According to tradition the building was constructed as a chapel in 1529. After the Prince of Brzeg converted to Protestantism in the middle of the 16th century the church in Miechowa was taken over by Evangelicals. It was in their possession until 1945. Currently it is owned by the Roman Catholic parish of St. Augustine in Kostów (deanery of Trzcinica in the Kalisz diocese).

History of the structure

In 1628 the church was rebuilt from the foundation of the then patron of the temple Baltazar von Frankenberg. At that time, a nave (slightly higher than the chancel) in a log construction was added to the chapel, which was converted into a chancel. In later years a half-timbered porch was added. Most probably, in 1753 a tower featuring a pole construction was added, covered with a late Baroque cupola with a lantern. The church is oriented, with external walls boarded vertically and closed with a shingled roof.

The interior is covered with a painting decoration with foliate scrollwork motifs and an illusionistically depicted sky on the ceiling. It is an example of folk artwork characteristic of wooden churches, drawing on Renaissance patterns. The furnishing of the church is stylistically homogeneous. Particularly noteworthy are the late Renaissance architectural altar and the richly decorated pulpit with the figures of Saint Peter and Paul and the four evangelists The original furnishings also include a baptismal font with painted depictions of theological virtues and a patron’s pew with a painted frontispiece. Also valuable is the window and door woodwork, richly decorated with paintings.

The church was refurbished in 1753, 1911, 1941, 1958, 1997-1999 and 2004-2006.

In the 1980s, the shingles were replaced, and about ten years later the walls of the chancel and the sacristy were covered with new plaster and concrete screed. The largest renovation was made in recent years due to severe biological damage to the wood. In 2008, the church was the laureate of the national competition “Zabytek Zadbany” [Well-kept Monument].

Description of the structure

The Church of St. Hyacinth is situated on a small hill surrounded by old lime trees, in the south-western outskirts of the village. To the west, it borders with a small, active church graveyard. It was built as a log structure, with hand hewn logs on a low foundation. The ground plan of the church consists of a square nave, a narrower chancel closed with a straight wall in the east, a rectangular sacristy in the north, and a square porch in a frame construction in the west. The compact body is characterized by a clear division into nave and chancel parts, covered with separate gable roofs with different ridge heights and a dominant in the form of a tower featuring a pole construction, which was built over the western part of the nave and topped with a baroque cupola with a lantern. The exterior walls of the church are boarded vertically, with slats at the joints. The southern wall of the chancel was reinforced with vertical supports.

The interior of the church was covered with a flat ceiling, which was raised to the ceiling beams. The plank soffit was covered with polychrome with an illusory representation of the sky. This simple but metaphorical decoration is the work of local painters from the 17th century. Above the central part of the choir there is a false vault with a deep segmental arch. In the nave the foundation of the tower was obtained by means of pillars and vertical supports between which diagonal buttresses in the form of braces were placed. The wooden galleries and the choir gallery with painted decoration were supported on eight profiled pillars with openwork balustrades. In the chancel part and the sacristy, there are small rectangular window openings, while in the nave part, there are slightly larger windows with segmental arches. All of the window woodwork was secured with wrought iron bars with burrs. The roof was made in purlin and collar construction.

The interior decoration of the temple dates back to 1628 and has a late Renaissance character. Among the preserved furnishings of the church the following deserve particular attention: the architectural main altar with the coat-of-arms cartouches of the founders, the pulpit with rich decorations with strapwork motifs and cabochons, and the benches with polychrome frontispiece.

Visitor access: The monument can be viewed from the outside.

Author: Joanna Banik, Katarzyna Latocha, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Opole, 10-05-2019

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. VII: Województwo opolskie, z. 4: powiat kluczborski, ed. T. Chrzanowski and M. Kornecki, Warsaw 1960, pp. 37-38.
• Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction. Kościół ewangelicki, ob. katolicki, fil. pw. św. Jacka, compiled by J. Skarbek, 2001.