Examination of the interior revealed wall paintings from the Gothic and Baroque period and a church tabernacle bearing the date "1583".

History

The earliest mentions of the church in Niemodlin date back to 1228. In the late 13th century, when Niemodlin was granted town rights, the church started to serve as a parish church, and in 1389 it was raised to the rank of a collegiate church through the efforts of Duke Bolko of Opole. It served that function until 1810.

The chancel of the present church was built in the early 14th century, while the nave with a tower were built in the second half of the 15th century. After the fire in 1640, the sacristy underwent alterations and chapels were added to the chancel. During the subsequent work, the Gothic body underwent partial baroquisation, which involved adding a porch, replacing the vault over the nave, and in the 19th century, when replacing the roof cladding, the roof plane over the nave was clad with tiles laid out in the pattern of a Maltese cross, which is associated with Friedrich Graf von Praschma who lived in the castle in Niemodlin, was a cofounder and long-time chairman of the Silesian Association of the Order of Malta.

Description

The parish church is located in the heart of the town, on the west side of the market square, by the road leading from Opole to Nysa. It is partially surrounded by a brick and stone wall. To the north-west of it, there are rectory buildings.

The church is oriented towards the east and features a long rectangular chancel ended with a straight wall and a rectangular nave wider than the chancel. To the north, the chancel adjoins a sacristy and stairs leading to a gallery. The western bay of the chancel adjoins two quadrangular chapels to the north and south. In the north-western part of the nave, there is a quadrangular tower and a porch slightly further to the south in relation to the axis of the church. Another porch was added on the south side of the church.

The church is built of brick on a stone foundation. It was buttressed, plastered except for west façade and tower parts. Buttresses in the nave part were transformed into arcades with basket-handle arches including window openings. One of the more characteristic components of the church in Niemodlin is its western façade topped with a corbiestep with five rows of plastered blind windows, which turns into a tower wall on the north side. The present shape of the tower dates back to 1865, when it was extended upwards and surmounted with a corbiestep and slender tower roof with a lantern.

The body of the church is covered with gable roofs featuring a varying roof ridge line; the sacristy and northern chapel are covered with an elongated plane of the chancel roof; the porches are topped with multi-pitched roofs.

The fixtures and fittings of the church include Late Baroque side altars (2nd half of the 18th c.), main altar (2nd half of the 19th c.) with sculptures of Sts. Peter and Paul (18th c.), and Late Baroque pulpit.

Conservation works carried out in the interior of the church in recent years revealed Baroque painted decorations in the nave next to the rood beam (angels with a curtain), while in the chancel researches found Gothic a church tabernacle bearing the date "1583", Gothic painted decorations with consecration crosses (15th and 16th c.) and Baroque painted decorations on the walls and vaulting (repeated motif of curtain and angels).

The monument is open to visitors.

compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 13-02-2015.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. VII: Województwo opolskie, issue 8: Powiat niemodliński, red. T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki, Warsaw 1962, pp. 25-27.
• Lutsch H., Verzeichnis der Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Schlesien, vol. 4: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Reg. Bezirks Oppeln, Breslau 1892, pp. 206-207.
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury- kościół parafialny pw. Wniebowzięcia NMP w Niemodlinie, prepared by W. Żurakowski, Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Opole.
• Dudała J., Dokumentacja prac konserwatorskich i restauratorskich. Polichromia ścienna z ujęciem malowanej kotary na podniebiu łuku tęczowego, datowanie 1730 r., Nysa 2013, Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Opole.
• Dudała J., Dokumentacja prac konserwatorskich i restauratorskich. Polichromia ścienna na północnej ścianie prezbiterium kościoła datowana 1651, 1730 r., Nysa 2013, Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Opole
• Dudała J., Sprawozdanie z przeprowadzenia następującego zadania: Kontynuacja badań konserwatorskich dla polichromii ściennych w prezbiterium i zakrystii kościoła pw. Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny w Niemodlinie, Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Opole