Some of its architectural solutions, such as the choir placed in a separate room behind the main altar, had no counterparts among the Roman Catholic churches erected in Poland in that period. The aesthetics and the ideological message behind the design followed the ideals of the so-called enlightened Catholicism promoted the Rev. Hugo Kołłątaj, the founder of the church. Such outstanding artists like the architect Stanisław Zawadzki and the painter Franciszek Smuglewicz were in charge of the construction and decoration of the complex.

History

The first local church with the convent of the Norbertine nuns was founded by Jaksa of Miechów before 1140[?]. In the years 1247-1254, Bolesław the Chaste restored the building and granted it a number of privileges. It was probably the time when the construction of a stone temple and monastery for the Norbertine brothers and Norbertine nuns took place. The parish is first mentioned in 1328. In 1415 the nuns were transferred to Busko, and the parish was incorporated into the Witów chapter. In the 1st quarter of the 17th century, the church was thoroughly altered, e.g. a sacristy was added before 1610. The church was consecrated in 1626. It was renovated several times over the following decades. From 1779 the parish was administered by the Rev. Hugo Kołłątaj. After the fire of the roof in 1782, due to its inadequate protection, the church fell into disrepair. The church was restored in the years 1786-1789, thanks to the efforts of the parish priest, according to the design by Stanisław Zawadzki. The local craftsmen were hired for the building and stonework, among them Ignacy Baranowski, the author of the façade sculptures. About 1788 Franciszek Smuglewicz painted three altarpieces. In 1819 the monastery was disbanded and its structure was gradually decomposed. In the 19th century and in the early 20th century, the church was renovated several times, for example, in 1853 a women's gallery and a porch were added to the main nave, and the interior got new fittings (such as the pulpit in 1872). Those measures deprived the building of its aesthetic and ideological colour originally intended by Kołłątaj. In the years 1970-1971, 1983-1985, 2003-2004, the building and its surroundings were subjected to a series of restoration (replacement of the plaster) and reinforcement projects (anchoring of the walls, replacement of the roof).

Description

A classicistic church, located in the east corner of the village; it occupied the south side of an irregular square; surrounded by a stone wall; its north-west corner features a wooden belfry (of ca. 1878). Oriented, single-nave church with a floor plan of a rectangular trapezoid; its west wall is set obliquely to the axis of the building. It consists of a vestibule with a spiral staircase, a rectangular nave and the presbytery isolated by a pair of wall pillars; behind it, there is a rectangular, storied sacristy (with the choir on the first floor). In the west, the church has low, rectangular annexes. The temple was built of stone and was plastered inside and outside. It is covered with a tripartite gable roof (over the body with a bell turret in the middle) and a single sloped roof (over the annexes). Among the modest façades of the building, with windows in the upper level, the west façade stands out due to its four Tuscan columns supporting heavy entablature, and an attic with the foundation inscription, closed with a group of full-bodied angels adoring the cross. Stone epitaphs of the 17th century were embedded in the north wall: one of Agnieszka Meazzi (d. 1614, Kraków author [?]) and four by the Chęciny craftsmen. The interior of the church is split by altar niches with Tuscan columns, located in the side walls and the altar wall, and prominent pilasters which support that carry the entablature with a triglypgh frieze. The interior is topped with ceilings. In addition, it is enriched with "marble" flooring (from the Kraków Carmelite church of St Martin) and stucco decorations, for example, in the form of string course with a braid and rosette motif. The modest interior is also embellished with, for example, three altars with Franciszek Smuglewicz’s paintings of ca. 1788 (the altarpiece is inspired by the scene of Creation in the Sistine Chapel), and a baptismal font of the Chęciny "marble" of ca. 1789.

The historical building is accessible to visitors. Visiting upon prior telephone appointment.

Compiled by Łukasz Piotr Młynarski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 21.08.2014.

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