Polish Roman Catholic Church - uVisitRussia
Home Explore 1/7th of the World Baikal Irkutsk Polish Roman Catholic Church

Polish Roman Catholic Church

The Polish Roman Catholic Church of Irkutsk is enrolled on the Polish Cultural Heritage List, as its construction was carried out with the support of Irkutsk Poles. Today the church building houses the Organ Hall of the Philharmonic, where services are conducted after the concerts. 

The history of the Polish church appearance on the harsh Siberian land is a page of the Polish people’s history. It is known that after the November Uprising of 1830 in Poland, several thousand Poles were exiled to Siberia, including Irkutsk. Here they built a wooden Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1884, it was replaced by a red stone temple. This is the very church that has survived to this day. In 1938, the Roman Catholic community of Irkutsk was dissolved, and the church building was given to the East Siberian newsreel. It did not affect the exterior of the building, but the interiors have changed significantly. The restoration of the church interior began in the 1970s. At first it was supposed to arrange here a museum of the history of the Poles in Siberia. But this idea was abandoned, and the church was turned into an Organ Hall. Today, you can listen to a large German organ and attend a service that takes place after each concert.