Many sights of the ancient city of Kamyanets-Podilskyi delight its visitors, but still, among them we can single out the most striking and impressive ones. Among the cult sights of the city a special place is occupied by Petropavlovskiy Church — the city shrine of the XVI century.
In 1385, when the Roman Catholic diocese was established in the city, the first cathedral Catholic church made of wood was built in Kamyanets-Podilskyi. And in its place under Bishop I. In 1502-1517 a stone church was erected in its place under Bishop J. Buchatsky.
In the plan of the three-nave Peter and Paul Church is a letter T, in the middle of the XVI century to it were added chapels: from the North — St. Communion, from the South — the Consolation of the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. A presbytery was added to the eastern side. Later the church was repeatedly completed and supplemented, but it was never destroyed or radically rebuilt. A visit to the church is a rare opportunity to visit the most beautiful building, which is more than 500 years old!
Thanks to the additions made more than once over time, the church has become a unique architectural object. Today the ensemble of the Peter and Paul Cathedral Church is the Triumphal Arch, the church itself, the bell tower standing to the left of the front entrance behind the building and the Turkish minaret. Here you can see an impressive, amazing combination of the most beautiful architectural styles — Baroque, Renaissance and Neo-Gothic.
During the Turkish domination of the city, the main city church was turned into a mosque, and to the left of the entrance to the church in 1672, a 36.5-meter minaret was added, with 145 stone steps leading to the top. In this way an unprecedented example of neighboring Christianity and Muslimity was created. Among other things due to this Petropavlovskiy Church of Kamyanets-Podolsky gained fame all over the world. After the return of the city, the Poles chose creation instead of destruction: on top of the minaret was installed a statue of Our Lady by H. Dahlke. Dalke, which in itself is a very interesting composition. The 4.5-meter-high gilded statue of Our Lady stands on a crescent moon mounted on a globe, coiled with a serpent and an apple, and her head is crowned with a halo of 12 stars.
The last structure in the ensemble of the church was the Triumphal Arch, built at the entrance to the church in 1781 for the arrival of Polish King Stanislaus Augustus. The arch is also a beautiful piece of architecture: it is decorated with a sculptural group of four angels and crowned with the figure of St. John in the center. Among the residents and visitors of the city this arch is famous for fulfilling wishes; even the 4th President of Ukraine V. Yanukovych came here before the elections to pass through the arch.
The ensemble of the Peter and Paul Church is really impressive — it is a lot of beautiful details, harmoniously united by the concept of a Catholic shrine, ancient sidewalks and ancient stones in the low walls of the fence, inscriptions on white marble in Latin. Here, as well as inside the church building, there is a lot of details, which due to the skill and the most elegant execution one wants to look at: sculptures, monuments, in the backyard there is a beautiful flower garden with juniper and buxus, a rose garden.
The interior of the church, in addition to the preserved ancient religious objects, wooden carvings and stained glass windows, is decorated with the most skillful works, valuable artistic treasures — a uniquely beautiful sculpture-tombstone of Laura by sculptor V. Brodsky from 1876, paintings by D. Sampini from the 18th century. This priceless work of art invariably attracts art connoisseurs and numerous tourists.
A visit to this attraction of Kamenets-Podolskiy is memorable for a long time, especially if you visit it in the morning hours, when the inner splendor of the church seems to come alive under the sounds of organ music. It is no exaggeration to speak about the Peter and Paul Church as an invaluable attraction of Ukraine, which has been preserving the spiritual wealth of the ancient city for centuries.