History

The church was built in the Gothic style in the years 1360-1370; it was founded by the king Casimir the Great. In the 15th and 16th century numerous chapels were added to the single-nave building, out of which only a rosary chapel has survived. Around mid-15th century a tower was built, which served as a municipal watchtower as well. In the years 1630-33 the Kochanowski family chapel was added. In 1752 the nave vault collapsed. In the first years of the 19th century the church suffered far-reaching damages. The feature was renovated in the years 1837-1840 and consecrated again in 1844. The church was thoroughly reconstructed in the Gothic Revival style in the years 1908-1909 to the design of Józef Dziekoński. Changes included the extension of the nave by one bay towards the west, demolition of annexes on the southern side and erection of a side nave and a new sacristy. The church was restored in the 1960s. In 1972 the interior wall paintings were added. In 2010 the 650th anniversary of the church was celebrated.

Description

The church is located between the Market Square and a promenade, in a place where a trapezoidal square is formed between Rwańska and Grodzka Streets.

The feature is built of brick and unplastered. It has a compact body of a basilica type, with a slender nave corpus and a five-storey tower with a tall bulbous cupola. The entire body is fastened by buttresses. The presbytery, the northern wall of the nave with a rosary chapel (late 15th century) and a tower as well as the Late Renaissance Kochanowski family chapel with the 17th century altar and Late Gothic baptismal font have survived as relics of the original church.

The church front façade has a single axis with a portal made of sandstone; above, there are three pointed-arch windows. The façade is crowned with a decorative frieze made of bricks; beyond, there is a stepped gable with blind windows.

It is worth paying attention to stuccowork decorations in the interior, which adorn the cupola of the Kochanowski family chapel, as well as the Renaissance portal between the presbytery and the sacristy. A presbytery with Rococo stalls from the late 18th century and a Gothic sculpture from the 14th century, covered with a lierne vault, also draws visitors’ attention. Jacek Malczewski, a famous painter, was one of the people baptised in this church (1854).

Outside, next to the church, three valuable sculptures are positioned: a stone crucifix, a sculpture Christ at the Post from the 19th century and a figure of St John of Nepomuk of 1752. The sculpture made by Piotr Coudray, a court sculptor of August III, is Radom’s oldest monument.

The church can be viewed from the outside; inside, it can be viewed outside the hours of religious services.

Compiled by Bartłomiej Modrzewski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Warsaw, 31-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Historia parafii, Oficjalna strona parafii pw. św. Jana Chrzciciela w Radomiu, http://www.fara.radom.pl/index.php?dzial=historia, za: Rocznik Diecezji Radomskiej, 2007, dostęp: 31.10.2014.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. III, Województwo kieleckie, red. J. Z. Łoziński, B. Wolff, z. 10, Powiat radomski, inwent. K. Szczepkowska, E. Krygier, J. Z. Łoziński, Warszawa 1961.
• P. P. Rogólski, Kościół farny pw. św. Jana Chrzciciela, karta ewidencyjna tzw. biała, Radom 1989.