On the west side, it is adjoined by a tower having a post-and-beam structure, covered with weatherboards and topped with a high hip roof. The church is one of the twelve wooden churches covered by the project “Trail of Wooden Churches Around the Zielonka Forest”, run by Związek Gminny “Puszcza Zielonka” (Inter-Gmina Association “Zielonka Forest”), which is co-financed by the Integrated Operational Programme for Regional Development.

History

A local parish was mentioned in written sources in 1432; it was officially established before 1441. At that time, the heir to the village of Jabłkowo, Dersław Jabłkowski, founded and fitted out a church.The Gothic crucifix on the rood beam comes from that period. The present church, dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, was founded by Ludwik Dorpowski in 1754. Following numerous changes of ownership, in the late 19th century, Jabłkowo became the property of Leonard Brzeski of the Topór coat of arms, whose classical manor house is still the pride of the village and whose small tomb is located in the church graveyard. The last owners of Jabłkowo were the Zaborowski family. During various periods, due to insufficient funding, the local parish was incorporated into the neighbouring parishes in Popowo Kościelne and Raczkowo. Since 1925, the Jabłkowo Parish has been an independent parish, managed by the same parish-priest as the Raczkowo Parish. Both parishes have a common cemetery, which is located in Raczkowo. The church was renovated in 1964 (the walls were reinforced). Wall paintings were made in the 1960s. The roof was renovated in 1984.

Description

The Church of St Michael the Archangel in Jabłkowo is situated in the centre of the village, on a triangular plot of land between roads leading to Kiszkowo, Pomorzany, and Popowo Kościelne. It is surrounded by a roughly triangular graveyard covered with trees. The church is located in its northern, wider part. It is oriented towards the east. The building has a wooden log structure. It has one nave (with no aisles). The nave has a rectangular floor plan; on its east side, there is a smaller and lower chancel, terminating in a semi-hexagon and adjoined by a sacristy on the north side. In the front of the church, there is a tower having a post-and-beam structure, topped with a tall hip roof. On the south side of the nave, there is a square porch. The church has a two-ridge gable roof covered with roof tiles. Inside, there is a flat ceiling covering both the nave and the chancel. On the west side of the church, there is an overhanging music gallery, having a straight-line parapet and decorated with painted images of musical instruments. Between the nave and the chancel, there is a rood beam with a Gothic crucifix from the first half of the 15th century, an inscription reading “Boundless Love”, and the dates “1754” and “1966”, commemorating the completion of the church and the renovation works carried out when Poland celebrated the millennial anniversary of the Baptism of Poland. The interior walls are embellished with paintings made in the years 1960-1966, featuring a celadon-grey colour scheme and plant motifs. The dominant element of the chancel is the Baroque main altar incorporating a painting depicting St Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of the parish, fighting Satan. The painting is surrounded by carved suspended clouds on which 8 figures of Archangels and Angels are seated, including a Guardian Angel holding a child by hand at the very bottom. The Baroque main altar and two Rococo side altars date from the late 18th century. By the church, on its south side, there is a bell tower from 1754, covered with a gable roof. The church graveyard contains the brick tomb of the Brzeski family, who were the owners of the village in the 19th century. It is located to the south of the church and faces the north. Its front façade is crowned with a decorative Gothic Revival gable flanked by two piers reaching down to the wall base and framing a stepped Tudor-arched portal with a metal door adorned with a coat of arms. The tomb also features Tudor-arched windows. Nearby the church, there is also a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from 1917.

Limited access; Holy Mass: Sunday at 9.30.

compiled by Beata Marzęta, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 24.11.2015.

Bibliography

• Brykowski R., Wielkopolskie Kościoły Drewniane, Poznań 2001; str. 146
• Drewniane kościoły Wielkopolski, Poznań 2004, s. 92
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, t. V: Województwo poznańskie, z. 27: Powiat wągrowiecki, oprac. T. Ruszczyńska, A. Sławska, Warszawa 1964, s. 7-8
• Kowalski J., Na szlaku kościołów drewnianych wokół Puszczy Zielonka, Dębogóra 2011, 101-109