In addition, the church remains one of the few confirmed examples of the activities of local amateur architects of the early modern period.

History

The existence of a parish in Goworów was first mentioned back in the year 1360, with the local church being taken over by the Protestant community after 1560. In 1598, the Protestants have replaced the original temple with a new, brick church; all that remains of the building today is a Late Gothic tower. The only feature of the tower which could be said to form a characteristic feature of the Renaissance style was the fasciated surround of its pointed-arch portal. In 1623, the church was reclaimed by the Catholic community and enjoyed the status of a filial church ever since. In 1631, the church was reportedly in a very poor technical condition. Renovation works followed, yet this did not appear to have solved the problem, for the entire structure was ultimately torn down in the years 1711-1717, with the exception of the tower. The underlying soil was reinforced with wooden piles, which allowed a new, Baroque church to be erected there. The edifice was most likely designed by Anton Joseph Lengfeld, a parish priest from Roztoka and an amateur architect, former disciple of Jacopo Carove, a North Italian architect employed at the Prague-based construction business of Carlo Lurago. The spatial layout of the Goworów church was rather traditional and featured a vaulted chancel and a nave equipped with a flat ceiling, with an organ loft and galleries for the faithful being incorporated into its interior design. The difference between typical designs of this kind and the church in Goworów was that the columns inside the church were made of brick, with both the organ loft and the galleries having a highly architectural form. The design of the wooden balustrades of the organ loft and galleries was modelled after similar efforts forming part of brick and stone structures of the era. The overall shape of the church was simple and compact, with the nave and chancel sharing a single roof. The façades featured a regular, framework articulation, with the front façade incorporating an entrance portal and a niche designed to house a sculpted figure. The design of the windows was likewise quite distinctive, with the church featuring both oculi and windows whose design was not dissimilar to that of the so-called Diocletian windows. All these solutions were representative of the leading trends in Baroque architecture during the transitional phase between early and full-fledged Baroque. In this regard, the church in Goworów shows numerous similarities to the buildings erected in Wilkanów (1697-1701), Nowa Wieś (designed in 1702), Roztoki (1720-1726) - all of which were considered to be state-of-the-art structures at the time - as well as to the churches in Gorzanów (1646-1658), Nowy Waliszów (1690-1691), Lesica (1705-1706) and Niemojów (1716). The redesign of the tower was an exercise in practical thinking, with the additional, uppermost storey covered with a tented roof being designed as a wooden structure. In the 2nd quarter of the 19th century, the wooden upper storey was replaced by a brick one, which was then crowned with a roof similar to the original one. In the early 20th century, the current painted decorations were executed, designed in the Historicist style and modelled after the art of the Early Baroque period.

Description

The church in Goworów is surrounded by a cemetery circumscribed with a wall incorporating a gatehouse. It is not oriented towards the east and features a single nave adjoined by a tower on its western side. The chancel, flanked by a pair of annexes, can be easily distinguished from the nave and features a semi-hexagonal end section. Inside, the chancel boasts a barrel vault with lunettes. A wooden ceiling with a narrow crown moulding rises high above the nave. Both the nave and the chancel are covered by a common roof. The façades feature a regular framework articulation and incorporate decorative flourishes in the form of stone portals designed in the Baroque style. The walls of the five-storey tower feature no architectural divisions whatsoever and are reinforced with a pair of tall buttresses. A pointed-arch portal with a fasciated stone surround is positioned in the front façade of the tower. The portal bears the date “1598”. Inside, only the chancel walls are partitioned with pilasters; in the nave, the monumental architecture of the organ loft and galleries could be said to have been applied in lieu of such articulation. The painted decorations of the interior provide the finishing touch. The plafonds adorning the vaulted ceiling inside the chancel incorporate the images of Christ the Merciful, The Holy Family, St Joseph with Child Jesus, The Virgin Mary with Child Jesus and St Barbara, whereas the plafonds positioned on the flat ceiling of the nave contain the portrayals of the Holy Trinity, The Holy Family as well as images of the Four Evangelists. The remaining parts of the vaulted ceiling of the chancel as well as the areas around the rood arch are adorned with grisaille paintings depicting Acanthus vines. The window niches are decorated with Regency ornaments and grisaille foliate motifs comprising flowers and leaves. The profiled surrounds framing the doorway recesses have also survived intact. The fixtures and fittings of the church include a Late Baroque main altarpiece from the second quarter of the 19th century, a Baroque side altarpiece dedicated to St Joseph (second quarter of the 18th century, a second, late 18th-century side altarpiece combining features of the Late Baroque and Neoclassical styles, a Ba pulpit from the second quarter of the 18th century, a Romanesque Revival pipe organ casing from ca. mid-19th century or the second half of the 19th century as well as a number of Baroque Revival stained glass windows from the early 20th century.

The building is available all year round; interior tours upon prior telephone appointment.

compiled by Iwona Rybka-Ceglecka, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 25-06-2015.

Bibliography

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