Its design incorporating the spatial and formal solutions typical of the Early Baroque monastic architecture of the second half of the 17th century. Today, the building presents an outstanding artistic value due to its well-proportioned silhouette and the monumental design of its ground floor interiors. 

History

The judicial district in Dzikowiec was first mentioned in written sources in 1372-1373. In 1628, the judge’s estate, along with a single grange, was sold to the Jesuits from Kłodzko, who have managed to acquire the entire village by 1689 by way of various purchase or exchange transactions. The former judge’s manor became a local administrative centre for the surrounding estate. The Baroque provostry building was erected in 1682–1683, based on a spatial layout typical of the monastic architecture of the second half of the 17th century. The main conventual interiors – including the refectory and the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel was established. The lower ground floor interiors were distinguished by their spacious design, with tall, vaulted ceilings and wooden door joinery designed in the Baroque style. The front façade featured two eared portals made of stone, one out of which served as the chapel entrance, as well as a single avant-corps projecting only slightly beyond the outline of the façade, positioned asymmetrically in the western part thereof. In 1722, an octagonal spirelet jutting from the roof ridge and crowned with a bulbous cupola with lantern was added; the spirelet also came equipped with a clock intended to ensure the timely performance of all the works in the surrounding farm. In 1773, the Jesuit Order was abolished. All of the monastic estates, including the grange and the provostry building, were gradually being sold to private individuals from 1788 onwards. As a result, the former Jesuit provostry building became a manor house. During the 19th century, the building underwent alteration works intended to adapt it to the current needs of its erstwhile owners. The Baroque façade detailing was simplified, attaining a more Classical appearance, although the architectural articulation and the stone portals were both suffered to remain. In the late 19th century, the avant-corps projecting from the front façade received a new, Baroque Revival gable adorned with volutes. In the 4th quarter of the 17th century, a small utility garden was established in the immediate vicinity of the provostry building; later on, before 1830 and then at the end of the 19th century, the garden was transformed into a small landscape park. In the 4th quarter of the 17th century, the surrounding grange was also undergoing a gradual redesign; all that remains of the original manor farm complex today is a small, Baroque granary.

Description

The former Jesuit provostry building is located in the eastern part of the manor farm, standing on a platform partially cutting into the slope of the hill. It is a two-storey building designed on an elongated rectangular floor plan; its interior follows a one-and-a-half-bay layout with a ground-floor access gallery from which various rooms could be accessed, including the chapel, the refectory and the spacious, tunnel-shaped staircase. The house features a compact silhouette with a tall hip roof. A slightly projecting avant-corps adorns the front façade, positioned in an asymmetrical fashion, its gable adorned with volutes. The interiors of the ground floor level feature vaulted ceilings of the barrel type (with lunettes) as well as ceilings of the double barrel type. The amount of space occupied by these vaulted ceilings has meant that the ground floor level of the building had to be taller than the first floor. As a result, the first floor rooms are less grand in appearance, featuring flat ceilings throughout, including a few beamed ceilings. The surviving period features include remnants of the original front façade detailing, the cornice running above the ground floor level, the profiled crowning cornice, the avant-corps gable adorned with volutes, the eared stone portal with guttae and transom as well as decorative window surrounds.

The historical monument is open to visitors all year round; interior tours upon prior telephone appointment with the Agricultural Real Estate Agency.

Complied by Iwona Rybka-Ceglecka, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Wrocław, 31 August 2015.

Bibliography

• Albert F., Der Glatzer Jesuitenbesitz im Jahre 1747, Glätzer Heimatblätter, Jahrgang 13, 1927.
• Albert F., Der Verkauf der Glatzer Jesuittengüter im Jahre 1787/1788, Glätzer Heimatblätter, Jahrgang 16, 1930.
• Brzezicki S., Nielsen Ch., Grajewski G., Popp D. (ed.), Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk. (Art Monuments in Poland. Silesia), Wrocław 2006.
• Kögler J., Historisch-topographische Beschreibung des in der Grafschaft Glatz und zwar im Neuroder District gelegenen Dorfes Ebersdorf von... Am 25. Decebr 1800, Vierteljahrschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde der Grafschaft Glatz, Band III, 1883/4.
• Kögler J., Historisch-topographische Beschreibung der in der Grafschaft Glatz gelegenen Herrschaft Eckersdorf von...[1805], Vierteljahrschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde der Grafschaft Glatz, Bd. III, 1883/4.