Its interior features a valuable example of Mannerist retable.

History

The parish in Kosina was established probably in 1381. A parish church existed in place of the present filial church until the 17th century. After being burned down by the Tatars, a parish temple was built in a different part of the village, while a second church was erected in place of the former one in 1630. The present temple was built in 1737. In 1872 an accompanying gatehouse-belfry was erected. Before the renovation in the 1950s an entrance in the southern wall of the church had been liquidated. During the abovementioned renovation the church was clad with wood shingles, roof tiles were installed (1954), new foundations were made and ground plates were replaced (1958). Another stage was an alteration of roof form and structure. Previously, it had been a gable roof, whose northern cover was extended to include a sacristy. It was replaced with the new one, which is taller and recessed in a lower part; the sacristy was covered with a separate shed roof. The roofs were covered with wood shingles. Before 1976 the bell tower had been renovated. In 1980 a secondary vestibule was demolished and rebuilt with an altered roof form, applying similar measures as with the main roof. It was then the area was surrounded by a wooden fence.

Description

The complex is located in a central part of the village, on the left bank of Kosinka stream. It was established on an elevation with an oval contour, surrounded by roads and a path. The complex area is circumscribed with a wooden fence.

The church is oriented, with a slight deviation of a chancel to the north. It was set on a rectangular floor plan with a semi-hexagonal termination in the chancel part. A vestibule was added in the west, a sacristy from the north. A tall and compact corpus of the temple, covered with a gable roof with a steeple, giving way to a three-sloped roof over the eastern part, is recessed on the small roof’s level located on the west façade. The sacristy, lower than the corpus, is covered with a shed roof. The roof of a small vestibule repeats the form of the roof over the corpus. The church was built of wood in a log structure. Walls of the log structure are covered with wood shingles, while gables are covered with weatherboards. The temple ceilings are made of wood; a ceiling over the chancel has a shape of a flattened faux barrel. The roof truss over the corpus has a rafter and collar structure, while the roofs are covered with wood shingles. Façades are devoid of architectural decorations. A wooden shrine with a crucifix was added to the east façade. Window openings are grouped on the southern side of the building. The single-bay interior, preceded by a vestibule, has a chancel part separated by spindles. The choir gallery on the western wall rests on four pillars with raking shores; an antepedium and a group of sculptures were secondarily installed along the choir gallery axis. The walls are covered with wall paintings with trompe l’œil elements. A walled-up door opening is visible on the southern wall. The fittings include a Mannerist altarpiece (second quarter of the 17th century) with a newer painting of St Sebastian created by Jan Tabiński (1864); moreover, a Baroque, sacristy repository covered with wall paintings (17th century), Rococo baptismal font (second half of the 18th century) as well as paintings.

The bell tower was erected south of the church and forms a part of the fence - as it functions as a single-passage gateway. It is a two-storey, massive building. It is made of brick and plastered. It is flanked on both sides by lower and narrower buttresses. Openings on both storeys terminated in an elliptical arch; the upper opening includes a bell. The upper part of the east façade includes a plaque with an inscription: RP.1872. The bell tower is crowned with a decorative cornice, covered with a hip roof clad with roof tiles. A small crucifix is found on the roof ridge.

The building is available all year round; sightseeing upon prior telephone appointment.

compiled by Bartosz Podubny, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Rzeszow, 25-09-2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna zabytków architektury i budownictwa, tzw. karta biała, Kosina, Kościół filialny p.w. św. Sebastiana w zespole kościoła fil. p.w. św. Sebastiana, oprac. B. Podubny, 2013 r. (Archiwum WUOZ Delegatura w Rzeszowie)
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytków architektury i budownictwa, tzw. karta biała, Kosina, Dzwonnica-bramka w zespole kościoła fil. p.w. św. Sebastiana, oprac. B. Podubny, 2013 r. (Archiwum WUOZ Delegatura w Rzeszowie)
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Seria Nowa, t. III: Województwo Rzeszowskie, z. 5, Łańcut i okolice, pod red. M. Omilanowska, J. Sito, Warszawa 1995
• Rocznik archidiecezji przemyskiej 1997 Album, pod red. H. Borcz, A. Szal, Przemyśl 1997