Besides, it carefully combines the relics of a Gothic chapel with a 20th-century neo-Renaissance temple.

History

The first recorded mention of the parish in Chrząszczyce date from 1260 when Prince Władysław of Opole granted it the levy collected in the neighbouring villages. The first church in Chrząszczyce was probably erected before that date as a wooden temple dedicated to St Stanislaus the Bishop. A brick church was erected in the early 14th century and restored in the late 17th century. In 1814 the church burnt down but was soon rebuilt by the villagers. In the early 20th century, the church was no more spacious enough for the parish, hence an idea to extend it. 19 April 1920 saw the cornerstone ceremony and 7 October 1923 the consecration.

Description

The church stands in the centre of the village, by the road from Opole to Prószków. It is fenced with a stone wall with gates on the east and west providing access to the cemetery.

The original 1916 design by Artur Kicktona envisaged a temple on a cruciform plan with a dome and tower. For financial reasons, the design was adjusted and the existing church is an east-oriented basilica with a three-sided termination of the chancel and with a transept. From the south, the chancel adjoins St Stanislaus’s Chapel, which was the chancel of the ancient Gothic temple; the sacristy is located on the south side.

The nave, the south transept arm and St Stanislaus’s Chapel are covered with gable roofs, the chancel has a multi-pitched roof and the aisles lean-to roofs. The temple is dominated by the tower rising from the north transept arm (quadrilateral at the bottom and octagonal above). It is domed with a cupola with a lantern.

The church is made of brick (the chapel made of stone and brick) and plastered, with pilasters in the inter-windows axes. The window openings are varied in size and shape: terminated with a full arch in the chancel, closed with segmental arch in the chapel, or round in the nave and rectangular in the aisles. The south transept arm is terminated with a straight wall topped with a wavy gable. The west façade is made up of two gable walls: the wider one of the nave and the narrower one of the narthex; they are topped with stepped gables of a concave-convex line (the top of the narthex is articulated by cornices and pilasters).

The interior is a three-aisle arrangement. The nave is covered with a wooden ceiling with painted geometric motifs, and the aisles separated by flattened arcades are covered with a coffered ceiling. The Chapel of St Stanislaw is covered with a cross-rib vault. It features one of the oldest pieces of church equipment, i.e. the Baroque altar from the 1st half of the 18th century (altered in the 19th century.). Besides, the church boasts a late Gothic font with a capitalized inscription around the dome and a neo-Renaissance set of equipment from the beginning of the 20th century: main altar, pulpit, side altars, confessionals, pews, kneelers and the Stations of the Cross.

The monument is available to visitors.

Compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 22-04-2015 r.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. VII: Województwo opolskie, z. 11: Miasto Opole i powiat opolski, oprac. T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki, Warszawa 1968, s. 53-54.
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury - kościół parafialny pw. Matki Boskiej Szkaplerznej w Chrząszczycach, oprac. Jerzy Skarbek, Arch. WUOZ w Opolu, 2004.