History

According to the Schematisms of the diocese in Spisz, the parish in Niedzica existed already in 1278. The village of Niedzica is referenced for the first time in a document of 1320. While in a document of 1325, Rokosz Berzewierzy entrusts the church in Niedzica and the parish to the Carthusians from the Red Monastery, who looked after the church until 1563. There are no other references to the first church besides that it allegedly existed in 1278, and was seriously damaged during the Tatar Invasion of 1278. The subsequent building, which has been preserved in substantial part until today, comes probably from the 1st half of the 14th century. The set of painting decorations on the eastern wall of the chancel, and decoration of the vault ribs, are dated to the years 1370-1380 Figural paintings in the chancel come from the years 1390-1420. In 1501, the church was consecrated (after profanation). In the years 1544-1639, the church was taken over b by Lutherans in connection with the conversion of Jan Horwarth, the owner of the Dunajec land estate, to Protestantism. After re-Catholicisation of Spisz and reclaiming the church by Catholics, the building was in a very bad condition. At that time, a full-scale repair of walls and vaults was carried out, and in the interior, late-Renaissance wall painting was added. The church’s fittings come from the 18th century. In the beginning of the 20th century, the neo-Gothic tower and the steeple were built. A thorough renovation of the church and its interior was carried out in the 1990s.

Description

The church is located in the central part of the village, on the southern bank of the stream Niedziczanka. It is circumscribed by stone walls with gates made in 1894. Within the walls, there are a few graves - with cast iron crosses from the mid-19th century. The log structure of the church is Gothic, but after the conversion in the second half of the 17th century, it gained Baroque features. The chancel is a single-nave building with a narrower chancel terminating in a semi-hexagon. On the northern side of the chancel, there is a sacristy built on a rectangular floor plan, and on the northern side of the nave - a chapel. The nave is adjoined from the south by a porch. The tower is built on a square floor plan and covered with a pyramid tented roof topped with an orb with a cross. The roofs of the church are of saddle and shed type. Over the chancel, there is a steeple turret. The church is made of stone and brick, plastered, and buttressed. The roofs are covered with copper sheet. The façades are covered with smooth, coloured plasterwork from the outside. The top sections of the walls feature a profiled cornice under the eaves. The tower’s corners from the west are framed by stone cubic decoration. Inside the chancel, on the headwall, there are surviving fragments of Gothic painted decorations from the 14th century. Church’s fittings originate mainly from the 18th century. The main altar is Rococo in style, from around 1770. The side altars originate from the same period. On the northern wall of the chancel, there is a Gothic triptych from approx. 1454, depicting the so-called Legend of St Bartholomew. The ambo is Rococo in style and originates from approx. 1770, with sculptures of Evangelists - St John and St Luke. The wooden, late Baroque baptismal font comes from the 18th century.

The building can be viewed from outside, and inside during services.

compiled by Olga Dyba, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 22-4-2016.

Bibliography

• Skorupa A., Kościoły Polskiego Spisza. Kraków 2001.
• Monita R., Skorupa A., Niedzica. Kościół św. Bartłomieja. Kraków 2013.