The authenticity of features inscribed in the surrounding landscape is worth emphasizing.

History

The parish in Rembertów was established in the 13th century. The earliest mention of the parish priest dates from 1414 and of the church of St John the Baptist comes from 1420. It was erected at the efforts of the village owners - the Rembiertowski family. Another temple was funded in the years 1730-1742 by Katarzyna Siekierzyńska - sword-bearer of Latyczew and heiress of the estates from the nearby Michrów. The church was erected on foundations of the old one, surrounded by the church graveyard, and was small, wooden and had a single-nave arrangement. In 1826 the temple was renovated and a bell tower - preserved until this day - was added in its direct vicinity. In 1880 the church was rearranged. The walls were extended upwards, the nave was extended and a choir gallery was added. Subsequent renovations were carried out in 1936 (among others, new sheet metal cladding was added), in 1959 and in the late 1990s.

Description

The church complex is located on the west side of the road between Warsaw and Cracow, in the north part of the village. It is surrounded by a metal fence at the front end and a meshed fence on other sides. The bell tower is located in the south-west part of the plot.

The church is oriented towards the east (a chancel faces the east), made of wood of coniferous trees in a log structure and is covered with vertical board-and-batten siding on the outside. The internal walls are plastered. The nave is arranged on a rectangular floor plan and a lower and narrower chancel, terminated in a straight wall, adjoins it on the east side. A sacristy with a vestibule was added to the chancel at the south end and a small porch adjoins the nave also on the south side. The walls of the building are tall; separate gable roofs stretch over the nave and the chancel; the roof over the porch is also of the gable type, while the vestibule features a shed roof. All roofs are covered with sheet metal. At the end of the nave, the ridge features a quadrangular steeple topped with a tented roof with pinnacles. The interior is of the single-nave type. Initially, it was covered with a flat ceiling, but at present it is surmounted with a newly shaped coffer ceiling. The walls are partitioned by vertical supports in the form of fluted pilasters, while the floors are made of boards laid on concrete underlayment.

What distinguishes itself in the church interior is the Baroque main altar located in the chancel, originating from the 18th century, which is said to have been imported from Rome in 1830 by the then benefactor of the church - Sosnowski. Its central part features two paintings of a high artistic value: “Baptism of Christ” from the 13th century and “Our Lady of Perpetual Succour” on the curtain. In the western part of the church there is a choir gallery added in 1880, which features three-pipe organ, recently renovated and gold-plated.

The bell tower was also made of wood from coniferous trees, in the post-and-beam structure reinforced with raking shores. It is covered with a tented, rafter roof clad in sheet metal, with a centrally positioned pinnacle crowned with a crucifix. The façades were covered with vertical board-and-batten siding, while the bell openings are obscured by wooden shutters.

The church graveyard is well-ordered, with a single preserved tombstone of the church benefactors: the Sosnowski family from Michrów.

The building is accessible to visitors during masses and following previous arrangements with the parish priest.

Author of the note Jerzy Szałygin, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Regional Branch in Warsaw 04-08-2017

Bibliography

• Church of St John the Baptist, after: http://skarbiecmazowiecki.pl/obiekty/kosciol-pw-sw-jana-chrzciciela-tarczynski-tarczyn-rembertow-45-103,1.html
• Record sheet of the monuments of architecture Kościół parafialny p.w. Św. Jana Chrzciciela, prepared by Jerzy Szałygin, Warsaw, 1998.
• Record sheet of monuments of architecture Dzwonnica przy kościele parafialnym p.w. Św. Jana Chrzciciela, prepared by Jerzy Szałygin, Warsaw, 1998.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. X, Województwo warszawskie, issue 5, pow. grójecki, Warsaw 1971.
• Szałygin J., Wiśniewski A., Materiały do katalogu drewnianego budownictwa sakralnego na Mazowszu, Mazowsze no. 3/94, p. 71.