The church, built between 1778 and 1800, is accompanied by a clergy house from 1802, a bell tower and a fence with chapels from 1854.

History

Until the end of the 18th century, the village was owned by the Benedictines of Sieciechów. In 1527, the village of Puchaczów became a town under a foundation charter granted to the Benedictines by King Sigismund I. The parish was founded in 1533. Initially, there was a wooden chapel here and then a church (17th century), on the site of which the present-day church was erected, with funds provided by the Abbot of Sieciechów, Leonard Prokopowicz.

The construction of the church lasted from 1778 to 1800 (the church was consecrated in 1786). It was built according to a design created by the Viennese architect Józef Horsz (the design was previously attributed to the architect Józef Grinzenberger). The complex has been renovated many times: in 1829 (reinforcement with buttresses), 1850-1860 (renovation of the elevations), 1883, 1907 (addition of the northern sacristy), 1914 (painting of polychromes, construction of a ridge turret), 1979-1981 (full-scale renovation). The last renovation took place in 2010 and also covered the bell tower and the fence (renovation of the elevations). The clergy house (currently the organist’s house) erected around 1802, was remodelled at the beginning of 20th century and renovated in 1980-1983. The bell tower and the fence with a gate were built in 1854. In 1975, the bell tower was converted into a morgue, and then into a storage room (the bells were transfered to a metal belfry). 

Description

The church complex is slightly to the east of the former market square, with which it is connected by an alley, next to the meadows of the Wieprz River valley. The complex comprises a church, a bell tower, a fence with a gate and chapels, and the former clergy house. Late Baroque church. Oriented. The nave is rectangular, three-bay with rounded corners; the chancel is slightly lower and narrower, single-bay, topped with a semi-circular arch.

On the southern side of the chancel, there is a rectangular sacristy with a treasury on top. On the northern side, there is another sacristy, added later. The walls of the church are made of plastered bricks. The nave and the chancel are covered with sail vaults resting on arches. In the apse, there is a hemispherical vault with lunettes. The walls of the nave are divided by pairs of pilasters which support the entablature encircling the entire interior. There are altar niches between the pilasters. In the altar niches, there are high windows with low bottom ends, partially hidden behind the entablature, which illuminate the altars with natural light (a unique architectural solution, not found anywhere else in the country). Between the nave and the chancel, there is a semi-circular chancel arch. The choir gallery with a protruding parapet is supported by a wide arcade. Under the choir gallery, there is a church porch. The nave is covered with a three-span roof, with a neo-Baroque ridge turret above the chancel opening. Over the chancel, there is a gable roof topped with a semi-circular arch. The treasury is covered with a two-span roof and the new sacristy – with a lean-to roof. The roofs have sheet metal cladding.

The “undulating” chiaroscuro façade has a concave-convex outline and rounded corners. It is a three-axial façade, with an embedded tower in the middle, divided by Tuscan pilasters in the giant order and half-columns accentuating the tower-avant-corps, topped with an extensive entablature, with a pronounced twisted fronton cornice. Above, there is a gable incorporating the lower storey of the tower, surmounted by half-columns and scroll-like volutes based on blind balustrades, with a motif of ovals clustered together – a motif characteristic for Horsz. The last storey of the tower is quadrilateral, enclosed with pilasters, with clock faces, covered with a Baroque cupola. On the ground floor of the façade, there are three portals, topped with pediments. In the centre of the upper storey, there is a high window topped with a semi-circular arch, with niches on its sides. In the niches, there are statues of St. Adalbert and St John of Nepomuk. The side elevations of the nave, of the chancel and of the sacristy with the treasury are divided by wide pilasters and topped with a profiled cornice. Inside, there are late Baroque and Baroque-Classicist altars with paintings dating to the same periods. In the northern altar, there is a late Gothic crucifix next to the chancel opening and a polychrome from 1914.

The two-storey bell tower was built on a square floor plan. Its brick walls are plastered and covered with a pavilion roof with sheet metal cladding. The smooth elevations are topped with a profiled cornice. The window openings (former bell openings) are terminated with a semi-circular arch. 

The fence has the form of a full wall divided into sections by pillars, with processional shrines embedded in wide niches terminated with a segmental arch. The front part of the fence consists of metal sections inter-spaced with decorative pillars topped with vases. The wings of the gate and wickets hang on higher pillars surmounted by pilasters, divided by cornices and topped with crosses on pedestals.

Clergy house. Single-storey, on a rectangular floor plan, two-bay, with vestibules in the front (northern) and western elevations. Its brick walls are plastered and covered with a hipped, metal-clad roof. The elevations are topped with a wide entablature. The corners and window and entrance openings are enriched with rusticated masonry.

The heritage site is accessible upon prior arrangement by telephone.

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 16 November 2017

Bibliography

• Dyska A., Kościół pobenedyktyński Wniebowzięcia NMP w Puchaczowie, “Roczniki Humanistyczne” 1957, issue 4, p. 119.
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. VIII: Województwo lubelskie, issue 10: Powiat lubelski, Warsaw 1967, pp. 40-43.
• Kowalczyk J., Architektura sakralna między Wisłą a Bugiem w okresie późnego baroku, [in:] Kłoczowski J. et al., Dzieje Lubelszczyzny, vol. VI. Między Wschodem a Zachodem, part III, Kultura artystyczna, Lublin 1992, pp. 77-88.
• Kowalczyk J., Guarino Guarini a późnobarokowa architektura w Polsce i na Litwie, “Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki” 1997, issue 3, p. 197.
• Zabytki architektury i budownictwa w Polsce, vol. 22: Województwo lubelskie, Warsaw 1995, p. 384.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Małopolska, multi-author compilation, Warsaw 2016, p. 1130.