About the Church
The Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Istra stands in the village of Vecslabada, in the Istra civil parish, Ludza Municipality, Latgale, close to the border between Latvia and Russia. It belongs to the Diocese of Rēzekne–Aglona.
The church's foundations were blessed in August 1933, but frequent changes of priest delayed the building, which was not finished until 1940; that same year the church was consecrated by Bishop Boleslavs Sloskāns. During the Soviet period the church was confiscated, and later returned to the faithful.
The cross-plan building is built of fieldstone, with a sheet-metal roof; it is about 26 metres long and 16 metres wide. The design was drawn up by local resident I. Pavlovs, assisted by the architecture student Boleslovas Skribāns.
The church's foundations were blessed in August 1933, but frequent changes of priest delayed the building, which was not finished until 1940; that same year the church was consecrated by Bishop Boleslavs Sloskāns. During the Soviet period the church was confiscated, and later returned to the faithful.
The cross-plan building is built of fieldstone, with a sheet-metal roof; it is about 26 metres long and 16 metres wide. The design was drawn up by local resident I. Pavlovs, assisted by the architecture student Boleslovas Skribāns.