The church is believed to have been designed by the eminent Silesian architect Martin Frantz, hailing from Tallin. Today, it remains an outstanding example of a Late Baroque church.

History

The church was erected in the years 1709-30, most likely based on the design produced by Martin Frantz. The nearby pastor’s house, Latin school and school for girls were erected at the same time. In years 1927-28, the tower underwent renovation. After 1945, the church was abandoned and was slowly beginning to descend into a state of ruin. The accompanying rectory and community building were both torn down. Some of the fixtures and fittings of the church were moved to a garrison church in Warsaw. In years 1959-64, the church was restored and adapted to serve the needs of the Catholic community; in the course of restoration, the interior was completely redesigned, with most of the original décor - including the second-storey galleries - being dismantled.

Description

The building is located south of the town centre, at the foot of Góra Kościelna (Church Mountain). It is surrounded by a large cemetery which currently serves as the churchyard. The church, designed in the Baroque style, is oriented towards the east and positioned atop a stone plinth. The entire structure was designed on a Greek cross plan, its arms having the length of 14 metres each, with a square tower to the west. A pentagonal sacristy, lower than the main body of the church, adjoins it to the east. The main body of the church is covered with a mansard roof, while the tower is crowned with a bulbous cupola with a lantern. The façades are covered with plaster, framed with lesenes and pierced by tall windows topped with semi-circular arches and divided into small panes. A pronounced crowning cornice runs beneath the eaves of the roof. The uppermost part of the tower is framed with paired pilasters, each rising from a plinth below. The main entrance portal, located in the ground floor section of the tower, is topped with a semi-circular arch with a keystone, supported by corbels. Above the portal rises a mitred, semi-circular pediment with an open bottom section, incorporating an inscription plaque. A dropped cupola ceiling supported by pendentives rises above the crossing of the naves, its diameter being 14 metres in total. The arms of the cruciform structure, on the other hand, feature vaulted ceilings of the barrel type. Quadrangular staircases are positioned in each of the arms. Wooden galleries supported by Ionic columns run alongside the walls of the nave. The surviving pieces of original fixtures and fittings include the main entrance grillwork as well as Baroque epitaph plaques, relocated to the balustrade of the external stairs located on the northern side of the church. A Baroque chapel dedicated to the Engmann family (1805) as well as monuments commemorating the victims of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 can be found in the surrounding cemetery.

The church interiors may be visited during church service. For more information, please contact the parish office.

compiled by Piotr Roczek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 18-06-2015

Bibliography

• Słownik Geografii Turystycznej Sudetów. Vol. 8 Kotlina Kamiennogórska. Wzgórza Bramy Lubawskiej. Zawory, M. Staffa (ed.), Wrocław 1997, pp. 148-152.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, p. 382.