BM#076

After leaving Sławatycze we headed north towards the Polish Orthodox St. Onuphrius Monastery in Jabłeczna. Our reason for visiting was its proximity the Poland – Belarus border as well as its ecclesiastical interest. Heading down a track led us to the River Bug, the now familiar border between Poland and Belarus. There were matching border markers, for the first time Polish border fences with barbed wire along the river bank and an evocative monument on the Belorussian side.

There was a train station on the Byelorussian side, unseen due to the vegetation.

BY Border marker under the trees on the opposite bank

Belorussian Monument

On the opposite bank there was an unusual monument. It commemorates the battle of border guards of the 15th border outpost on the bank of the Bug near Dubitsa against the Germans on June 22 1941. The story of a Soviet hero Junior Sergeant Aleksey Novikov is here.

Through the Polish fence and the BY fence is visible behind the monument and access road.

The images taken from the Byelorussian side are from RealBrest.BY

For the first time we saw border defences on the Polish side of the border.

The Churches

St. Onuphrius Monastery

St. Onuphrius Monastery in Jabłeczna is one of the most important and oldest places of Orthodoxy in Poland, associated with the cult of Saint Onuphrius the Hermit. The monastery was built in the 15th century. It was developed and flourished in the 19th century, when the eastern part of Poland was under Russian rule. It was seriously damaged during World War I, when the monks left the monastery. After they return, it was quickly rebuilt, but again during World War II, it was significantly damaged, and it was burnt down in 1942 along with the valuable library and archives. Then, gradually it regained its importance and for many years was the only male Orthodox monastery in Poland. In Orthodox religion icons are very important – particularly revered among the Orthodox faithful in Poland are the Jabłeczna Icon of the Mother of God and the icon of St. Onuphrius, kept in the iconostasis of the main church. The image of the monastery’s patron saint, according to art historians, dates back to between the 12th and 13th centuries. The history of the monastery is fascinating because of its geographical location.