Corpus Christi Church, Nyasvizh

The Corpus Christi Church (Belarusian: Касцёл Божага Цела, Lithuanian: Nesvyžiaus Dievo Kūno bažnyčia, Polish: Kościół Bożego Ciała) in Nyasvizh (Nesvizh), Belarus, is an early Jesuit church,[1] and one of the oldest Baroque structures outside Italy,[2] influencing the later architecture of Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.

Commissioned by Prince Nicholas Radziwill and constructed between 1587 and 1593 by Gian Maria Bernardoni during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,[2] it contains tombs of powerful Radziwiłł family members.

The first wooden Corpus Christi church was built in 1510 by Petr Kishka who owned Nesvizh in the early 16th century.

[3] The stone Corpus Christi church was founded by Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, who decided to return it to Catholicism.

In 1747 Italian artist Maurizio Pedetti [it] built a chapel near the church for Thaddeus Bulgarin's grandfather.

It survived the wars due to the efforts of its priest Grigoriy Kolosovsky and the organist Edvard Girdo.

They also found out that after the war there was a shortage of materials, and in order to save the church the locals installed cut telegraph poles instead of the destroyed rafters, which preserved the unique interiors into the 21st century.

The interior of the church