History

In the Middle Ages, the hamlet of Czulice was an equestrian property and home to the Czulicki family, of the Czewoja coat of arms. During the 16th century, the property was divided among several owners. The parish operated here already at the beginning of the 14th century (a Rev. Hermanus mentioned in 1325-1327). The church has always been wooden; as such, it was mentioned in the years 1470-1480 in the Liber beneficiorum by the chronicler Jan Długosz. The current temple was supposedly erected in 1547, but there are no detailed information about the circumstances of this project. Nevertheless, the date of 1547 is imprinted on the lintel of the south portal. Also, the oldest carpentry, Gothic-like details come from that period. The temple is ranked as a 16th-century historical monument. The church was renovated several times: in 1720, 1781, 1866, 1906 and 1947-1948. The 1720 and 1781 works significantly altered the present-day form of the temple.

Description

The church is situated in the centre of the village on a hill. It is oriented and has a traditional plan: the chancel is closed on three sides, and the nave is square. A fairly spacious sacristy adjoins the chancel and leads to a small treasury added to the nave from the north. The temple has a separate gable roof for the chancel and the nave. Above the nave, there is an ave bell spirelet with a lantern, covered with a tent roof. The wooden church is built in a log technology, and the roof is a shingled collar and purlin design. The ceilings inside are flat, and there is no rood beam. The spacious interior is lit by traditional windows from the south and three smaller ones in the closure of the chancel. There are entrances to the nave from the west and south. They are enclosed in wooden frames with a double ogee motif (the south one with interesting relief arcades); at the entrance to the sacristy, the portal has a lintel in the form of a truncated trefoil. The interior is mostly late Baroque. A vestige of the older church is a tombstone of one of the Czulicki family, placed in the chancel floor; it is roughly dated to the 15th century. Unfortunately, the engraving is no longer legible. It is known, however, from a print made by S. Cercha in the 19th century, “Anno domini... in die s. Elizabet obyt dnus... de czulice.” Another valuable item is the Gothic sculpture of the Virgin Mary with Child, currently exhibited in the Cathedral Museum in Kraków. The sculpture has some attributes typical of the second half of the 14th century. Some more precious items found in the church are: a chalice of 1675 with rich ornamentation of the knop and foot; another chalice, probably from the same period, is also richly adorned with different techniques, including casting and embossing. The third, Rococo goblet is the work by a Kraków goldsmith, Marcin Lekszycki, from 1771. In the same year, he also produced a formful monstrance with the radiant sun and the figurine of St Nicholas over the knop.

The structure can be accessed from the outside all year round, inside during the services.

Author of the note Olga Dyba, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 14/11/2014

Bibliography

• Brykowski R., Kornecki M., Drewniane kościoły w Małopolsce Południowej, Wrocław 1984.
• Rotter L., 450 lat kościoła w Czulicach, Kraków 1997.
• Łepkowski J., Przegląd zabytków przeszłości z okolic Krakowa, Warszawa 1863, pp. 75-76.
• Tomkowicz S., Powiat krakowski, Teka Grona Konserwatorów Galicji Zachodniej, II, 1906, pp. 78-85.