Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Dubicze Cerkiewne

The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Dubicze Cerkiewne is an Orthodox parish church, belonging to the Kleszczele deanery of the Warsaw-Bielsk diocese of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The first church was built in 1593, as confirmed by a document issued by Sigismund II Augustus. The next mention of this temple dates back to 1727. The current church was built on the foundations of a previous structure from 1729, which burned down in 1941. The new church was erected between 1946 and 1954 thanks to the generosity of the local community, and its consecration took place on October 14, 1955. In the 1990s, the church underwent a thorough renovation. In 2015, the building was entered into the register of historical monuments. Architecturally, the church is a wooden structure of log construction, oriented to the east, clad, tripartite, with a square-plan nave and a smaller, three-sided sanctuary. Above the narthex, there is a bell tower, and all roofs are covered with sheet metal. The tower is topped with a dome-shaped spire, as are the small turrets above the nave and sanctuary. The interior of the church features a trapezoidal cross-section ceiling, and the iconostasis from 1992 replaced the previous one, which was moved to the church in Jelonka. The church in Dubicze Cerkiewne is not only an important religious site but also a testament to the rich history and culture of Orthodoxy in Poland. Its architecture reflects the traditional features of wooden Orthodox churches, and due to its historical, cultural, and artistic significance, it has gained the status of a historical monument.