As a building founded by a private person, it also stands as testimony to the piety and generosity of townsmen of the Republic of Poland in the Baroque period.

History

Oborniki was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1292 in relation to the settlement of Franciscans in that town. The exact date on which the town was granted municipal rights remains unknown. In 1330, it was referred to as royal property. In 1485, Casimir Jagiellon confirmed the town’s privileges. In 1656, the town was destroyed by the Swedish army.

The first church dedicated to the Holy Cross, founded by Wawrzyniec Goślicki, Bishop of Poznań, was built in 1604. The present church was founded in 1766 by a citizen of Oborniki, Łucja Łojczykowska. The building was renovated in the years 1914 and 1961-1963.

Description

The village of Oborniki is located 30 km to the north of Poznań. The Filial Church of the Holy Cross is situated in the western part of the town, which stretches beyond the point at which the Wełna River flows into the Warta River. It is oriented towards the east. It has a post-and-beam structure with brick infill covered with plaster. The chancel, smaller than the nave, terminates in a semi-hexagon; it is adjoined by a sacristy on the north side. In the western part of the nave, over a porch, there is a wooden tower topped with an onion-shaped, dome-like roof made of sheet metal, surmounted by a lantern and a cross. The two-ridge roof is covered with roof tiles and the gable of the east nave wall is covered with wood shingles. An inscription informing about the date of the construction of the church and the name of the founder is displayed on the lintel above the entrance located in the south wall of the nave. The nave and the chancel have a common flat ceiling with cove moulding. The ceiling is decorated with paintings made in the 1920s, imitating coffers with rosettes. In the chancel, there is an image of the Eye of Providence. The overhanging music gallery bulges out in the centre. The church fittings include a main altar, side altars, a pulpit, and confessionals, dating from the period when the church was constructed and made in the Late Baroque and Rococo styles. The graveyard is enclosed with a stone and wooden wall with a decorative Late Baroque gate from the 4th quarter of the 18th century, having the form of two arches topped with a gable featuring curves and volutes.

The church can only be visited from the outside.

compiled by Tomasz Łuczak, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 16-11-2015.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. 5, Woj. wielkopolskie, red. Ruszczyńska Teresa, Sławska Aniela, z. 15, Pow. obornicki, opr. Galicka Izabella, Kaczorowska Irena, Sygietyńska Hanna, Warszawa 1965, s. 12.
• Kościół par. pw. Świętego Krzyża w Obornikach, Karta ewidencyjna zabytków architektury i budownictwa, opr. Robert Kamiński, 1984, w zbiorach WUOZ w Poznaniu.
• Kościoły drewniane w Wielkopolsce, red. Mariusz Grzebalski, Poznań 2004, s. 174.
• Wielkopolska. Słownik krajoznawczy, red. Łęcki Włodzimierz, Poznań 2002, s. 230-231.
• http://kosciolydrewniane.pl - odsłona z listopada 2015 r.
• Łukaszewicz Józef, Krótki opis historyczny kościołów parochialnych w dawnej diecezyi poznańskiej, t.1, Poznań 1858, s. 285.