The Gothic temple is located within the former town fortifications, to the south from the Market Square. With its diversified silhouette, the church is one of the tourist attractions of the town.

History of the structure

In the first half of the 13th century a single-nave temple with a separate chancel was built of fieldstones near the market square in Szprotawa. Earlier, there had been no local church, so the town had been assigned to the temple of St Andrew in Iława. In the years 1416-1424 the church was extended southwards. The temple was designed as a three-nave hall with an ambulatory. A quadrangular tower with a porch on the ground floor was added to the north façade. In spite of devastating fires that occurred in 1473 (burning of the tower and roof), 1630, 1672 and 1702, the temple was each time renovated and reconstructed. Bricks were used as a reconstruction material. In the first half of the 16th century the church was extended by a sacristy and a chapel. In 1673 a stone, Gothic, west portal and a rose window were walled up. In 1810 a church graveyard was closed and the tombstones were incorporated in the temple walls. Hostilities of World War II did not lead to major damage to the building. After 1945 the roof was replaced with a modified one and the tower was clad in new sheet metal. In 1969 stained glass windows that had been destroyed during the war were replaced. In the years 1970-1980 new brass chandeliers and side wall lamps were installed and benches were replaced in the main and side naves. In 1989 the church interior was repainted and in 2009 the floors of the church were replaced. The Gothic temple in Szprotawa is one of the oldest ecclesiastical buildings in the Żagań District.

Site description

The parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Szprotawa is located at 2 Kościelny Square, in the centre of the old town. The plot in front of the church is partially lined with granite paving stones and includes parking space. The Gothic church is a brick, not plastered structure of the hall type. It has three naves and features a polygonal ambulatory. On the south and east side the temple is reinforced by stepped, brick buttresses. A sacristy with a chapel and a tower adjoins the main body of the church on the north side, while on the south side - a chapel with a porch. The main body of the temple is covered with a gable and multi-hipped roof (on the east side). The tower is topped with a cupola featuring a lantern. The façades are pierced by pointed-arch window openings. The façade includes a gable decoratively partitioned by three levels of pointed-arch blinds with a cross-like arrangement. The walled-up entrance to the church is adorned with a profiled, stone, Gothic portal. An outline of the original, stone church is visible on the non-plastered façades. The texture of the wall features stone epitaph plaques, including a Gothic tombstone dedicated to a parish priest of Szprotawa, Bertold, who died in 1316. The interior of the three-nave temple is covered with lierne vaults, while the sacristy, chapels and vestibules feature cross-rib, barrel and stellar vaults. The Baroque fixtures and fittings of the church include: altarpieces, paintings and sculptures from the 18th century. What deserves attention is the Gothic polychrome on the south wall of the sacristy, presenting St George locked in the struggle against the dragon.

Visitor access. The church is property of a religious community. It celebrates regular masses. It is open to the public.

Author of the note: Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 14-11-2017

Bibliography

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