Filial Church of St Hedwig - Zabytek.pl
Address
Łupki
Location
woj. dolnośląskie, pow. lwówecki, gm. Wleń - obszar wiejski
The church is surrounded by a cemetery circumscribed by a stone wall with a gateway and a small wicket gate.
History
The first mentions of a local church in written sources date back to the year 1346. The existing church was erected at the initiative of Adam von Koulhas in 1662, replacing an earlier church which had been destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War. Some of the walls of that earlier church have been incorporated into the new structure. In 1765, a brick tomb chapel of the von Gruenfeld family was added. The church underwent renovation works in the 18th century, only to fall into ruin after 1945, when it was abandoned. It was subsequently renovated in the years 1978 and 1994.
Description
The church is situated on the southern slope of the Castle Hill, in the former castle grounds; it is surrounded by an old cemetery. It is a Baroque structure oriented towards the east, with its individual sections being clustered around its single nave in an additive fashion. The building is a masonry structure made of split stone. The building consists of the nave designed on a rectangular floor plan as well as of a narrower chancel ending with an apse; both sections of the church feature tall gable roofs. An octagonal steeple with an openwork lantern and a slender spire, clad with sheet metal, rises from the roof ridge of the nave. A sacristy adjoins the chancel to the south, while a chapel annex with a bricked-up vestibule can be found in the place where the nave and the chancel meet. The sacristy features a half-hip roof, while the chapel comes equipped with a hip roof with a short roof ridge. The façades are covered with plaster. The main entrance, located in the western part of the church, is framed by a plain, semi-circular portal with a keystone, surmounted by a foundation plaque. The chapel vestibule features a lavishly designed sandstone portal with diagonal pillars supporting a mitred entablature and a gable with decorative volutes and a segmental pediment adorned with vanitas motifs. The windows are topped with segmental arches and feature splayed reveals; the windows of the main body of the church are plain and unadorned, while those of the chapel feature decorative surrounds with keystones. Inside, visitors may admire the remains of fresco decorations in the chancel. The cemetery surrounding the church is circumscribed by a perimeter wall with a gate; there is also a medieval penitential shrine made of sandstone, embedded in the wall.
The church is closed and is only used occasionally. For more information, please contact the parish office.
compiled by Piotr Roczek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 27-05-2015.
Bibliography
- Słownik Geografii Turystycznej Sudetów. Vol. 2 Pogórze Izerskie, Vol. II, M. Staff (ed.), Wrocław 2003, p. 430.
- Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, p. 546.
Category: church
Architecture: Gothic
Building material:
unknown
Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records
Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_02_BK.83899, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_02_BK.103155