mother of God from the early 17th century (probably created in 1610 in Krakow). The icon is considered miraculous by believers. Previously, it was decorated with a silver frame, but in 1995 it was stolen. On the second tier of the altar there is a picturesque image of the Baptism of the Lord; the altar is crowned with a carved image of the Lord of Hosts.

Next to the church there is an ancient stone cross of the 15th-16th centuries, carved from a granite boulder. The height of the cross is 2.5 m, the width of the crossbar is 1.88 meters. In the middle cross there is a triangular niche for a crucifix.