Owing to its location on the site formerly occupied by a fourteenth-century town hall, the church is considered to be a link between two eras.

Historia

The first Protestant community in Nowy Staw was established in 1565. For years later, it was granted a privilege by King Sigismund Augustus guaranteeing freedom of religion and religious practice, at then King Stephen Báthory enabled the construction of a hospital church of St George. After the destruction of the church by a fire in 1626, Protestants moved to the town hall. A town fire in 1802 destroyed the town hall; the site was used as the location for a modern Evangelical church with a wooden tower (design by Duering), which was erected in 1803-1804. In 1863, the body of the church was extended and enriched with a tall tower (design by H. Dieckhoff), then in 1888-1891, windows were enlarged, façades were covered with additional cladding, and the whole structure was redesigned in the Gothic Revival style. After 1945, the church was abandoned, and then used as a storage facility and a furniture store; in 1995, it was entered into the register of monuments and thus taken under protection. In 2009, the Parish of St Matthew lent the structure to the municipality for use for 30 years. Between 2010 and 2012, the structure was subject to revalorisation; the work revealed vaults over the basement of the medieval town hall, which were exposed under a glass floor (in 2014, the structure was awarded in the competition “Well-Maintained Monument” (Zabytek Zadbany). Since 2012, the former Evangelical church houses the Gallery of Żuławy and served cultural purposes within the framework of the Cultural Centre of Nowy Staw.

Description

The church is located in the centre of the historic market square, on its longer axis, with the chancel facing the north-east. The Gothic Revival structure was built on the floor plan of an elongated rectangle with a pentagonal sacristy to the north-east and an octagonal tower to the south-west (preceded by a two-bay connector). The single-nave body is framed by stepped gables and covered with a gable roof. The five-storey tower is topped with a tall pyramid roof. The church is built of brick and faced with brick (red bricks on the main body, yellow bricks on the tower and connector). It was set on a stone and brick foundation. The ceiling is wooden, planked, and features a crown moulding. The connector is covered with a ceramic stellar vault, whereas the basement is topped by a ceramic barrel vault. The roof truss is made of wood; the roofs are clad with interlocking glazed tiles; the tower is covered with sheet metal. The longer seven-axial façades are pierced by pointed-arch windows and boast a plinth cornice and a wide cube-shaped cornice under the eaves. The shorter three-axial façades are characterised by stepped gables and pinnacles. The top storey of the tower is surmounted by triangular ornamental gables with finials; the lower sections feature tall pointed-arch windows with profiled splayed reveals, which are positioned above oculi and four clock faces arranged in an alternating pattern. The building is features single-space interior, walls fragmented by means of deep window niches, galleries resting on cast iron pillars enclosing the interior on three sides, and the second storey of the galleries on the wall facing the tower and at opposite corners. The floor boasts a glass pane showing the basement vault of the former town hall. Stone gravestones (from 1599 and 1745) are exhibited in the porch below the tower.

The monument is open to visitors. Viewing of the temporary exhibitions is possible from Wednesday to Sunday. For details, please visit the website of the Library and Cultural Centre of Nowy Staw (Nowostawskie Centrum Kultury i Biblioteki).

http://nckibnowystaw.pl/index.php/galeria-zulawska

compiled by Krystyna Babnis, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 10-10-2015.

Bibliography

• Lewandowska E., Nowy Staw. Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne, Gdańsk 1972, mps