History

The chapel, initially designed as a cemetery church back in the years 1605-08 and replacing an earlier, wooden church from ca. 1560 which burned down in 1603, had a rather turbulent history, since due to its location beyond the city walls, it was frequently forced to withstand serious damage, such the devastating fires in both 1624 and 1635. As a result, the chapel was reconstructed and renovated on several occasions in the years 1688, 1696, 1740, 1761 and 1771. In 1813, the chapel was ransacked during the Napoleonic campaign and served as a warehouse for the next two years. It was only following refurbishment in the years 1820-23 that the initial function of the building was restored. After the most recent fire in 1855, the building was restored one year later, although from now on it would serve as a votive church. The funds for the reconstruction were donated by Leopold Gothard von Schaffgotsch.

Description

The chapel is located on the northern outskirts of the medieval town, beyond the Lubań Gate. Designed in the Baroque style with rounded-arch style (Rundbogenstil) influences, it is a masonry structure made of split stone and ashlar stone, oriented towards the east. It was built on a rectangular floor plan as an aisleless chapel, its chancel featuring a semi-decagonal (five-sided) end section. Its compact body is covered with a gable roof with a jerkin head to the east; the steeple which had once jutted from its roof ridge has not survived to the present times. The façades feature a plaster finish; the two identical entrance doors in the northern and southern façades are framed with plain sandstone portals topped with semicircular arches. The windows, elongated in shape and featuring splayed reveals, are also topped with semicircular arches. A number of epitaph plaques is embedded in the building’s walls. Inside, the chapel features wooden, polychromed ceilings dating back to ca. 1856, with the fixtures and fittings of the chapel originating from the same period.

The chapel may be visited during church service.

compiled by Piotr Roczek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 28-05-2015.

Bibliography

• Słownik Geografii Turystycznej Sudetów. T. 2 Pogórze Izerskie, Vol. II, M. Staff (ed.), Wrocław 2003, p. 273.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, p. 318.