The church and monastery, known as Brzeski in the Middle Ages, are situated on a slope, in a picturesque river bend on the left bank of the Vistula; they are visible from a distance and make an impressive landscape dominant.

History

The Premonstratensians came to Poland in the mid-12th century. 1149 is taken as the date of establishment of the monastery. The monastery was a branch of the Czech Strahov congregation. There are no sources confirming the beginnings of the Premonstratensian Order in Hebdów. The rich archive of the Brzesko monastery was dispersed during the partitions. The oldest of the surviving documents is the privilege of Prince Bolesław the Chaste of 1276, confirmed by Władysław the Elbow-High (1331) and Casimir the Great (1358). There is also a bull of Pope Eugene IV of 1441 with information about the monastery sponsors. Mediaeval sources mention a monastery in Brzesko (only Jan Długosz uses the name “Hebdów”). Perhaps, originally the Premonstratensians lived in the area of today’s Nowe Brzesko, and only after the town was incorporated in 1279, they moved to the current location. At the end of the 16th century, the Norbertines in almost all of Europe struggled with strong reformatory trends. Meanwhile, in Poland, the authority of the order’s governance was clearly undermined. During the Partitions of Poland, Hebdów became part of Russia. In 1819 the abbacy was liquidated, and the property of the monastery was taken over by the Governmental Revenue and Treasury Commission. The library collection was taken away from Hebdów. Part of it went to Warsaw, another part was lost. The rich archive was also fragmented. The old monastery church was taken over by diocesan priests, who organised pastoral care locally (from 1832). From 1949 the Piarist started to work in the parish. In addition to pastoral ministry in the years 1955-1977, they also ran their religious novitiate. In 1971 the church and monastery was handed over to the Piarist Order for perpetual use.

Description

The Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the post-Norbertine monastery date back to the turn of the 17th century. The elongated body of the church is flanked from the west by two towers, and from the east by a “chapel” with three apses: a polygonal one from the east and a semicircular ones from the south and north. The church is made of brick and oriented; the brick walls from the 13th century were erected in a monk-bond with the use of zendra brick. The original west façade is obscured by towers. The façade fragments visible between them have the attributes of mediaeval buildings. The single-ridge roof is topped with a Baroque ave bell turret. The two four-sided towers, almost 45 m high and two-storey in the lowermost part, date back to 1664; the cupolas were restored after a fire in 1859. The entrance to the church is decorated with an early Baroque stone portal with the Suchekomnaty coat of arms and the initials of Abbot Ludwik Stępkowski (1644-1664). At the entrance to the nave, there is a classicist black marble portal with the Junosza coat of arms, probably of Abbot Józef Andrzej Załuski. The interior is divided into a three-nave Baroque body, an old Gothic chancel and a new chancel, referred to as “chapel.” The main body was altered in the years 1692-1727 to obliterate the former Gothic style. The central nave is separated from the aisles by pillar arcades. The cornice is crowned with a wooden gallery. The nave is has a barrel vault with lunettes on transverse ribs; the aisles are cross-vaulted. Above the semicircular rood beam arch, there is a Baroque painting depicting the Christ Crucified against the background of Golgotha. The equipment is mainly late Baroque and classicist. In the side altar from the 18th century, there is a late-Baroque carved crucifix. On the sides, there are figures of the evangelists: St John (with an eagle) and St Luke (with the head of an ox). Next to the altar, there is a marble baptismal font with a crown from 1971. The other of the side altars is dedicated to Our Lady of Starobrzeg (with a Marian image). The antique organ is noteworthy. It is decorated with carved figures of King David (on top) and angels playing musical instruments. The oldest part of the church is the two-span chancel (from the second half of the 13th century) covered with two panels of rib vaults. At the turn of the 17th century, the chancel walls were extended vertically to the height of the nave. From the south, at the top of the original walls, there is a frieze of bricks laid diagonally, and on the walls, the rood beam arch and the end of the chancel, the are traces of the original gables. The chancel was extended in the years 1692-1727 to accommodate the so-called chapel. Above prominent entablature, there is a dome on pendentives (recently restored) with a lantern. The dome is decorated with stucco decorations and medallions with paintings depicting the Beatitudes. The pendentives feature allegorical figures representing the four cardinal points. Rococo ornaments dominate the chapel décor. The main altar has a much-venerated statue of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus from around 1400. In the north apse, there is a late Baroque altar and a painting of Archangel Gabriel in the scene of Annunciation; in the south apse, there is a painting of St Raphael the Archangel in a biblical scene with the family of Tobias. The chancel equipment is also classicist stalls. There is a former monastic oratory under the chapel, connected by a passage with the monks’ burial crypt. The spacious monastery building (1644-1664) adjoins the church from the south and forms a three-sided, rectangular patio (garden). The monastery is a multi-storey building, partially with basement. There are cloisters on the ground floor. They lead to the refectory, its entrance being adorned with a stone portal. Inside the refectory, there is renovated Baroque polychrome; an image of St Norbert on the ceiling, next to figures symbolising the seasons of the year and the Suchekomnaty coat of arms of Abbot Ludwik Stępkowski. The most elegant rooms are located on the first floor in the south wing, in the so-called abbot’s quarters. The clergy house is located in the east part. A stone statue of St Norbert can be seen on the church fence. The monastery granary was built in 1760 on a rectangular plan, facing east. It is a two-storey, brick building with a two-level superstructure on the south side. The rooms are covered with boarded ceilings, only three rooms in the south part of the ground floor are cross-vaulted

Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. till dusk, except for services.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 10/12/2014

Bibliography

• Sulimierski F., Chlebowski B., Walewski W., Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Warszawa 1880-1885, vol. III, p. 45.
• Atlas okolic Krakowa, wydawnictwo Compass, Kraków 2005
• Chrzanowski T., Kornecki M.: Sztuka Ziemi Krakowskiej, Kraków 1982
• KTZ, vol. I, no. 8.