History

The brick church in Ręczno was built in 1618. Funds for its construction were donated by Walentyn Raczewski. The late Gothic chancel constructed then was adjoined by a treasury from the north. In 1701, a wooden nave was added to it, funded by Józef Małachowski. The consecration ceremony took place in 1724. For a long time, the Church was looked after by the Norbertine Fathers from the nearby monastery in Witów. In 1813, the temple was destroyed by a fire. The reconstruction, undertaken by the prior of the order, Wojciech Kamiński, was carried out in phases. The chancel was rebuilt first (1820), then the nave was added (1824-5). In the mid-19th century, the treasury was transformed into a chapel and in 1897 a new sacristy was added from the east, while the existing sacristy was transformed into another chapel. In 1850, the edifice was strengthened with buttresses.

Description

The church complex is situated on an oval-shaped plot in the centre of the village, in the immediate vicinity of the Piotrków Trybunalski-Przedbórz route. The church area is surrounded by a contemporary fence. The building is oriented. The main entrance leads through a brick gate that also serves as a belfry.

The church was erected on a floor plan resembling the Latin cross. The chancel is terminated with a straight wall, behind which there is a sacristy on a trapezoidal floor plan. On the sides of the chancel, there are chapels of different size, erected on a floor plan of a rectangle. The main part is the nave, which is higher than the sacristy and the chapels. The church is partly cellared. In the cellar, there is a crypt.

The nave and the chancel are covered by the same gable roof. The chapels are gabled too.

The temple was built from the local crushed stone and partly from ceramic bricks, laid with lime mortar. The walls are plastered on both sides. The ceilings are wooden and so is the roof truss. The roof is covered with galvanized sheet metal. The barrel vaults with lunettes are made of brick.

The corners of the nave, the chancel and the chapels are buttressed.

The western elevation serves as the façade. It is one-axial and consists of two storeys. The whole is crowned with a decorative top. The storeys are separated by prominent cornices. In the central part of the façade, in a small vestibule (added in contemporary times), there is a door opening with a semicircular top, placed in a portal topped with a triangular pediment. Above the vestibule, there is a shallow recess enclosed in a flat surrounds between two pilaster strips.

The western elevation consists of the walls of the chapel, the chancel and the sacristy. In the southern chapel, an oculus was placed in the wall. In the sacristy, there is a semicircular window and a door opening from the south. In the northern chapel, there is a small window with a semicircular arch. The southern and northern elevations are designed in a similar way: the interiors of the nave are lighted by a row of semicircular windows, separated by pilasters. They are two-storey. In the southern elevation, there is the second entrance to the church. In the chapel adjacent to the nave from this side, in the corner, there are stairs leading to the crypt. The interior of the chapel is lighted by an oculus. Behind the chapel, the single visible axis of the chancel has a window opening. The chapel in the southern elevation has no window openings from the north.

In the western part, there is a wooden choir gallery based on poles. It houses the pipe organ. The nave is covered with a flat ceiling. The cradle in the chancel is decorated with a polychrome.

The building is open to public all year round. It can be toured upon prior telephone appointment.

Compiled by Anna Michalska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź, 14 August 2019

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Warszawa 1954 , Vol. II
• Województwo piotrkowskie, przewodnik turystyczny,