A type of tower-less temple, popular in Podlasie in the first half of the 18th century, inspired by the Roman baroque, where the main emphasis was placed on the composition of the facade and the interior. The value of the monument is enhanced by well-preserved original equipment.

History of the object

Parish founded before 1429. The first church was probably located next to the market square. The earlier tremples were wooden. The current one was erected in the years 1732-37. It was founded by Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński, the Grand Treasurer of the Crown. Built under the direction of Jan Krzysztof Adrian Kluk, thanks to efforts of the son of the founder, Tomasz Ossoliński. Presumably designed by Mateusz Osiecki. The church was consecrated in 1739. Renovation in 1834 was funded by Stefan Ciecierski. Subsequent documented renovations took place in the years 1870, 1888-1896, 1923 and 1945-1948 after the war damages. During the renovation in the years 1974-1979, the roof covering was changed from tiles to a copper sheet, the parquet was replaced with a marble one, and the altars underwent conservation. The last renovation was conducted in 2009 (including the laying of new plasters on the external elevations).

Description of the structure

The church is located in the middle of the town, within the church cemetery surrounded by a stone wall with two bell towers and two morgues in the corners. The chancel is oriented towards north-east. The church was designed in the Baroque style.

It consists of a three-and-a-half-span nave framed by two rows of lower chapels and a single-span chancel closed with an apse flanked by two auxiliary rooms, with founders’ boxes on the first floor. The façade itself does not feature a tower. The nave is covered with a gable roof connected to a semi-conical roof above the apse; mono-pitched roofs over the chapels. Above the nave there is a ridge turret covered with an onion-shaped dome, open by four arcades.

The church is a brick-made, its roof and ridge turret covered with sheet metal. Vaulted interiors, marble parquet.

Two-storey façade, triaxial in the lower part, in the upper part it is uniaxial, with runoffs, topped with a triangular gable. Both storeys are supported by plinths - the lower on a smooth one, the upper one grooved, filled with panels; topped with an entablature with a grooved cornice, supported by double Tuscan pilasters. A similar, strongly profiled cornice skirts the gable. The central axis is framed by vertical projections of the wall running from the plinth to the top, emphasised by double Tuscan pilasters. On the axis, there is an entrance door in a stone portal with wings; above a semi-circular niche and a cartouche with the coats of arms of the founders: Hatchet of Ossoliński family and Prus of Jabłonowski family; in the upper storey, closed in sections window opening. At the top, there is a sculpture of St. Catherine. The elevations of the nave and chapels topped with entablature, divided by even pilasters with heads included in the entablature and supported on a continuous, smooth plinth; similar doubled pilasters on the apse. In the nave there are rectangular window openings closed in sections; thermal windows in chapels.

In the interior the nave opens to the chapels with arcades; in a similar way, but lower arcades are between the chapels. The vault over the nave and the chancel is cross-barrelled on double-buttresses, sail-like in chapels, and cross vault in auxiliary rooms. The arch vaults over the nave flow down onto the double Tuscan pilasters supporting the entablature with a finely profiled cornice set on the axis of pilasters. Cartridges with medallions are placed in the keys of the arcades. In the chapels, there are simplified pilasters supporting the cornices running over the arcades. Above the entrance, a music choir supported by a wide arcade with a basket arch, surrounded by a window sill fitted with regency stucco decorations

Baroque woodkarving furnishing: the main altar from before 1777, with rococo ornamentation; eight side altars from before 1739; Rococo pulpit from around 1750. Marble, chased baroque baptismal font from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century. Sandstone epitaph with the bust of Fr. Krzysztof Kluk made in 1848 by. Jakub Tatyarkiewicz. In front of the church, another statue of Fr. Kluk, also sculpted by Tatarkiewicz, in 1847.

Visitor access: The church is open to visitors.

Author of the note: Aneta Kułak, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Białystok, 14 October 2014

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. IX. Łomża Province, fol. 2: Ciechanowiec, Zambrów, Wysokie Mazowieckie i okolice, compiled by Kałamajska-Saeed Maria, Warsaw 1986, pp. 13-21.
• Niewiarowska-Bogucka K., Mecenat rodziny Ossolińskich w XVIII i XIX wieku na Podlasiu, Warsaw 2004, pp. 29-36.
• Tomaszewski N., Historia Ciechanowca do 1947 r., Ciechanowiec 2008, pp. 104-105.
• www.drohiczynska.pl (17.05.2023)