Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (also known as the Polish Church) is a Catholic church located in Samara. The temple is a parish of the Middle Volga deanery of the Diocese of St. Clement with its center in Saratov.
In the early 1890s, the Samara Catholic community, which consisted mainly of Poles, raised funds to buy a plot of land and built a wooden church on it. In 1902, construction began on a stone building designed by the Moscow architect Foma Bogdanovich. Construction lasted until 1906 and cost about 80 thousand rubles. The construction was carried out by Nizhny Novgorod masons under the leadership of Alexander Shcherbachev.
The consecration of the church took place on February 12, 1906. The temple operated until the 20s of the XX century. In the 30s, the temple was closed and plundered, in 1941 it housed the Samara Museum of Local Lore.
In 1991, the building was transferred to the Catholic community. By 1996, the temple was restored and re-consecrated in honor of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On May 31, 2000, crosses were erected on the spiers of the temple.
Today, catechesis is held in the parish, ecumenical meetings "Teze" are regularly held, there is a biblical circle, a Catholic library, and a parish newspaper is published. The premises of the temple are often used for concerts of sacred and classical music, open for excursions and individual visits.
The temple is a neo-Gothic pseudo-basilica. The temple is in the shape of a cross, with a transverse transept, in three naves. The facade is decorated with pinnacles. The towers are 47 meters high. In its original form, the temple was richly decorated; until 1913, an organ was located inside. Currently, the altar contains a fresco - a copy of the painting by Salvador Dali "Christ of St. John of the Cross"