Catholic Church of St. George, Palanechka
The Catholic Church of St. George in the village of Palanechka is of Neogothic architectural style.. It stands in the village centre of the village not far from the former Radzivil palace.. The first church here was built in 1437 during the reign of Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis. In 1751, the temple was rebuilt on the initiative of bishop Zholkovsky.
In late 18th century, duke Macey Radzivil and his wife Elizabeth Khodkievich bought necessary liturgical things and clothes for the church. At that time the building was also visited for worship by members of the Uniate Church.
In 1826, at the expense of Duke Constantine Radzivil the church was repaired and rebuilt and a new tower was built. In 1848, the parishiners’ donations were used to repair the roof, and in 1880 the roof was repaired again, the work funded by duke Macey Radzivil.
In 1899 the church was rebuilt as designed by K. Voitsekhovsky, an architect from Warsaw.
The church is a two-towered wooden composition with lancet windows, geometric laid on components on the towers covered by high hipped roofs, and ornamental stepped buttresses.
Over the central entry of the wooden rectangular temple with two tetrahedral towers going beyond the total perimeter there was a triangular pediment with a gothic rosette window.
The organ for the church was made in Vilno in 1897 by a Vilno craftsman Th. Ostrometsky.
Of special interest is the carved altar with 7 icons of the 18th-19th centuries and Corinthian columns. Of artistic value are such altar icons of the 18th-19th centuries as “Paul the Apostle”, “Saint Barbara”, other icons – “Virgin Malitanskaya”, “Saint Anthony”, “Saint Nicholas” and some others.
The two cast-iron memorial plates in the altar section, dated 1829 and 1836, are devoted to the Radzivil clan
Ignacy Domeiko, the future national hero of Chile, an outstanding scholar and enlightener, a native of the neighbouring village of Medvedka (now belonging to Karelichy district) was baptized in this church.
The Catholic Church of St. George is a monument of a retrospective artistic style.
