The Baroque and Rococo fixtures and fittings of the church are also quite valuable.

History

The parish church in Lisewo already existed in the late 13th century, with the first written records dating back to 1408. After the Thirteen Years’ War, Lisewo became the property of the king of Poland. The church was likely erected in the fourth quarter of the 13th century; in the early 16th century, a porch was added to the north, which was then converted in to a chapel in the 18th century. In the years 1551-1585, the western part of the main body with a tower was added; it was funded by Stanisław Kostka, governor of the Chełmno Voivodeship and of the Lipno District, and his son Jan, castellan of Gdańsk. In the 19th century, a Gothic Revival porch was added to the south and four hexagonal pillars were built on the inside to support the ceiling of the main nave. The church underwent restoration in 1911 and in the years 1963-1965.

In 2016, maintenance and restoration works were carried out on the main altarpiece.

Description

The church is situated on a small hill in the eastern part of Lisewo. The land around the church and the graveyard is enclosed with a brick wall. The Gothic church is oriented towards the east and built on a rectangular floor plan with a narrower rectangular chancel, which is adjoined by a rectangular sacristy from the south.  A rectangular tower adjoins the main body from the west. The main body is adjoined by a chapel (former porch) from the north and a newer porch from the south.

The nave body of the church and its chancel are covered with separate gable roofs while the sacristy and the annexes on the sides of the tower are covered with mono-pitched roofs. The tower has five storeys with a polygonal top section, topped with an octagonal brick pyramidal cupola terminating in a quadrangular lantern.

The church is made of field stone while the gables, the tower and the porch are made of brick and the eastern gable of the main body (between the chancel and the nave) is timber-framed.

The east façade of the chancel is topped with a stepped gable with seven pinnacles and is partitioned by three segment-headed blind windows.

The west façade of the main body is stopped with a triangular gable with pinnacles and a band frieze and is obscured by the body of the tower. On the ground floor level, on the axis, there is the main portal flanked with simplified pilasters which support a triangular pediment. The polygonal body of the tower is framed by tall, slender blind windows and topped with crenellation.

In the main nave, the interior is covered with a ceiling supported by four hexagonal pillars. In the chancel, there is a barrel vault, in the sacristy: a Gothic groin vault, and in the northern chapel: a diamond vault from the early 16th century, while the porch beneath the tower features a barrel vault with lunettes.  

Notable fixtures and fittings include the main altarpiece in the Rococo style, which dates back to the second half of the 18th century and comes from the Franciscan church in Chełmno, and the Baroque side altarpieces from c. 1700, with the right featuring a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child from c. mid-17th century. There is also a Mannerist epitaph plaque of the Kostka family from 1571. Other fixtures and fittings include a Rococo pulpit from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century and a granite baptismal font, likely Gothic, with a dodecagonal goblet without a base. The bell from 1560 features the Dąbrowa coat of arms (of the Kostka family) and the Elemberg (?) coat of arms as well as an inscription and a monogram reading “G B”, likely referring to the name of Gerhard Benningk, a bellfounder from Gdańsk.   

The site is accessible all year round. The church can be visited during service or upon prior telephone appointment.

Prepared by Marzenna Stocka, National Heritage Board of Poland, Regional Branch in Toruń, 27-10-2017

Bibliography

• Diecezja toruńska. Historia i teraźniejszość, Vol. 4, Dekanat chełmiński, Toruń 1996, pp. 126-135
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Vol. XI: Województwo bydgoskie, issue 4: Powiat chełmiński, Tadeusz Chrzanowski and Marian Kornecki (eds.), Warszawa 1976, pp. 103-107