The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Zabytek.pl
Address
Piaseczno
Location
woj. pomorskie, pow. tczewski, gm. Gniew - obszar wiejski
In the 17th century, due to the patronage of the then Starost of Gniew, the future king Jan III Sobieski, the church regained its former glory after war devastation. For centuries, the church has been known as a Marian sanctuary - the cult of the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child was officially approved in 1649.
History
The parish in Piaseczno is one of the oldest in Gdańsk Pomerania. Its founding in 1220 is associated with the activity of the Spanish Order of Calatrava. The construction of the church (chancel) began in 1348, founded by Grand Master Heinrich Dusemer. In the second half of the 14th century, a vaulted three-nave body of the church was erected, and in the early 15th century, a sacristy and a tower were built. The church was damaged during the second Swedish war (1620s). In 1676, king Jan III Sobieski, as a Starost of Gniew, founded its reconstruction (a builder Bartel Ranish executed new vaults and a burial crypt under the chancel). In the 2nd quarter of the 18th century, the tower was extended upwards (a new tented roof and clock mechanism). In 1755-59, two side chapels were added and the interior was fully furnished.
Description
The church is located in the middle of the village, on a hill, by the main village road. It is oriented, surrounded by a cemetery with a fence wall and old trees. It is a Gothic church with Baroque chapels and upper tower storeys. It is a hall, three-nave church with four bays and a narrower, two-bay chancel closed polygonally. It is adjoined by a square tower on the western side, and by a rectangular sacristy, adjacent to the chancel, on the northern side. Baroque chapels of St Joseph and Our Lady of the Scapular (on irregular floor plans approximating the shape of a quadrilateral) are placed on both sides of the naves. The fragmented body consists of a high three-storey tower with a tented roof, a nave body covered with a high gable roof, a chancel covered with a gable roof, lower than the body and polygonally closed on the east, and two high chapels with roofs perpendicular to the roof ridge of the nave. The church was erected with the use of brick, on a stone foundation. The façades are faced with brick laid in a Gothic bond. The façades of the chapels are plastered. The nave and the presbytery feature stellar vaults. The side naves have cross-rib vaulting, the sacristy has a barrel vaulting, and the porch under the tower features a diamond vault. Roofs are wooden, covered with ceramic roof tiles. The dome is laid with sheet metal. Brick façades of the body and the chancel feature a separate plinth part, a row of high pointed-arch windows in plastered, splayed reveals, and a flat frieze under the crown cornice. The façade of the presbytery is featured with a ceramic frieze with an inscription (in Gothic minuscule). The gables of the nave body are stepped, with pointed-arch blind windows, lesenes passing into pinnacles, and openwork ornamental gables. The Gothic parts of the tower are embellished with cornices and blind windows. In the western façade, there is a pointed-arch portal. The corners in the façades of chapels are highlighted with flat lesenes, and the gables are decorated with volutes. The interior of the nave body is divided with two rows of octagonal, plastered piers supporting pointed-arch arcades; the vaults of the naves are embellished with Baroque stucco decoration (B. Ranisch). Movable fittings from the 2nd half of the 18th century are distinguished due to their richness and consistency in style. The oldest element of the church is the worshipped 14th-century wooden figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child.
The historic monument is accessible to visitors. Viewing of the church is possible before and after services.
compiled by Krystyna Babnis, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 31-10-2014.
Bibliography
- Sanktuarium Maryjne w Piasecznie na kartach historii, red. B. Murawska i B. Badziong, Gniew 2009.
- Wiśniewski J., Parafia i sanktuarium maryjne w Piaseczne w okresie nowożytnym (XVI-XVIII w.), Gniew 2008.
Category: church
Architecture: Gothic
Building material:
brick
Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records
Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_22_BK.56809, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_22_BK.301071