The value of the structure is enhanced by the excellent condition of the surviving wooden structural elements.

History

The Kanigowo village was chartered twice: in 1371 and then again in  1426. A document dating back to 1426 contains a mention of a parish priest, who was allocated 4 voloks of land. The church in Kanigowo was erected in 1386. Initially designed as a brick and stone edifice, the  concept for its construction has changed subsequently so that timber framing was used for the upper part of the building. Roof tiles in a  monk and nun arrangement were used for the roof, the length of individual tiles being 40 cm. Initially, the church in Kanigowo did not feature any windows in its northern wall. In 1761, the church was redesigned in the Baroque style. As a result, a sacristy and a porch in the western part of the church were added, while the eastern and western parts of the roof were modified; a tower now rose above the western facade of the church, while the original gable roof received a hip end above the rear part of the church. In the course of the redesign, the  window openings were lowered, while the original entrance in the  southern facade was bricked up. During the renovation works performed in the 19th century, the wooden doors and windows were replaced; the organ gallery was also modified and a new pipe organ was installed. During the  1920s, a monument was built adjacent to the eastern facade of the  church, commemorating the residents of the parish who were killed during World War I. In 1999-2000, the renovation of the roof and the wooden tower of the church was carried out. Following the secularisation of the  State of the Teutonic Order, the church belonged to an Evangelical parish in years 1526-1945.

Description

The church in Kanigowo is located in the centre of the village, by the  old road leading from the town of Nidzica to Mazovia. Erected on a  rectangular floor plan, the church was originally designed in the Gothic style, with subsequent alterations during the Baroque period. In terms of internal structure, the church can be divided into two parts: the  brick lower part and the wattle-and-daub upper part. The walls of the  church are covered with plaster; fragments of the wattle-and-daub structure can now be seen in a number of spots where the inner structure has been exposed. The body is compact and stout, with buttresses providing additional reinforcement. A porch adjoins the church from the  west. The church features a steep gable roof with a hip end, covered with S-shaped roof tiles. A low wooden tower with a roof clad with sheet metal juts out of the roof ridge in the western end of the church. The  northern and southern facades are pierced by large, rectangular windows. In southern facade there is a bricked-up portal, while a sacristy abuts the northern facade. The hall-type interior of the church was originally adorned with Gothic wall paintings traces of which have been exposed from underneath the layers of paint.

Accessible structure. The church may be visited upon prior telephone appointment.

Compiled by Maurycy Domino, 9.12.2014.

Bibliography

• Dehio G., Gall E., Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmaeler, Deutschordensland, Muenchen – Berlin, 1952, p. 262.
• Herrmann Ch., Mittelalterliche Architektur im Preussenland, Petersberg 2007, p. 502.
• Wawrykiewicz L., Odkrycie gotyckiego kościoła o unikatowej, murowano-szkieletowej konstrukcji w Kanigowie, „Ochrona Zabytków no. 3, 2008, p. 21-42.