History

The hospital church of the Holy Spirit in Brzeziny dates back to the 15th century. The original form and location of the church are not known, but it was probably a wooden building. The current building was erected in years 1737-1750 (date “1737” on the church’s pediment) and founded by Józef Lasocki. As the constructor of the church, Tomasz Belloti is indicated - an architect who also worked on the reformed church in Miedniewice. At that time, a shelter for the poor existed at the church of the Holy Spirit, referred to then as a hospital. The house existed already in 1775. It was comprised of four rooms and intended for eight persons. The church was renovated, inter alia, in 1861. During the World War II, the Nazis used the church as a detention centre of the labour office, then as a garage and warehouse of fire brigade equipment. In 1949, sister Franciszka Wierzbicka arrived to Brzeziny from the monastery of Berbardine sisters in Łódź, and started to organise the religious life. In 1952, she passed the task of organising the community to the Bernardine sisters coming from Chęciny along with prioress Magdalena Jaroszyńska. The sisters came upon two separate buildings: one with four rooms, adjoining the church, and another one, wooden, partly occupied by two secular families. The brick monastery, added to the southern wall of the church, came into being in the 1970s.

Description

The church is located in the western frontage of the market, in its south-western corner, at the intersection with T. Kościuszki Street. It is set away from the street line and fenced with a wall. The Baroque building is made of brick and plastered. The church has one nave built on a rectangular floor plan, with a rectangular, narrower chancel facing west. From the west, along the line of the chancel, there is a rectangular sacristy and a porch. The southern wall of the church is adjoined by the monastery building, built on an L-shaped floor plan. The nave body is high, covered with a gable roof, and the chancel is lower and topped with a roof with three triangular sections. The sacristy and the porch from the west are low one-storey buildings, covered by a joint three-pitched roof. The porch from the east is a one-storey building covered with a gable roof. The three-bay nave of the church is covered with a barrel vault on arches, with lunettes in the middle bay. In the eastern bay of the nave, there is a monastery choir supported by a wide arcade. The one-bay chancel and sacristy are covered with a double barrel vault, and the porch - with a barrel vault with lunettes. The roof truss is wooden, planked, and covered with metal roof tiles. Floor in the church is made of marble slabs. Doors are made of wooden panels, and the building features one-leaf, multi-panel windows. The choir balustrade is made of wood. Internal nave walls are partitioned by pilasters. In the centre of the longer walls, panels end with the round arch. The church’s façade is partitioned by four pilasters. Two corner pilasters flank the main entrance, supporting entablature with a plain frieze and projecting cornice running under the eaves. The cornice runs also along the other walls of the church. In the centre, over the eastern porch between pilasters, a section of rectangular panelling is visible, with a single, rectangular window above it, ended with a segmental arch. Above the window, there is inscription “1750”. In the top section, the wall ends in a triangular gable with a cast iron crucifix. The northern wall of the body is partitioned by two pilasters and topped with a profiled cornice. The southern wall is plain. Among the Baroque interior fitting elements, a valuable painting of the Virgin Mary from the 17th century in the altar is worth particular attention. Next to the church, there is a brick four-wall bell tower with two storeys, erected in the 1st half of the 18th century.

The monument is accessible. The porch is open throughout the day, and viewing of the church interior is only possible by prior telephone arrangement.

compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Łódź, 18-08-2014.

Bibliography

• Badziak K. (red.), Brzeziny. Dzieje miasta do 1995 r., Łódź-Brzeziny 1997, s. 89, 91-92, 385, 541.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. 2: Województwo łódzkie, Warszawa 1954, s. 10.