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    Published: 2025-12-281
    Vol. 67 No. 3 (2025)

    Between Byzantine tradition and the identity of Polish Orthodoxy

    Adam Magruk

    Ikona ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9468-624X
    Ikona DOI https://doi.org/10.36124/rt.2025.22

    The iconographic program of the Church of St. Sophia–Holy Wisdom in Warsaw (Part 1)

    Abstract

    The article analyses the first part of the iconographic program of the Church of Divine Wisdom in Warsaw — the first Orthodox church to be built in the capital in over a century. The concept, developed by the Ukrainian iconographer Volodymyr Telychko in collaboration with a theological and liturgical consultant, combines fidelity to Byzantine tradition with a thoughtful adaptation to contemporary catechetical needs and local specificity. The program deliberately refers to the Constantinopolitan Hagia Sophia, while expressing the spiritual and historical identity of the community through depictions of Polish saints and martyrs. The paper discusses the iconography of the narthex inspired by the Byzantine prototype, the main nave with eschatological scenes and martyrological synaxes, the sanctuary with a Eucharistic message, and the dome featuring Christ Pantocrator and the Heavenly Liturgy. It also presents the iconography of the side aisles dedicated to baptism, the memory of departed hierarchs, and the veneration of healing saints.

    Keywords:

    iconographic program, Church of Divine Wisdom in Warsaw, Byzantine tradition, Polish orthodoxy, ecclesial identity, theology of the icon

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    Magruk, A. (2025). Between Byzantine tradition and the identity of Polish Orthodoxy: The iconographic program of the Church of St. Sophia–Holy Wisdom in Warsaw (Part 1). Theological Yearbook, 67(3), 493–538. https://doi.org/10.36124/rt.2025.22

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