the official style of construction of church buildings in Austrian Galicia in the 1770s during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. It boasts several valuable monuments and an interesting polychrome from the last quarter of the 19th century. The temple dominates the village landscape.

History

Rzyki was established in 1560 as a Wallachian shepherd hamlet in the Beskid Mały Mountains. Until 1796 there was no church in the village, which belonged to a parish in nearby Wieprz. In the 18th century, weaving and cloth trade developed in Rzyki, next to a glassworks and shingle production. The prosperous resident founded a church and took care of the establishment of a parish. The temple dedicated to Blessed Jakub Strzemię was erected in the years 1793-1796 and consecrated in 1808. A tower was added in 1835 and a cupola in 1923. The nave vaults were made after 1837. In the 1980s, the church underwent major renovation. Electric heating was installed, the pulpit and the Stations of the Cross were renovated, just like the furnishings and façades. In the mid-1990s, a chapel was built next to the nave. In 1885 Jan Paszyński from Tarnów decorated the church vaults with polychrome. The paintings were conserved in 1958 by Zofia Stawowiak and Irena Gawron from Kraków. The painting decoration in the porch vault is the 1990s work of Karol Pustelnik from Wadowice. At the end of the 18th century or in the first quarter of the 19th century, the church premises were surrounded by a fence. A small farm building was erected overlapping the line of the fence. At the same time, a clergy house, a large utility building and wooden vicar’s house were built next to the church (the vicar’s house was pulled down after 2006 due to its poor technical condition).

Description

The church complex is located in the central part of the village on the south side of the road to Andrychów, on a discernible land elevation. The church is made of brick and plastered. It is a three-nave, four-span, hall temple with the chancel closed with a semicircular apse, with two rectangular side extensions and a contemporary chapel. The central nave is higher than the aisles and opens to them with columned arcades. The rectangular tower is built into the nave. It has three levels and is topped with a neo-Baroque cupola with a polygonal lantern. The roofs of the temple are gable, single-sloped, and multi-sloped. The ridge above the nave bears an ave bell turret of a Baroque shape. The gable reveals the year 1795 as the date of completion of the nave. The church façades are enriched by frame divisions. The interior has barrel and sail vaults on transverse ribs. The floors are arranged in geometric patterns of multi-coloured ceramic tiles. The windows have contemporary stained glass with saints. The church is decorated with a neo-Rococo polychrome with elements of Art Nouveau decorativeness. It is composed of elaborate figurative, ornamental, floral and geometric motifs. There are also religious paintings and with the coat of arms of the Habsburgs, the church patrons and owners of Rzyki in the second half of the 19th century. Some of the noteworthy equipment is: the Baroque and Rococo main altar from before 1837 with an image of Our Lady of Consolation in a silver-plated dress; two side altars with Baroque and classicist features from the end of the 18th or early 19th century; an early Baroque baptismal font from the 1st quarter of the 18th century; a Rococo pulpit from the 1st quarter of the 19th century and board paintings from the 18th or 19th century, Holy Family and Saint Adalbert. The most valuable historical monuments preserved in the church are displayed in glass cabinets: a Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary (damaged, originally with Child) from the 1st quarter of the 15th century and a statue of the Virgin Mary with St John the Evangelist, an early Baroque work with late Gothic motifs from the end of the 16th century. A large, crystal 19th-century candlestick hangs from the vault of the nave. There are several wood carvings and bas-reliefs made by the local folk artist, Stanisław Mikołajek. The clergy house is made of brick and partly plastered. It is a single-storey building covered by a gable roof and with a wooden, glass porch at the front. The utility single-storey outbuilding is made of brick, currently partially transformed. The farm building situated along the church’s fence is a brick, one-level structure covered by a gable roof. It has a single, sail-vaulted chamber. According to the local people, this building originally served as a night shelter for people who were supposed to keep vigil and ring the church bells if they spotted fire.

The property can be viewed from the outside. Apart from the times of services, it may be visited upon prior telephone appointment with the parish.

Author of the note Tadeusz Śledzikowski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 27/10/2014

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. 1: Województwo krakowskie, no. 14: Powiat wadowicki, oprac. J. Szablowski, Warsaw 1953, p. 495.
• Łepkowski J., Przegląd zabytków przeszłości z okolic Krakowa, Warszawa 1863.
• Putek J., O zbójnickich zamkach, heretyckich zborach i oświęcimskiej Jerozolimie, Kraków 1938.
• Siemionow A., Ziemia Wadowicka, Wadowice 1984.
• Zinkow J., Wadowice i okolice, Wadowice 2001, pp. 452-458.
• Karta ewidencyjne, Rzyki. Zespół kościelno-plebański pw. św. Jakuba Strzemię, kościół parafialny pw. św. Jakuba Strzemię, plebania, plebański budynek gospodarczy, budynek gospodarczy w ogrodzeniu i „wikarówka”, oprac. Tadeusz Śledzikowski, Kraków 1994, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków w Krakowie.