Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Hajnówka

A roof of irregular, interlocking concrete shells makes it look more like a sculpture than a traditional Orthodox church. The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Hajnówka holds about 5,000 worshippers, one of the largest Orthodox churches in Poland, and thanks to its acoustics it has hosted choirs from around the world for more than 40 years. It stands in a town on the edge of the Białowieża Forest, an important centre of Orthodox Christianity in the Podlasie region of eastern Poland.

History: eighteen years of building

Hajnówka's first Orthodox parish was founded in 1942 and worshipped in a converted wooden building of the former forestry office. When many Orthodox families moved to the town from surrounding villages in the 1960s, the makeshift church became far too small. The parish priest, Antoni Dziewiatowski, fought for a building permit, and the foundation stone was laid in 1973. The church was built between 1974 and 1992 to a design by the Poznań architect Aleksander Grygorowicz, with the painter Jerzy Nowosielski as co-designer. It was consecrated on 11 October 1992.

A dispute over the interior

Jerzy Nowosielski, one of Poland's leading modern painters, was officially commissioned by Metropolitan Bazyli to decorate the interior. His design for the wall paintings met with resistance from the parish priest, however, and the artist had to withdraw. The iconostasis and some of the icons were eventually painted by the Greek artist Dimitrios Andonopulos. It is one of the more intriguing stories of modern religious art in Poland: a church shaped by a great painter that contains none of his paintings.

What to see inside

• the iconostasis (the icon screen before the sanctuary) by Dimitrios Andonopulos in the main nave,
• a huge chandelier in the shape of a Greek cross, hanging beneath the main dome and set with stained glass showing the Mother of God and Slavic saints,
• stained-glass windows in the walls, rare in Orthodox churches,
• the altar with the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy", a copy of a miraculous icon donated to the first parish in 1942,
• the lower church of St Nicholas with the crypt where the cathedral's builder, Father Antoni Dziewiatowski, is buried.

There are seven altars in total, three of them in the lower church. Since 2023 the cathedral has been a listed monument.

Orthodox church music

From 1983 the cathedral hosted concerts of the International Festival of Orthodox Church Music "Hajnówka", and since 2002 it has been the venue for the competition and concerts of the Hajnówka Orthodox Church Music Days. The parish has three choirs, adult, youth and children's, which sing at services. Visitors have included Patriarch John X of Antioch (2016) and Metropolitan Tikhon, head of the Orthodox Church in America (2018).

Tripto tip

The cathedral is at ul. ks. Antoniego Dziewiatowskiego 15. It is a working church, so come outside service times, keep quiet during the liturgy and do not take photos without permission. The singing is what makes the strongest impression, though: if you can, plan your visit for the Sunday liturgy or the festival. Allow 30–45 minutes for the interior and the exterior, then continue towards Białowieża and the forest.