It represents a style from the turn of the Baroque and Classicist eras in a provincial version. Seriously damaged during World War I, it was rebuilt between 1916 and 1920

History

The first wooden church was erected in 1757 and burned down in 1778. The present-day church was built in 1791-95. It was founded by the then owners of the estate, Wojciech Franciszka Bialski, probably according to a design created by Joachim Hempel - an architect from Puławy. The design follows the model of another church designed by Joachim Hempel, erected a few years earlier in Magnuszewo. The church burned down during war-time operations in July 1915 (the roof and the interiors were completely destroyed, only the core walls survived) and was rebuilt in 1916-1920. 

The belfry and the perimeter wall with 4 embedded shrines, built in the same period as the church, were remodelled in 1908. The belfry was destroyed in 1915 and rebuilt the same year. 

The church was renovated in the 1980s and thoroughly renovated in 2016. 

Description

The church complex is located on the north-eastern side of the main road from Lublin to Zamość, at the intersection with the road leading to the parish cemetery, the manor and the park complex. 

The church. Baroque-Classicist. The front elevation faces the south-west, erected on a floor plan of an elongated rectangle with truncated northern and eastern corners. It is a single-nave church, with an undivided chancel. On the sides of the chancel, there are two sacristies embedded in the main body of the church. The brick and stone walls of the church are covered with plaster. The church is topped with a gable roof with sheet metal cladding (originally shingled...).

The interior dates to the times of the reconstruction. It is covered with a false vault, which has the form of a flattened cradle. The Baroque façade has two storeys and is divided by pilasters; the lower storey is triaxial, the upper storey – uniaxial and surmounted by volutes and vases. The central axis on both storeys is accentuated by pairs of Tuscan half-columns supporting the entablature, with a semi-circular overhang in its top part. On the ground floor axis, the entrance opening is closed with a basket-handle arch. Over the entrance and on the upper storey, there are shallow recesses with paintings. In the side axes on the ground floor, there are shallow arcaded recesses (perhaps these were initially entrances – just as in the church in Magnuszewo), above which there are niches with statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. The other elevations are smooth, with no architectural divisions, topped with a profiled cornice and incorporating rectangular, closed basket-handle arch windows. In the truncated corners, there are round windows. Most of the décor and furnishings of the interiors come from the reconstruction around 1917. Some furnishings have been partly reconstructed (including the five altars in sand-lime mortar). The preserved classicist epitaphs commemorate, among others, the founders of the church and owners of the Fajsławice estate. 

The belfry was built on a square floor plan. It has three storeys and is topped with a little pavilion roof with sheet metal cladding (initially covered with shingles). Made of bricks and plastered. The elevations are divided by frames. On the upper storeys, they incorporate bell openings, topped with a semi-circular arch. 

At the church cemetery, there is a stone tombstone monument of Emma of the Storms de Hirschfeld Bayer (who died in 1835). Funds for its construction were provided by her husband, engineer Maciej Bayer, the builder of the road from Lublin to Zamość, an officer of the Polish army. 

The heritage site is accessible upon prior arrangement by telephone.

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 28 March 2017

Bibliography

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