History

According to tradition, the parish church in Rokitno came into being in 1333, however the oldest reference to the village of Rokytno comes from 1378 and to the local parish priest, named Mikołaj, from 1419. In 1521, the church was destroyed during the invasion of Brandenburgers. In the 16th century, during the Reformation, the church in Rokitno remained in the hands of Protestants. However, the Catholics claimed it back still in the same century. In 1661, it was taken over by the Cistercian order from Bledzew. Eight years later, a 16th-century painting depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary, bearing the hallmarks of Dutch or Flemish style, was brought from Bledzew to the church in Rokitno. In 1670, the image was recognised as miraculous. In 1707, abbot Józef Gurowski commenced the construction of a church, which was associated with the spreading cult of Our Lady of Rokitno. The construction was not completed, and in the end, the church was dismantled. As late as in 1746, owing to the efforts by the then abbot of Bledzew, the construction of a new church, on the basis of a design by Karol Marcin Frantz, was started. The investment was completed ten years later, during the times of abbot Józef Loka owing to whom the lavish décor and fittings of the church, executed by Chrystian Grünewald from Legnica (sculpture) and Georg Wilhelm Neunhertz (paintings), were funded. In 1796, after the monastery estate had been secularised, Rokitno became property of the Prussian State. During the partitions, the church with the miraculous painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary was often visited by pilgrims - Poles living in the vicinity of Rokitno. After World War II, the church became the main centre of Marian cult in the diocese of Zielona Góra and Gorzów.

Description

The basilica in Rokitno is a three-nave Baroque building with a chancel terminating in a semi-hexagon. In the front façade, there is main entrance with a semi-circular top section, leading inside the church through an avant-corps topped with a tympanum and adorned with figures of saints in niches. The two towers on the sides feature Classicist tented roofs with concave sides at the base and vases in the top sections. As far as architectural detail is concerned, pilasters and casings of windows with semicircular arches draw particular attention. In the interior, covered with a sail vault, there are painted decorations showing scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and other scenes, inspired by the Old and the New Testament; Baroque and Rococo fittings of the church have been preserved - inter alia the main altar with the painting of Our Lady of Rokitno, lavishly decorated choir stalls, four side altars, tabernacle, pipe organ casing, pulpit, and baptismal font. Underneath the side naves, crypts were built in which abbots from Bledzew and members of local nobility families were buried. The basilica is circumscribed with a brick wall from the 18th century, with a decorative gate. By the church, there is a museum where, among other things, votive offerings are exhibited which have been donated by pilgrims over the last couple hundred of years.

The building is accessible all year round.

compiled by Krzysztof Garbacz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 17-03-2015.

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, t. 3: Powiaty: gorzowski - słubicki - sulęciński - międzyrzecki - strzelecko-drezdenecki, Zielona Góra 2013, s. 242-243, fot. 113-114.
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, s. 314-315.