Cerkiew pw. Zaśnięcia Matki Bożej
Facts and practical information
Dormition of the Mother of God Church - an Orthodox parish church in Boćki. It belongs to Bielsk Podlaski decane of Warsaw-Bielsk diocese of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. It is located in the center of the village, on Armii Krajowej Square.
The Orthodox parish in Boćki existed from the beginning of the 16th century. In the beginning the Uniate temple in the village was a wooden building. According to different sources, a brick church of this rite was erected in the 18th century in the years 1819-1824 or in 1820. In 1839, under the provisions of the Polotsk synod, the local parish was incorporated into the Russian Orthodox Church. After the January Uprising on the initiative of the head of the Biala district Ignacy Borejsza the building was reconstructed in such a way that it lost its original architecture and became similar to Orthodox churches in the native Russian lands.
The building was damaged during the First World War. In independent Poland it functioned initially as a branch of the parish of St. Michael Archangel in Bielsk Podlaski, and since 1929 - again as a parish church. It suffered serious losses during World War II, when as a result of German shelling both towers and the roof collapsed. In 1943 it was provisionally reconstructed. The original appearance of the object was restored during a major renovation in 1999-2002. It is the only Orthodox double-towered brick church in Podlasie.
Armii Krajowej Plac 7Boćki 17-111 Podlasie