kostel svaté Ludmily (Řimice) Church

The Temple of Saint Ludmila is the main sacral building of the Orthodox Church in Řemice, which is part of the village of Bílá Lhota on Olomouc. It originated in the first half of the 20th century as an important spiritual center of a small Orthodox community.

The village was established on 22 February 1931 and its first spiritual administrator became priest Alois Václav Šnoflák. He sought his own temple from the beginning, but the first flight was difficult for the community. The city was operating in a commission, and financial concerns about potential debt were hampered by any initiatives. Although a construction committee was set up in 1932, its activities remained purely formal and without real progress.

The decisive twist came in the spring of 1933 when vladyka Gorazd (Pavlík) entered the matter. At the meeting of the church community he brought the priest and architect Vsevolod Kolomacký, who later became known as the archmandrite Andrei. Kolomacký had a number of temple buildings in Podkarpatské Rusi and the reputation of a builder who worked without debt and with minimal costs. His experience and pragmatism convinced the Roman community. The foundation stone was ceremoniously laid and blessed on 4 June 1933. The land was donated by Mrs. Beata Jarolímová. The construction was carried out quickly according to the Colomakian design and the temple was completed in record time. Vladyka Gorazd consecrated it on May 21, 1934, just on Holy Monday.

During World War II, the temple was in a difficult situation. On 24 September 1942, the Gestapo looted him as part of the persecution of the Orthodox Church after the assassination of Heydrich. Believers returned to their sanctuary on 10 May 1945 and only three days later, on 13 May, the first service was held in clean rooms. Since 1945, the temple has been continuously used by the local church community. In 1970 it was partially reconstructed, and in 1972 the entrance facade was enriched with the fresco of Saint Cyril and Methodius, which he will create according to the design of the famous Czech artist Mikolas Alš.

The building form of the temple is characterized by its simple elegance. In the centre there is a square temple box, which is supplemented by four tributaries. Three of them are right-angled, the one designed for the entrance is closed by a square bell. The fourth extension in which the altar space is located has an original oval finish. The temple box is covered by two needles - the lower one is a rotation and the top one is a hexagonal needle ended with an onion turret, which becomes a dominant building.

The inner space gained admiration mainly thanks to the distinctive iconostas. It contains a series of icons organized in several rows, including two upper belts of smaller paintings. The Last Supper of Christ, supplemented by the Icons of Birth and Resurrection, is traditionally displayed above the royal door. In the highest place of iconostas, in the onion frame, there is a small icon of the Holy Trinity - a copy of the famous icon by Andrei Rublev. On its sides there are icons of the birth of the Lord, the baptism of the Lord, the entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem and Ascension.

The temple, which survived the war rage for decades, continues to serve as a place for meeting believers. Its modest but harmonious architecture and rich iconographic program make it an interesting sacral structure, which is a testament not only to faith, but also to the resilience of the small community in the face of the difficulties of the 20th century.