It is one of the two wooden churches of this type, apart from the church in Strzegom, in the Staszów district.

History

The first parish church in Niekrasów, the church of St. Cross, stood on a hill on the site of the present day clergy house. According to tradition, it was founded in 1121 by the Janina family. This church is mentioned in 1326. The first church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected around 1400 at the foot of the hill, in place of the present church. According to Jan Długosz, it was a wooden church and the parson was Stanisław Goljab. In 1536, the church was desecrated and then destroyed. In the years 1536-1614, there was only a Calvinist reformed church in Niekrasów, which was consecrated as church in 1615. After it burnt down in a fire, the present church was built and consecrated in 1661. In 1741 a sacristy was added to the church, probably in place of the earlier one. In the 18th century a belfry was also built. The church was destroyed in 1782. It was restored between 1817 (the church was still in ruins) and 1835 (the church after renovation). In the years 1891-1903 the building, originally built on a square floor plan, was extended to include a part for the music choir. Further works were carried out in years 1903-1911, (the interior of the church was covered with weatherboards, a wall was made with a pointed rood arch). In 1940, Prof. Jan Bukowski made polychromes in the interior of the church. In the years 1950, 1958 and 1983 further restoration work was carried out.

Description

The church is located in the eastern part of the village, north of the road from Połaniec to Sandomierz. It is situated at the foot of the hill on which the clergy house stands. To the east there is a parish cemetery. In the line of the fence wall, to the west of the church, there is a belfry and to the south-west a morgue.

The church made of lurch wood has a log structure, with oak stringpieces, on a stone foundation, surrounded by a cement drainage band. The walls are covered with weatherboards. Panels are visible on the joining. The entire building is covered with shingles. The main body was originally square in plan, but was then extended to the west. The rectangular chancel is closed on three sides. From the north, a rectangular sacristy adjoins the body of the church. The roofs are steep, gable. The roof ridge above the chancel is slightly lower than the roof ridge above the main body. Under the eaves of the western gable, as well as on the roof ridge of the body and the chancel, a decorative “fretwork” is visible. The steeple has the form of an octagonal tower topped with a lantern with closed semicircular slides, covered with a bulbous roof. 

Inside the temple, the walls are also covered with weatherboards, the whole is covered with a flat ceiling, lowered in the side naves, which are separated from the main nave by two rows of pillars. The choir rests on eight wooden pillars. The rood arch has the shape of a pointed arch. The character of the interior is provided by the multi-coloured polychrome. The main altar, with a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child from the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the two side altars come from the mid-18th century. In addition, the church has a stone baptismal font from the early 18th century.

The belfry is located by the western fence of the church cemetery. It was erected on a square floor plan in pinewood post-and-beam structure on an oak foundation and on a stone foundation. The walls are covered with weatherboards and slightly narrowed upwards. The shingle roof is tented with slightly rounded edges. It is based on a profiled cornice under a rather prominent eaves. The belfry is topped with an octagonal lantern.

The building is accessible from outside, access to the interior upon consent of the parish priest. 

Nina Glińska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kielce, 07.06.2017.

Bibliography

• Record sheet, Kościół parafialny p.w. Nawiedzenia NMP, prepared by Polanowski Leszek, Niekrasów 1994, Archive of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Kielce, Sandomierz Branch Office.
• Record sheet, Dzwonnica przy kościele parafialnym w Niekrasowie, prepared by Polanowski Leszek, Niekrasów 1994, Archive of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Kielce, Sandomierz Branch Office.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. III: Województwo kieleckie, J. Z. Łoziński, B. Wolff (eds.), vol. 11: Powiat sandomierski, prepared by Jerzy Z. łoziński and Tadeusz Przypkowski, Warsaw 1962, pp. 33-34
• Mirowski R., Drewniane kościoły i dzwonnice ziemi świętokrzyskiej, Kielce 2002, pp. 39-40
• Wiśniewski J., Dekanat sandomierski, Radom 1915, pp. 95-101