At the beginning of the 20th century, the church building was purchased by the parish, after 2009 it underwent, both inside and outside, the renovation that restored its former Baroque character and religious functions.

History

The first wooden monastery complex was built around the first half of the 15th century in an area between the defensive walls and the Odra River. It was funded by the dukes of Oleśnica and Koźle. During the Reformation, the Franciscans left the monastery and returned to it no earlier than in the 17th century. During the transformation of the town into Koźle Fortress, the monastery was demolished and monks were proposed a new site where they built the existing monastery and church in the years 1751-1753.

In 1810, they abandoned the site again during the period of secularization. After that, the church was used as an armory and stables and then as a warehouse. The buildings were purchased by the Roman Catholic parish in 1929. Since that time, the church has been severely damaged twice - during WW2 and during the flood in 1997. Currently, it serves as a filial church of the Parish of St Sigismund.

Description

The existing church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the south-east part of the old town at the junction of Czerwińskiego Street and Limanowskiego Street. Along with the former Franciscan monastery, it formed a trapezius complex (south-east wing) with a garth in the middle.

It was built on a rectangular plan with a chancel with a straight-wall termination and a wider nave and the main entrance in the south-west wall. The extension of the chancel contains two rectangular sacristies. The church body is covered with a double-pitched roof.

The temple is built of brick and plastered, with walls featuring framework decoration. The south-west façade is has a 3-axis and three-storey structure on a high base, with a partition stressed by cornices and pilasters. The entrance opening, located in the central axis, is terminated with a segmental arch. On the sides, it is embraced with oblique, rusticated pilasters and topped with a triangular pediment. In the second level, on the central axis, there is a rectangular window opening terminated with a suspended arch. The side axes contain hemispherical niches, similar in shape. The third level is a culmination in the form of a wavy gable with a window opening in the middle embraced with obliquely arranged pairs of pilasters. The window openings in the side façade have the shape of an elongated rectangle terminated with a suspended arch.

The chancel is separated from the nave by is separated by a transverse arch. It is covered with a sail vault, and the nave and sacristies are topped with barrel vaults with lunettes. The internal division of the walls mirrors the external divisions - the walls are articulated by parietal pillars and pairs of flat pilasters supporting a prominent cornice.

The nave vault is adorned with painted decoration made by Joseph Beyer (Bawarski) from Opava in 1767. The painting was placed in a painted frame of a sophisticated pattern. Against the background of illusionistic architecture, there is a Biblical scene with the story of Esther, which was a popular image in the 17th century. Beyer is also attributed the illusionist main altar with the centrally located Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The monument is available to visitors.

Compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 03-07-2015.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. VII: Województwo opolskie, z. 5: Powiat kozielski, red. T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki, Warszawa 1965, s. 24-26.
• A.M. Barski, Dokumentacja prac konserwatorskich i restauratorskich przy malowidle ściennym „Wniebowzięcie NMP” i polichromii na sklepieniu „Historia królowej Estery” z kościoła pw. Wniebowzięcia NMP w Kędzierzynie-Koźlu, Nysa, 2009, arch. WUOZ w Opolu.