Holy Cross Church
   Photo: Cross Church

Vileika Holy Cross Church, or the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the town Vilejka, Minsk region - one of the most beautiful Catholic churches, combining features of neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanesque style. The cathedral was built in the early XX century, in the years 1906-1913 by the architect August Klein.

In 1862 there was a strong Vileika in a fire that destroyed a wooden Catholic church. Then it was decided to build a stone church. When the church was built already halfway there a national liberation uprising suppressed by Russian troops. The authorities of the Russian Empire gave the unfinished temple of the Orthodox community of Vileika.

After completion, the church acquired a pseudo-Russian Byzantine features and was consecrated as the Church of St. George. The Catholic community has built a wooden church in which the faithful continued to pray. In 1913, the temple was built of yellow brick and consecrated in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

During the First World War Vileika church he suffered because of the shelling. In the years when the city came under Polish jurisdiction, the church was carefully restored.

After the Second World War the church was confiscated by the Soviet authorities from the believers and turned into an ordinary warehouse.

After the Soviet collapse in 1990 Vileika Cross church was handed over to the Catholic community. Now it is serving the Catholic Church and true embellishment Vileika central square.

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