In terms of the materials, structure and technique of construction, it is one of the few ecclesiastical sites of that type in Zielona Góra District.

History of the site

The town of Lipno was first mentioned in written sources in 1500 under the names: “Lippendorf” and “Lyppen”. At that time, the village belonged to the von Rothenburg family. In the 17th and 18th century the town was taken over by the von Grünberg family, who built the first church there. They were also benefactors of the temple’s fixtures and fittings, including a bell preserved to this day. The original church has not survived to our times. The current, wattle-and-daub temple erected in 1842, served as a church for the local Evangelicals until the end of World War II. Hostilities of World War II did not lead to major damage to the building. The formerly Protestant church was taken over by the Catholic population arriving in Lipno. Consecration of the Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Częstochowa took place on 30 January 1946. Despite being used by new residents of Lipno, the wattle-and-daub temple remained in poor technical condition for a long time. In the 1960s the interior of the temple was rearranged in the altar section and a door opening in the east façade was walled up. Further conservation works were carried out in 1982, including the cladding of the previously leaking roof in Eternit. In 2001 renovation works were continued, among others, the church roof was clad in roof tiles and the tower in sheet metal. The wattle-and-daub temple is one of the tourist attractions of the Zielona Góra District.

Description of the site

The filial church of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Lipno is located in the centre of the village, at a road leading from Drzonów to Bogaczów. Initially, a clergy house existed on a plot adjacent to the church of our interest, but it has not survived to this day. The church is located on a large plot of land, surrounded by a modern, metal fence with a wicket, resting on a concrete base. The area in front of the church is partially lined with cobblestones and partially overgrown with trees and grass. The temple is a wattle-and-daub, aisleless building erected on a rectangular floor plan and oriented towards the east. A square tower covered with a tented roof adjoins at the west end of the church. The main body of the temple is covered with a three-hipped roof. The façades are pierced with rectangular window openings with cross-like partitions. The façades were composed symmetrically through a simple arrangement of posts and transoms, with raking shores added at the corners. The entrances to the church in the south façade feature modern, wooden doors. The interior of the aisleless building is covered with a beamed ceiling resting on ten simple posts. Wooden galleries surround the temple interior on three sides. The original décor and fixtures and fittings of the church have survived. They include, among others: a baptismal font from 1775, a pipe organ with Baroque decorations, 17th-century paintings, a Classicist altarpiece from 1847 in the chancel and an 18th-century bell cast in a workshop of Christian See from Krosno.

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

Author of the note: Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 15-11-2017

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. I, Zielona Góra 2011, pp. 63-64;
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 193;
• Szymańska-Dereń M., Kościoły zrębowe i szkieletowe województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2009, pp. 55-58.