Inside there is a set of bells from the fifteenth to the twentieth century, unique in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.

History

Probably the first wooden belfry at the Pauline church in Pińczów was built in the years 1440-1450, to house a bell, founded by the Bishop of Krakow Zbigniew Oleśnicki. In 1481 another two bells were placed there. This information appears in the sources in the 16th century. A lot of information about the later history of the building can be found in the requests of the Pińczów Pauline fathers submitted to the provincial chapters, e.g.: in 1632-1633 they demanded its renovation, and in 1643 they submitted a project to build a new belfry, for which no funds were found at that time. In 1654, Anna and Grzegorz Białozurski financed the recasting of the bell of Bishop Oleśnicki, which was carried out by Benedict Briot. In 1685, the local prior, Father Konstanty Jaroszowski, concluded a contract with Wojciech Trybulski, a bricklayer from Kielce, for the erection of the present brick belfry. In the same year, construction works began, soon to be interrupted due to financial reasons. Works were undertaken in 1691 by prior Stanislaw Krasucki and completed in 1692. In 1725 the roof on the belfry was replaced and in 1757-59 it was thoroughly renovated. In 1826, the local parish priest informed the Kielce Consistory that the roof might collapse on the parishioners. The threat must have been real as the use of bells was restricted in 1832. The necessary renovation of the belfry did not take place until 1835-1837, when the clock was replaced and a tenement house was probably added to it. The repairs soon had to be repeated because they were not carried out properly. The roof had to be repaired in 1841, and in 1846 some of the external plasters fell off. In 1857, the parishioners ordered the bell founder, Michał Petergili from Warsaw, to once again recast the bell of Bishop Oleśnicki. In 1933 the residents of Pińczów laid a commemorative plaque on the ground floor of the belfry on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. At the beginning of September 1939, the German army destroyed the adjacent tenement house, soon afterwards its remnants were removed. In 1977-1978, the bell of Bishop Oleśnicki was recast for the third time, this time at the Felczyński company in Przemyśl, with its form and an inscription reconstructed. In 1997, thorough construction and conservation works were carried out at the belfry.

Description

The Baroque belfry is part of the former Pauline monastery complex (currently a parish complex), located in the centre of Pińczów, at the northeast corner of the square (currently Plac Wolności - Freedom Square). The belfry is located in front of the façade of the parish church, in the fence line of the former church cemetery. The square-shaped bell tower has two storeys, the upper of which is narrowed. It was bricked up from local limestone and plastered on the outside. It is covered by a double-pitched tented roof with a high spire with a cross. The façades of the belfry are framed with a plinth and cornices, and in the corners there are prominent pilasters. In the top of the upper storey there is a wide entablature with a prominent cornice, broken in a semi-circle in the western facade to house the clock face. The entrances, located on the ground floor of the eastern and western façades, are accentuated by semicircular stone portals with panels decorated with an engraved ornamentation. In the upper storey, in the centre of each wall, high windows, closed with a full arch, with wooden shutters were made. A plaque commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna was installed in the ground floor of the northern façade in 1933. The belfry is equipped with four bells: two Gothic bells from 1481, a third Baroque bell from 1687 and a fourth one from 1978.

The monument is open to visitors. The interiors may be explored upon prior arrangement with the parish priest.

Łukasz Piotr Młynarski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kielce, 16.06.2016.

Bibliography

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