It is also an example of the typical formal and spatial solutions applied during the period between 1750-1825 or thereabouts.

History

The parish in Idzików is known to have existed as early as ca. 1340, although the first mentions of a local parish church only appeared in the year 1500. During the Reformation period (years 1560-1623) the church served the needs of the Evangelical community, while after 1624 it was reclaimed by the Catholics, initially serving as a filial church. The parish in Idzików was revived in years 1661-1664. According to Kögler, a masonry church was erected in 1480; Lutsch, on the other hand, believes that the construction of the village church only took place during the 16th century. Arriving at an unambiguous conclusion has proved difficult due to the fact that Late Gothic forms in the Kłodzko Region have been continuously applied well into the late 16th century. These forms are also present in the architecture of the existing church, in the form of a stone socle cornice in the nave, the pointed-arch windows in the western part thereof as well as the profiled archivolt of the portal. The tower, designed as a structure with at least two storeys at the time, was the latest addition to the church, having been constructed in the 16th century. The ground floor section of the tower with its massive walls with a thickness of two metres as well as the first floor level thereof both exhibit features of the Late Gothic and Renaissance architecture (socle cornice, groin vault in the ground floor section, first-floor barrel vault with elevated rise). The church underwent restoration in the second half of the 16th century or towards the end thereof; the sgraffito decorations of its façades were created during the same period. In 1674, the church underwent a Baroque redesign, with its tower being thoroughly remodelled. A tower clock was installed in 1732, while in years 1793-1794, the church underwent yet another, radical redesign. The nave was significantly extended, with a pair of two-storey annexes with galleries now flanking its sides. The church also received a completely new chancel. A new, flat ceiling with crown moulding was constructed above the nave. The church also received new portals in the form of simple bands, their design still firmly anchored in the Early Baroque period. Some of the windows in the newly erected section of the church now featured stone surrounds, their design combining Late Gothic and Renaissance influences. They are believed to have been crafted on the basis of 16th-century patterns, although there is also the possibility that these portals were simply salvaged from an existing structure. A pipe organ gallery connected with wooden side galleries was constructed inside the nave; the galleries themselves were redesigned during the first decades of the 19th century. In the 4th quarter of the 19th century, the painter Joseph Krachwitz from Ząbkowice created new painted decorations of the interior, designed in the Baroque Revival style. During the 19th century, the windows of the bell chamber were redesigned in the Gothic Revival style, attaining a new, pointed-arch appearance. In the 1st half of the 20th century, the church was subjected to renovation works in the course of which the decorative framing of the façade was removed. The tower was renovated in 1935. The task of restoration of the altarpieces was entrusted to a man called Rosenberger, a painter from Pławnica.

Description

The church in Idzików is positioned on an irregular platform rising above the level of the main village road. It is partially surrounded by a cemetery wall with a gate; a Baroque figure of St John of Nepomuk, dating back to 1747, stands right next to the gate. The church itself is a stone building oriented towards the east, its walls covered with plaster. It is a single-nave structure with a single tower, featuring a distinct chancel and a pair of annexes. The single-bay chancel with a semi-circular end section features a vaulted ceiling of the barrel type, with lunettes, ending with a half-dome. A flat ceiling with crown moulding rises above the interior of the nave. Both the nave and the chancel feature a single roof. The chancel façades are topped with a profiled cornice; the nave also features a cornice beneath the eaves, albeit made of wooden boards. The five-storey, quadrangular tower with a clock and a profiled stone cornice is crowned with a cupola with roof lantern. The church features a number of surviving portals, including those bearing the hallmarks of both the Late Gothic and Renaissance styles. The interior is graced by painted decorations designed in the Baroque Revival style, although most of the ornamentation used is clearly of the Neoclassical variety. The window reveals in the chancel are adorned with medallions and Regency ornaments, while the rood arch and undersides of the gallery arches feature decorative panels incorporating acanthus scrollwork and bellflower motifs. The ceiling of the nave is adorned with plafonds incorporating the images of the Annunciation, the Coronation of the Virgin Mary as well as St Cecilia, surrounded with painted frames and ornamentation decorations. Remnants of a Gothic portal as well as pointed-arch entrance and windows survive in the older, western part of the nave. The balustrade of the wooden pipe organ gallery, supported by sturdy pillars, is connected with the balustrades of the side galleries; it is adorned with latticework sections as well as fluted pilasters crafted from wooden boards. The fixtures and fittings of the church include the main altarpiece flanked by gated passages, designed in a mixture of the Baroque and Rococo styles (ca. 1760), most likely created at the atelier of Ignatz Klahr the Younger, two side altarpiece designed in the Baroque Revival style (fourth quarter of the 19th century), an Early Baroque, wooden pulpit (1679), a stone baptismal font designed in the Renaissance style (1585), a pipe organ casing exhibiting features of both the Late Baroque and Neoclassical style (1825), a collection of sculptures and paintings from the period between ca. 1760 and 1900, an ensemble of Renaissance Revival wood panelling and built-in furniture in the chancel (late 19th century) as well as the period door joinery, including a number of planked doors.

The building is open to visitors 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, 06-07-2015.

Bibliography

• Bach A., Kirchen - Urkundliche Kirchen-Geschichte der Grafschaft Glatz von der Uhrzeit bis auf unsere Tage, Breslau 1841.
• Berger A., Eine Übersicht über die Pfarreien und Kuratien der Grafschaft Glatz betreffend die Zeit von 1841-1946, Kirchlengen, Kreis Herford 1961.
• Brzezicki S., Nielsen Ch., Grajewski G., Popp D. (ed.), Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006
• Kögler J., Historische Beschreibung der Herrschaft Kieslingswalde, 1805, Vierteljahrschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde der Grafschaft Glatz, Band X, 1890/91.
• Lutsch H., Verzeichniss der Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Schlesien, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Landkreise des Reg.- Bezirks Breslau, Breslau 1889, Band II
• Patzak B., Kultur- und Kunstgeschichtliche Streifzüge im Kreise Habelschwerdt, Die Graffschaft Glatz, Jahrgang 28, 1933.