Italian Catholic settlement began in Mariupol in the 1820s. The first settlers were sea captains, followed by merchants. The Italian Church parish community was founded in 1853, after priests from German-speaking areas preached there for a long time. The Italian community received permission to build their own church from Russian Emperor
Nicholas I on 15 November 1853 in a decree signed at
Gatchina. Thus it was possible to continue the construction in February 1854, which had initially begun on 5 November 1853. The funding of the construction was possible due to the sponsorship of Italian Catholics, who were active in trading primarily grain, but also citrus fruits and spices. They agreed to a voluntary tax on every quarter (210 liters) of grain they sold to build a church. At the time the name
Italians also encompassed southern Slavic people of the Austrian Adriatic coast. The Italian consul in the city, Gerbulini, and a businessman, Stepan Membeli, promoted the starting of the project and the continued construction. The painter
Arkhip Kuindzhi was involved in registration of the bricks, but can be eliminated as being the architect, as he was 11 years old at the time. Due to the
Crimean War the
grain trade broke down and the construction of the church was halted. Further construction was then made possible due to a large donation from Italian King
Vittorio Emanuele II. Construction was completed in 1860. The first service was on 18 October 1860, attended by Bishop
Wincenty Lipski, the auxiliary bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiraspol. The church was destroyed by the
Soviet Union upon urge of the
Union of the Godless of Ukraine (), who belonged to the
League of Militant Atheists. Like the Orthodox churches and the Jewish synagogue in the city, the Catholic church was looted and blown up in the early 1930s. == Literature ==