Church of St Cyril of Turau and All the Patron Saints of the Belarusian People

The Belarusian catholic mission existed in London since 1947, led by exiled priests Ceslaus Sipovich, Leo Haroshka and later Alexander Nadson. The mission became the initial base for and is historically closely related to the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum. During the first decades of its existence, the mission only had an in-house chapel for worshiping but not a separate church.

The construction of the church began in November 2015; the foundation was completed in January 2016 and the cornerstone brought from the Holy Trinity Church in Druja[3] was laid during a ceremony presided by the Apostolic Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini and Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London, Bishop Hlib Lonchyna on 7 February 2016. It was consecrated on December 17, 2016.[4]

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  After installation of the walls and roof (June 2016)
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  Blessing of the cornerstone of the newly erected church of St Cyril of Turau and All the Patron Saints of the Belarusian People. London, 7 February 2016

The design of the church was primarily inspired by the rural wooden churches in Belarus. The materials palette was restricted to wood and glass.[2] The church has been clad in timber with restricted areas of clerestory windows and obscured glazing. It is therefore essentially ‘windowless’ reflecting the inward-focused Byzantine liturgical tradition. The design of the external walls was inspired by the traditional vertical timber cladding of the Baroque Uniate churches of Belarus.[5]

Awards

Tszwai So, architect of the Belarusian Memorial Chapel, winner of the Young Church Architect or Surveyor of the Year

The Belarusian Memorial Chapel was featured at the 2017 London Festival of Architecture[6] and received the RIBA London Regional Award 2017 of the Royal Institute of British Architects.[7] It has also been named People's Choice at the New London Awards 2017 by New London Architecture.[8]

The chapel was chosen by the Royal Academy of Arts as one of the 10 buildings to see at Open House London 2017.[9] Architizer has named it one of the 10 Catholic Churches Designed to Uplift and Inspire.[10] On 21 October 2018, ArchDaily included the Belarusian chapel to the list of 32 best chapels previously published on the site.[11]

The chapel was also nominated for the EU Prize in Contemporary Architecture - Mies Van der Rohe Award 2019, the highest accolade in European Architecture.[12]

The iconostasis of the church contains two icons painted in 1926 by the Russian Catholic convert Duchess Olga Bennigsen and Mr Eric Ward (presumably a son of either William George Ward, theologian and mathematician, or of his son Wilfrid Philip Ward) for an Eastern Liturgical Week at the Westminster Cathedral.[13]

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  The Belarusian Church of London in 2018
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  The church's bell tower
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  The church and Marian House, the Belarusian Catholic community centre
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  Interiors of the church
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  Interiors of the church
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  Interiors of the church, iconostasis
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  The iconostasis with icons painted in the mid-1920s
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  Burial of poet and translator Vera Rich

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of St Cyril of Turau and All the Patron Saints of the Belarusian People.

• Belarusians in the United Kingdom
• Belarusian Greek Catholic Church

• Belarusian Church in London
• The Belarusian Memorial Chapel at spheronarchitects.co.uk
• Religion Completed Buildings Winner: Spheron Architects — Tszwai So's presentation of the church at the World Architecture Festival 2018 (video)
• Дазвол будаваць беларускую царкву ў Лёндане атрыманы
• Каб стварыць беларускую царкву ў Лондане, кітаец вывучыў нашу гісторыю