An early Gothic temple belonged to the Evangelical Church from the Reformation era to 1945. The site is located in the central part of the village and represents one of the oldest heritage sites of the Żary District. 

History

The stone parish church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Drożków was built in the second half of the 13th century. At first, it was a single-nave building with a rectangular chancel and a square tower added in the late 13th century. In the 15th century the chancel section of the church was extended by a polygonal terminating vista. The interior was covered with a ribbed groin vault with supports. On the north side, a sacristy was added. It is linked to the chancel and its entrance is framed by a portal in the Late Gothic spirit. A new roof truss, supported by wooden pillars, was laid. Window openings in the south wall of the chancel were redesigned and the tower was extended upwards. Another renovation of the temple took place in the 19th century. It was then that other annexes were erected on the south side of the nave, the church tower obtained a soaring, Gothic Revival cupola and a crowning cornice, preserved to this day, was added. Hostilities of World War II did not lead to major damage to the building. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the temple fell into the hands of the local Catholics. In the years 1981-1986 conservation works were carried out in the church, during which plaster was removed, thus revealing the original face of the stone façade. In 2013 the roof was replaced and repairs of the sheet metal cladding were carried out in the church and tower.

Description

The parish church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Drożków is located in the middle of the village, at a road no. 287 leading from Żary to Jasień. The area around the church is circumscribed by sections of a medieval stone wall. The plot is overgrown with grass and shrubs and there is a wooden crucifix in front of the church. The temple is oriented towards the east, built of fieldstones and features a single nave and a pentagonal end section of the chancel. A tower adjoins the church on the west, a porch on the south and a sacristy on the north side. The nave is covered with a gable roof and there is a multi-hipped roof over the chancel. The tower of the temple was designed on a rectangular floor plan and is crowned with a pyramidal cupola in the Gothic Revival style. An entrance terminating in a semi-circle leads to the tower, while its external walls are crowned with a semi-circular arcaded frieze. The façade of the north wall of the nave is pierced by narrow, Early Gothic windows. The interior of the nave is covered with a flat ceiling, supported along with the roof truss by two rows of pillars. The interior gives a feeling of rawness and is devoid of historical fixtures and fittings.

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

Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra,02-11-2017

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Szlakiem zabytkowych miast. Przewodnik po południowej części województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2005, p. 117; Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. II, Zielona Góra 2012, pp. 30-31; Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 90; Kowalski S., Zabytki województwa zielonogórskiego, Zielona Góra 1987, pp. 70-71. Peryt-Gierasimczuk I., Czas architekturą zapisany. Zabytki województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 1998, p. 56.