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A castle, currently the Evangelical church of the Holy Saviour - Zabytek.pl

A castle, currently the Evangelical church of the Holy Saviour


church 1745 - 1747 Szprotawa

Address
Szprotawa, Plac Ewangelicki 5

Location
woj. lubuskie, pow. żagański, gm. Szprotawa - miasto

A castle originating from the era of the Piast dynasty, transformed into a church in the 18th century, is one of the most important heritage sites of Szprotawa, related to the oldest urban layout of the town.

History of the structure

The castle was built at the turn of the 14th century in place of a hillfort and its peripheral walls were incorporated in the municipal fortification system. It was encircled by a dry moat on the side of the town and protected with a steep escarpment on the south side. The main residential building was located on the east side of the oval courtyard and represented a stone and brick, two-storey structure. During the war between Brandenburg and the Hungarian king Matyas Korvin, John II of Żagań had its seat in the castle between 1476 and 1481. In the early 16th century the castle was reinforced with a semi-circular roundel added on the south side and extended by a new entrance gate on the side of a drawbridge over the moat. The castle suffered damage during the Swedish siege of 1642 and was soon rebuilt, only to be destroyed again in 1672. After remaining ruined for a long time, a brewery was eventually arranged inside. In the years 1745-1747 the building was adapted to be used as an Evangelical church - the peripheral walls were preserved and the internal walls were torn down. The roundel was used as a sacristy and the moat was backfilled. In 1750 a pastor’s house was built in the former castle boroughs. In the years 1821-1822 a Classicist tower façade was added on the side of the town. In the late 19th century the site underwent renovation. After 1945 the damaged building fell into disrepair. In 1970 the roof, the tower cupola and the upper layer of the wall were demolished due to a threat to safety around the building.

Site description

The church is located on the south-eastern edge of the old town, on an escarpment descending towards the backfilled branch of the Szprotawa river. On the north side, it neighbours on Ewangelicki Square formed in the area of the former castle boroughs and the moat. Stone and brick peripheral walls measuring 2.5 m in thickness and a roundel constitute remnants of the stronghold from the Piast dynasty era. The tower façade with a vestibule evokes a Classicist spirit. The structure is made of stone and brick, set on an irregular ellipse floor plan. It has two storeys and features a stone and brick roundel terminating in a semicircle that adjoins at the south end as well as a quadrangular tower passing into an octagonal one on the third storey on the north side. The tower houses the main entrance and is framed on the sides by vestibules of the side entrances. The façades are pierced with large window openings with semi-circular top sections. A section of the façade is accentuated with lavish architectural detailing in the form of pilasters and columns, both fluted and smooth, framing the corners and flanking the openings; a triglyph-and-metope frieze of a dentil type; string and crowning cornices; a triangular tympanum above the main entrance and the tower window on the upper floor. The interior is aisleless and includes six masonry pilasters that formed an element of the main load-bearing structure for three-storey galleries running along on the north and south sides of the interior. 

Visitor access. Limited access to the historic building. The structure can be viewed from the outside.

Author of the note: compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 15-12-2017

Bibliography

  • Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 2, Zielona Góra 2012, pp. 147-148;
  • Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, pp. 377-378.
  • Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Brzezicki S., Nielsen C. (eds.), Warsaw 2006, p. 836.
  • Zamki, dwory i pałace województwa lubuskiego, Bielinis-Kopeć B. (ed.), Zielona Góra 2007, pp. 402-403.

Category: church

Architecture: Baroque

Building material:  brick

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_08_BK.33982, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_08_BK.116333