Andrew and James was a counterweight to buildings erected for the needs of the Moravians who settled in Pawłowiczki in 1779.

History

The earliest mentions of the church date back to the 13th century. The present church was built in 1782-1783. In 1786, Maria Anna Halam v. Cziczyn funded the extension of the church by a sacristy and the construction of a clergy house. In 1936, the church was extended by the addition of side aisles and a new polygonal sacristy. After being devastated during the war, the church was rebuilt in 1946.

Description

The church is located in the north-eastern part of the village on a small hill, surrounded by a masonry plastered fence with a gate located on the axis of the church, surmounted by a triangular gable, erected in the first half of the 19th century. The inner wall of the fence was fitted with nineteenth-century tombstones. To the south of the church, behind the fence there is a cemetery.

Originally, the church was conceived as a one-nave church with a chancel oriented towards the north-east. Today, after alterations made in the early 20th century, it is a three-aisle basilica with a chancel closed off on three sides and rectangular annexes on both sides and a polygonal sacristy located to the north-east. On the south-western side, there is a two-storey tower incorporated in the body of the church, and on both sides of the tower there are spiral staircases.

The main aisle and northern side aisle are covered with a common gable roof, while the southern side aisle is topped with a shed roof. The chapel and the sacristy are covered with multi-faceted roofs, and the tower is surmounted by a bulbous cupola.

The church is built of brick and plastered. The outer façades are smooth with rounded corners and oval window openings in the chancel, sacristy and side aisles; the windows in the main aisle and chapels are topped with an arch section. The windows are enclosed in surrounds made in plaster.

The south-west façade of the church is mostly three-axial, with the central axis slightly protruding beyond the body of the church. In the lower part of the central axis, there is a rectangular entrance, above which is a window opening surmounted by a round arch. Above, the central axis turns into a two-storey quadrangular tower flanked by triangular half-gables and divided by crowning cornices. The west façade of the tower is pierced by an oval window opening, above which on three sides there are rectangular window openings (a blind window to the east) topped with round arches and a clock face incorporated in a fractured line of the crowning cornice.

Inside, the chancel has the shape of an apse with two symmetrically arranged semicircular arcades on both side of the main altar, where there are entrances to the sacristy. Slightly larger arcades are located at the junction of the main aisle with side aisles. The walls in the main aisle are additionally articulated with pilasters supporting the sections of a cornice. The aisles are covered with barrel vaults with lunettes.

The preserved original fittings include two bells from the mid-15th century and a stone plaque with a coat of arms and an inscription referring to the foundation of the clergy house and sacristy (1786), and an eighteenth-century pulpit.

The monument is open to visitors.

compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 18-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. VII: Województwo opolskie, issue 5: Powiat kozielski, prepared by T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki, Warsaw 1965, pp. 45-46.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, p. 672.