History

A village formerly owned by a noble family. The parish was established in the 14th century. The first local temple was built in the same period. According to the chronicler Jan Długosz (1470-80), the village belonged to the Uliński family, of the Ulina coat of arms. Its size was 11 “lans” (ca. 190 ha). It paid tithes in various ways. The Kraków prebend, called Raciborowska, collected tithes of 6 grzywnas from half of the village; the other half paid the tax of 6 grzywnas to the parish priest in Ulina. Two knightly farms yielded the tithes of 4 grzywnas also to the parish priest. The parish priest had his own fields, meadows, and a grange. In 1827 Ulina Wielka had 29 houses and 228 inhabitants. In 1885 the grange of Ulina Wielka had 566 morgens of land, one brick building and 13 wooden buildings. There was a brickyard, forest, and a stone extraction site. The village had 27 houses on 234 morgens.

Description

The present Church of St Catherine comes from the second half of the 17th century (most probably 1655). The single-nave, wooden log temple is boarded and covered with sheet metal. The nave and porch share the same roof. The chancel has a lower gablet roof and the roof panels are extended over the extensions. Above the nave, there is a Baroque ave bell turret with a lantern. In 1708 Krzysztof of Dobnia remodelled and extended the church with a porch and side chambers. The chancel and porch are narrower than the nave. The chancel is closed with a sacristy. To the north of it, there is a storeroom which links to the second porch of the nave. After the renovation in 1791, the church was re-consecrated by the bishop of Kraków, Franciszek Podkański. The equipment dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The interior is covered with corbel vaults: the barrel one over the chancel and the cross one over the nave. The tops of door and window frames are cut into ogee arches. The most valuable monument in the temple is the Gothic sculpture of the Mother of God Enthroned from around 1400. The main altar features an icon of the Mother of God with Child; the side ones have the Baroque paintings of the Flagellation of Christ and St Anthony of Padua.  The late Baroque altars date back to the 17th century. The Mannerist pulpit comes from the 17th century and the marble baptismal font from the end of the same century. There are also marble epitaphs of the village owners from the 18th century. In front of the church, there is a free-standing belfry from the turn of the 18th century. It is a wooden pole and frame structure with leaning boarded walls, covered by a tented roof.

The site is accessible after services (Sundays 10:30 a.m., 12:00 noon) and by appointment with the parish office. The temple is located on the Wooden Architecture Route of Małopolska.

Note by Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 12/11/2014

Bibliography

• Bieniarzówna J., Małecki J., Dzieje Ziemi Krakowskiej w wypisach. Warszawa 1975
• Wiśniewski J. ks., Dekanat miechowski, Radom 1917
• Joannis Długosz senioris canonici Cracoviensis Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis, wyd. A. Przeździecki, vol. 1-3. Kraków 1863-1864
• Słownik historyczno-geograficzny województwa krakowskiego w średniowieczu, oprac. J. Laberschek, Z. Leszczyńska-Skrętowa, F. Sikora, J. Wiśniewski, J. Kurtyka i inni, Kraków-Wrocław od 1980
• Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, ed. F. Sulimierskiego, B. Chlebowskiego i W. Walewskiego, Warszawa 1880-1902.
• Sprawozdania Komisji Fizjograficznej PAU, vol. XXXII, Kraków 1897