It is composed of a church, a bell tower and a fence. It presents high architectural and landscape values. The feature is a dominating architectural structure.

History

The first St Martin church was erected in 1409; it was founded by Jan Feliks Rzeszowski. The second one, at first functioning as a hospital church, devoted to St Jadwiga, was erected in 1635. The present one was established in a new place. Construction began in 1713. In the years 1742-1744 it was resumed and completed owing to funds of Paweł Karol Sanguszko. In the same period, a bell tower was added. Renovated after 1855; in the late 19th century a steeple was added. In the 1980s renovation works focusing on façades and wall paintings in the church interior were carried out.

Description

The parish church complex in Łąka is located in the northern part of the village. The church is oriented, surrounded by a brick wall and old trees. The bell tower is located in the south-eastern corner of the fence. In the north-eastern corner there is a building set on a square floor plan, seen on the cadastral map of 1849; it currently serves as a warehouse. In the south-western corner there is a rectory, also visible on the abovementioned map.

The church is oriented and consists of a single-nave corpus on a rectangular floor plan and a smaller, rectangular chancel terminating in a straight wall; a treasury adjoins the building in the north, a sacristy in the south. Both features were erected on square floor plans. Two rectangular porches are located on the southern and western sides of the nave. The church is covered with gable roofs. The roof over the nave, with a steeple turret, located on the eastern edge, is taller; the roof over the chancel is lower. There is a crypt under the presbytery.

The church is made of brick and plastered. The roof over the main nave is clad with roof tiles. The roof over the chancel is covered with sheet metal.

The church façades have a frame-and-panel arrangement and are partitioned by lesenes, plinths and a crowning cornice. The windows are oval; those found in the nave are arranged horizontally, those in the chancel have a vertical layout. Treasury and sacristy windows are small and vertically arranged. Façades: west façade of the nave and east façade of the chancel have 4 lesenes, out of which 2 reach the cornice; the façade is crowned with a triangular gable with a rectangular window in the gable, terminating in a segmental arch. A porch crowned with a cornice and a triangular gable is added to the west façade. A tall chimney made of galvanized sheet is added to the east wall of the chancel, which adversely impacts its external appearance.

The four-bay interior of the nave is partitioned by engaged columns, onto which bulging pilasters were laid. Arcaded altar niches are found between pillars. The two-bay chancel, partitioned by bulging pilasters, is separated from the nave by a rood arch. The crowning cornice rests atop piers and pilasters. The structure is topped with barrel vaults with lunettes. The choir gallery rests on two pillars with a masonry parapet with a vividly curved line. The crypt has a barrel vault.

The most valuable elements of the interior fittings include Late Baroque altars - the main one (with a painting presenting the Communion of St Onufry), 4 side altars and a sculpted Late Baroque pulpit.

A bell tower - a tower made of brick and covered with plaster, set on a square floor plan and including three storeys. The bell tower is covered with a hip roof made of sheet metal, topped with an onion-like turret with an iron crucifix. The uppermost storey features large, arcaded openings facing to every direction. A bell was mounted inside. Façades are decorated applying a frame arrangement, with flat inter-storey cornices.

A fence with a gate - in the north, south and east the church is surrounded by a full wall with niches; in the west, there is a fence made of masonry posts with a steel grid in between. In the middle of this part of the fence there is a two-wing gate with lateral posts with frame decorations, crowned with a cornice and hip roofs.

The historic monument is accessible.

compiled by Mieczysław Kuś, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Rzeszow, 18-12-2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna, Kościół paraf. p.w. Św. Onufrego, oprac. Żurawska T., Rzeszów 1959, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków Delegatura w Rzeszowie.
• Karta ewidencyjna, Dzwonnica, oprac. Żurawska T., Rzeszów 1959, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków Delegatura w Rzeszowie.
• Drobne dzieje Łąki oprac. ks. Puchalski W., Kraków 1892, Podkarpacka Biblioteka Cyfrowa; Sygnatura oryginału: RD-52.
• Mapa katastralna Dorf Łąka in Galizien Rzeszower Kreis, 1849 r., Archiwum Państwowe w Przemyślu
• http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=126&cd=0&ser=0&syg=950M dostęp 18.12.2014 r.