The interior of the church features preserved Baroque fixtures and fittings from around the mid- 18th century, e.g. a crucifix above the new main altar and two side altars. Outside the temple, there is a painting of the Mother of God with the Child from the second half of the 17th century. The rectory is a late-classical building from around the mid-19th century.

History of the structure

The first written mention of the village comes from 1306 and concerns the transfer of the tithe from Uzarzewo to the church of St. Margaret in Śródka. Uzarzewo was a nobleman’s village, its owners until the beginning of the 15th century were the Zaremba family. In the 16th century, Uzarzewo belonged to the Iwiński family, in the next century to the Mielżyński family, and in the 18th century to the Napruszewski, Działyński and Kurcewski family. In the middle of the 19th century the estate was owned by the Lipski family and later - until the outbreak of World War II - by the Żychliński family.

The church in Uzarzewo was probably built in the 12th or 13th century. The first mention of the church, however, dates back to 1391. Visitation records from 1638 show that the condition of the wooden building was still good, but during the following visitation it was determined that the church needed to be restored. In 1749 the old temple was demolished and a new timber-framed building was erected in its place. The founder was the then heir of Uzarzewo, Felicjan Napruszewski. Approximately in the mid- 19th century, a late-classical rectory was built in the vicinity of the church. In 1869 a wooden tower, founded by Antonina Lipska, was added to the church, and in 1900 - a brick sacristy and a neo-Baroque burial chapel of the Żychliński family. The building was renovated many times, e.g. in 1970 (roofing), 1974 (interior renovation). During the last conservation in 1996-2004, elevation works were carried out and a trompe l’oeil polychrome of the former main altar was uncovered.

Description of the structure

Uzarzewo is located in the Swarzędz commune, about 6 km to the northeast of the commune seat, on the right bank of the Cybina river. The Church of St. Michael the Archangel is located in the southern part of the village, by the local village road leading to Swarzędz. The church is oriented. The church is surrounded by a cemetery fenced partly with plastered wall, partly with a wooden fence with a main gate and a wicket on the eastern side. On the cemetery there are tombs of the Brodowski, Frąckowiak and Waligórski families as well as a tombstone with a pilgrim figure - a copy of the sculpture by Władysław Marcinkowski. Near the church, on the south side, there is a late-classical rectory. It is a brick and plastered building, erected on a rectangular floor plan, with two annexes on the sides. The one-storey rectory is covered with a high gable roof and low gable roofs over the annexes. The front elevation is seven-axis, with the main entrance on the axis, framed by a modest columned porch.

The aisleless church was built on a rectangular floor plan with a triangular closed chancel in the east and a square (octagonal in the upper levels) tower in the west. A rectangular burial chapel of the Żychliński family and a sacristy adjoin the temple to the north, with a small porch to the south.

The church is covered with a high gable roof, with a small ridge turret. Above the closure of the chancel - a three-pitched roof. The burial chapel and the porch are covered with separate gable roofs, a two-pitched roof over the sacristy. The whole is dominated by a high tower on a square floor plan, octagonal in the upper levels, covered with a soaring pyramidal cupola topped with a cross.

The church is a timber-framed building, with brick infill and clay. The tower has a post-and-beam structure. The fillings and walls inside the temple are plastered. The roof of the church is covered with shingles, the cupola of the tower is covered with slate. The burial chapel and the sacristy were built of brick and plastered. The roofs were covered with ceramic roof tiles. The interior of the chapel of the Żychliński family is covered with a cross vault.

The composition of the elevation is based on the contrast of dark wooden beams of the structure and light plaster fillings. The main, rectangular entrance to the church is located in the west wall of the tower, the side entrance, also rectangular - in the porch on the south side of the temple. In the southern side elevation and in the closing of the chancel there are multi-quadrant windows, closed with an arched section. The upper storeys of the tower are boarded with vertically nailed planks. The elevations of the Żychliński chapel and the sacristy are plastered, framed by pilasters. The chapel is topped with a Neo-Baroque gable with volutes. The windows and openings are topped with semi-circular arches. The entrance to the sacristy in its east wall, topped with a triangular pediment. Entrance to the chapel from the western side. In the northern wall of the chapel the entrance to the burial crypt.

The interior of the church, originally higher, is covered by a wooden ceiling with rounded corners. Inside the temple, the painted scarlet canopy, discovered during the recent restoration works - the image of the former main altar, is particularly noteworthy. A painted imitation of a window was placed above the passage from the chancel section to the sacristy. On the west side of the nave there is a built-in choir gallery with a frame and panelled parapet, supported on wooden posts. On the northern side there is the chapel of the Żychliński family, open to the nave with a pair of semicircular arcades. From the old Baroque furnishings of the temple from the middle of the 18th century, a crucifix, placed in the new main altar, two side altars with newer paintings of the Heart of Jesus and St. Teresa and the sculptures of the Mother of God and St. Teresa hanging on the choir wall have survived. The 17th century painting of the Mother of God and Child with a kneeling figure of the foundress Anna Młynarska is currently stored outside the church. In the chapel of the Żychliński family a neo-Renaissance altar with a bronze figure of the Crucified Christ has been preserved.

Visitor access. The church is accessible to visitors. More information about the parish and Mass schedule can be found on the website of the Poznań Archdiocese: www.archpoznan.pl

Author of the note: compiled by: Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 16.08.2017

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