Foundations of a Heavenly Sotnia memorial chapel have been laid in Lutsk

It will be erected in the place that has always been a kind of spiritual center of the city. It is so-called Piatnytska Hill, which probably got its name from a small church dedicated to St. Paraskeva (Piatnytsia in Ukrainian). The first mention of the hill goes back to 1580. Although the shrine was later moved to one of the suburbs of Lutsk, the name stuck. Moreover, St. Piatnytsia Chapel re-emerged there in the late 19th century. In Soviet times, it was replaced with a small public garden, for the chapel was perceived as an “inappropriate neighbor” for the Batkivshchyna cinema, located nearby... Later still, the authorities stooped to building a public toilet there (!). More recently, there was talk that yet another office building would be erected on Piatnytska Hill.

However, after the Heavenly Sotnia heroes fell from the regime’s bullets, the city decided to return to the hill its spiritual meaning and erect a chapel there. A cross was blessed and laid down on the location on April 6. The ceremony was attended by head of the Volyn Oblast State Administration Hryhorii Pustovit and Lutsk mayor Mykola Romaniuk. The new church will be dedicated to St. Paraskeva-Piatnytsia as a reminder of the past and serve as a memorial for the heroes of the Heavenly Sotnia who sacrificed their lives for a happy future for Ukraine. The land for the chapel was donated by a resident of the city as well as by the regional broadcasting company, whose office is now housed in the former cinema building.