It presents a high value on the regional scale.

History

The Chapel of St Hubertus was erected in the years 1741-1746 upon the initiative of Jerzy Ignacy Lubomirski, as a thanksgiving for a happy ending of an unfortunate adventure at hunting, during which the founder had almost lost an eye. The building was erected during the stay of Karl Heinrich Wiedemann at the Lubomirski family’s manor house in Rzeszów. Most probably, the construction was carried out under his supervision, probably to the designs inspired by the works of Tilman van Gameren, as the building’s form resembles the structures of his authorship. In 1745 the interior of the chapel was decorated by wall painting. The Chapel of St Hubertus was built in a forest, surrounded by oak stands, a favourite hunting ground for the lords of Rzeszów. After the collapse of the Lubomirski family’s latifundium in the late 18th century, the chapel was forgotten, therefore around mid- 19th century it was highly dilapidated. Next decades saw the development of settlement in this area, the border of wooded areas shifted several kilometres to the north and the chapel functioned as a parish church in Miłocin. From the early 21st century, following the construction of a new parish church, it has remained unused.

Description

Chapel of St Hubertus is situated on the southern edge of housing development of Miłocin village, on a round parcel. It is surrounded by a bunch of trees. The entrance to the church area, directly from a road running across the village, is located in the west. The chapel is circumscribed on all sides by homestead buildings and arable fields. In the east, at a distance of approx. 120 metres, runs a national road E371 (Barwinek-Warsaw), providing a viewing exposure of a chapel.

The chapel was built on a central floor plan, having a shape of a Greek cross superimposed on an octagon. It includes three entrances in three arms of the cross and the altar in the fourth. It obtained a single-bay interior arrangement with a distinguished small vestibule at the front, surmounted by a choir gallery accessible from the outside. The body: slender, with a basement, two-storey, compact albeit plastically sculptured, in a form of an octagonal prism, broken by four avant-corps (protruding from arms of the cross on a plan), terminating on top in triangular pediments; the entire body is crowned with a cupola with a lantern. Half-landing stairs climb up the chapel’s façades in the south and west, while a connecting platform located over the main entrance gives way to a gallery inside. The front façade is symmetrical, with an entrance to the vestibule flanked by embedded pillars terminating on top in brick gable roofs on the ground floor and a door with a transom light above. Other façades have an analogical arrangement, however, without a vestibule. All corners are braced by pilasters, with capitals supporting a pronounced crowning cornice; all windows and niches in avant-corps are accentuated on top with a window header bent in a segmental arch as well as flat surrounds with keystones. Inside, Late Baroque wall paintingsm ascribed to Tomasz Medyk, Krzysztof Kędzierski or Antoni Szulc, have survived.

The complex is partially accessible. It can be viewed from the outside any time; interior is accessible after a prior arrangement at the parish.

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

Bibliography

• Encyklopedia Rzeszowa, wyd. II: Kaplica św. Huberta w Miłocinie, oprac.: Tondos B., Rzeszów 2011, s. 261
• Karta ewidencyjna, Kaplica p.w. św. Hubertao, oprac.: Malczewski J., 1993, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków Delegatury w Rzeszowie
• Karta ewidencyjna, Kaplica p.w. św. Huberta, oprac.: Żurawska T., 1959, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków Delegatury w Rzeszowie