Inside, valuable Rococo and Classicist furnishings have been preserved.

History of the structure

The oldest reference about Kołaczkowo comes from 1310. It was a nobleman’s village. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it belonged to the Kołaczkowski family of the Abdank coat of arms. At the beginning of the 16th century it was purchased by Dobrogost Jezierski, a courtier of the Górka family. In 1538, Kołaczkowo became the property of Łukasz Górka, who was later appointed Bishop of Wrocław. Subsequently, in the 17th century and at the beginning of the next century the village was owned by the Zajączek family, and in the 18th century by the Sokolnicki, Stablewski and Dąmbski family of the Godziemba coat of arms. After count Gustaw Dąmbski’s death in 1863, Kołaczkowo was sold to a German buyer. At first, it belonged to the Schultz family, and starting from the early 20th century — to the Prussian Settlement Commission, which divided it into a number of parcels. In 1918, the village was taken over by the Settlement Office in Poznań. In 1920, part of the former estate of Kołaczkowo, covering an area of approx. 213 ha, was purchased by the writer Władysław Stanisław Reymont, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Following Reymont’s death in 1925, his heirs sold Kołaczkowo to the Jurasz family, a prominent family of doctors from Poznań. They remained the owners of the estate until 1939.

The wooden church of St. Apostles Simon and Judas Thaddaeus in Kołaczkowo may have been established already in the 13th century (according to other sources in the 14th or 15th century). The earliest known mentions of the church come from 1404 (parson Mikołaj is mentioned) and 1420 (a reference is made to parson Wawrzyniec). The church existed until the early 18th century. In 1713 a new, also wooden church was built in its place. It was founded by Władysław Zajączek of Wrząca, the heir of Kołaczkowo at that time. The church was under the supervision of Franciscan priests from nearby Pyzdry.

In 1830-36, a new brick church was built on another site. It was founded by Józef Stablewski. The work, probably based on a theoretical design by arch. Christian Piotr Aigner from 1825, was carried out by the builder Jursz. In the first half of the 19th century, a wooden bell tower was erected in the vicinity of the church. In 1850 the building, unfinished due to the death of J. Stablewski (1836), was consecrated. The construction of the church was completed in 1852, thanks to the efforts of the next owner of Kołaczkowo, a nephew of J. Stablewski’s wife - count Gustaw Dąmbski. In 1912, a new organ was placed in the church. During World War II the church was used as a warehouse. In 1945-48 the building was renovated. In August 1971, statues of the patron saints of the church were placed in the niches of the church façade. In 1990 a pre-burial chapel was built on the church grounds. The church underwent renovation works in the 1990s. (1995 - replacing the roofing, 1995-96 - drying the walls of the building, paving the surrounding area), 1998 - plaster work, 1999 - interior painting) and in 2001-03 (elevation work). In the years 2004-06 the renovation of the side altars from the former church of St. Peter and Paul and St. Anne was carried out.

Description of the structure

The church in Kołaczkowo is situated in the central part of the village, on the southern side of the road from Września to Pyzdry. The chancel of the church is oriented to the south. On the western side of the temple there is a 19th century wooden bell tower of a post-and-beam structure, planked and covered with a domed roof. On the eastern side - a brick pre-burial chapel from 1990. The church area is fenced with a wooden fence, set on a low stone wall between plastered posts. To the north of the church, on the other side of the road, stands a small rectory from the first quarter of the 20th century.

This classicist church was built on a rectangular floor plan, with a separate chancel inside, a sacristy and a storage room next to it. On the north side, under the choir gallery, there is a porch, on either side of it - a staircase and a storage room. The church has a gable roof.

The church is a brick building. The walls were plastered on both sides. The roof is clad in sheet metal. The plastered elevations are divided by pilasters supporting the entablature. Semicircular windows in profiled surrounds, supported by sections of a prominent cornice, were placed between the pilasters. The northern and southern elevations are similarly shaped, triaxial, topped with triangular pediments, over which stepped attic gables are visible. In the axis of the northern elevation there is a rectangular entrance crowned with a cornice segment supported on decorative corbels. On either side of the entrance there are semicircular niches with statues of the church patrons - St. Apostles Simon (with a saw) and Judas Thaddeus (with a mace). In the second storey, above the cornice sections - relief scenes in rectangular panels depicting the Annunciation and the Holy Family. In the axis of the southern elevation there is a rectangular niche with a crucifix. On the western side there is a marble tombstone of Józef Stablewski and his wife Prakseda nee Dąmbska (the tombstone is damaged). The side elevations are five-axial.

The interior walls are divided by pilasters supporting the entablature. Above the side annexes at the chancel there are lodges, open to the interior with semicircular glass arcades. On the northern side – a choir gallery. The middle part of the choir is overhanging, supported by corbels decorated with acanthus motifs and angel heads. Under the choir a passage topped with basket-handle arches leading from the porch to the nave. Inside, there is a flat ceiling with a crown moulding.

Elements of the old church equipment have been preserved in the temple. These include two side altars with sculptures of saints, decorated with Rococo ornamentation. 18th-century paintings were placed in the altars: in the altar on the eastern side - the Virgin and Child with St. Anne, Our Lady Immaculate (on the bolt), and St. Vincent (in the finial), in the altar on the west side - St. Roch, Walenty and Jakub and John of Nepomuk (in the finial). The classicist main altar was created during the construction of the current church. It is a brick, architectural altar with four columns carrying the entablature. In the central field hangs a probably 17th-century, repainted painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa in a Rococo dress. Other furnishings include a 19th century pulpit with a sculpture of Salvator Mundi on the canopy.

Visitor access. The church can be visited both from the outside and inside. More information on the parish and the Holy Mass schedule can be found on the parish website: parafiakolaczkowo.pl and the Gniezno Archdiocese website: www.archidiecezja.pl

Compiled by: Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 20.09.2017

Bibliography

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