Hagia Sophia (Białystok, Poland)

Church of the Holy Wisdom, Białystok, Poland.

Hagia Sophia or the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Białystok, Poland is a miniature version of the temple located in Constantinople, designed by architect Michał Bałasz.

The act of laying and consecrating the cornerstone took place on November 20, 1987, during the visit of Patriarch Demetrius I of Constantinople. The following year on September 17, 1988, the former hierarch of the Białystok and Gdańsk diocese Archbishop Sawa (Hrycuniak) solemnly consecrated the cornerstone of the new church.

The solemn consecration of Hagia Sophia took place on October 15, 1998. Officiating at the service was His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople, together with His Eminence Metropolitan Sawa (Hrycuniak).

The Patriarch's gift for the parish were magnificent frescoes executed in the Byzantine style. They were done by professor Constantine Xenopoulos and his group of iconographers: Constantine Tzitzilis, and Leonidas and Maria Tsauparoglou from Greece.

A four person group of painters worked on the polychrome in the church of Hagia Sophia from 1998 to 1999.

The polychrome of the dome was a gift of the Patriarch of Constantinople, whereas the polychrome of the altar was a personal contribution of the group of painters.

See also

• Diocese of Bialystok-Gdansk

Sources

• Elzbieta i Andrzej Danieluk. Prawoslawne cerkwie Bialegostoku i okolic. Białystok: Stowarzyszenie Bractwo Prawoslawne.
• Hagia Sophia, Bialystok.