History

Dąbrowice was a royal town with a parish church founded by the king, probably as early as the 15th century. The first temple was wooden. The existing brick church was ordered to be built in 1834 by priest Michał Kurowski – a cathedral canon of the Kujawy region and the local parish priest. The building was originally covered with roof tiles, which were replaced with sheet metal in 1867.

The church under the present invocation was consecrated in 1842 by priest Józef Joachim Goldtman, the bishop nominee of Sandomierz.

During the First World War, the building was damaged significantly. The destroyed tower was rebuilt after the war. Between 1939 and 1945, the church was in the hands of the German occupiers, who intended to pull it down. The old bell tower and a part of the brick fence were demolished. Ultimately, the temple was used as a storehouse for weapons and other military equipment.

After 1945, the church was rebuilt and its walls were plastered.

Description

The church is situated in the central part of the village, to the north of the market, in Sienkiewicza Street. It stands in the middle of a large plot of land surrounded by a brick fence. Its plan is laid out along the east-west axis, with the chancel facing west. The church was embellished with Gothic motifs – pointed-arch window and door openings, flat, pointed-arch arcade friezes and serrated gables.

It is a hall temple built on a rectangular plan with a narrower apse, also rectangular, topped with a full arch. The church has a compact, cuboidal structure with a high tower on the axis, above the entrance - eastern part of the building. The brick walls of the church are plastered on both sides. The roofs are covered with sheet metal. The structure of the choir gallery is wooden, supported on wooden poles. The chancel has a brick-and-plaster rood arch wall with a pointed-arch opening. The floors are laid with terracotta tiles. In the choir gallery, the floor is made from wooden planks. Wooden winder stairs lead to the choir gallery. The tower is reached via ladder stairs. The double and single-wing doors have a frame and panel structure. Inside, their top sections are glazed with crystal glass. With casing-type window joinery. One and two-wing windows. The main nave is covered with a three-hipped roof, the chancel has a conical roof. The tower is topped with a four-hipped roof. The ridge turret on top of the tower is surmounted by an onion-shaped cupola.

The elevations are set on a low plinth. The front, west-facing wall is three-axial and two-storey. On the ground level, the axes are separated by pilasters protruding from the elevation. On each of them, along their entire height, there is a narrow decorative panel with a pointed arch on top. The external axes are delineated by smoothly plastered rectangular decorative panels topped with a pointed arch. Above each of them, there is a rose window with decorative mouldings. The central axis is delineated by the rectangular entrance opening positioned in a pointed-arch portal. Above it, there are two trapezoidal panels with stucco decorations in the form of laurel wreaths tied with ribbons. Double-wing door with a fanlight. The storeys in the façade are separated by a wide frieze with plasterwork ornaments – interwoven arches with trefoils below. The top of the elevation above the cornice is divided into three sections analogically to the lower storey. In the central area, there is a pointed-arch recess with a rosette in a profiled frame. Above, on the axis, there is a narrow, rectangular, pointed-arch window with shutters. The outermost pilaster strips that protrude above the roof are topped with flat roofs, on which figures of holy bishops were placed. The roof slopes are obscured by the three-step attic topped with a corbelled cornice.

The central part of the elevation tapers into a tower. The top of the tower is weatherboarded with planks. There are two rectangular windows in the central wall. The eaves of the four-hipped roof of the tower project overhang the faces of its walls. The tower is crowned with a ridge turret with an octagonal cupola. On top of the cupola, there is a sphere with a cross. The side elevations are smoothly plastered, divided by rhythmically spaced pilasters (similar to those in the front wall), between which there are narrow, rectangular, pointed arch window and door openings. The apse is smoothly plastered. In its northern and southern walls, there are single, rectangular, pointed arch window openings. On the arch, in the part under the eaves, there is a rosette with a multi-section window. Below it, there is a simple cross. The walls are crowned with an under-eaves cornice running around the western, northern and southern elevations.

The fixtures and fittings of the church include five altars: the main altar decorated with a sculpture of Jesus Crucified and side altars decorated with paintings of the “Transfiguration of Jesus”, “St. Anne”, “St. Anthony” and “St. John of Nepomuk”.

The church is open to the public. It can be toured inside upon prior arrangement by phone. See information on the website https://diecezja.lowicz.pl/parafia/sw-wojciecha-w-dabrowicach/: The Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Adalbert and Stanislaus from Dąbrowice welcomes visitors to tour the church on weekdays and on Sundays and public holidays. Please contact us at the following phone number 24 252 25 25

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc - Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź. 17 April 2019

Bibliography

• Łaski J., Liber beneficiorum archidiecezji gnieźnieńskiej, vol. II, pp. 456-457, Gniezno 1881,
• A record sheet of the church of Sts. Adalbert and Stanislaus in Dąbrowice, compiled by Ambroziewicz T., 1985, Archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw,
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, edited by Łoziński J. Z., Vol. II, województwo łódzkie, Warszawa 1954, pp. 27-28
• Stefański K., Polska architektura sakralna w poszukiwaniu stylu narodowego, Łódź 2000.