It was financed from contributions of the residents of Mokronos as a supplicatory votive offering.

History

The history of settlement in the area of Serafinów goes back to the 16th century. However, as no written sources concerning the village have been preserved, nothing certain can be said of its beginnings. The Filial Church of St Rosalia was financed from contributions made by people of Mokronos in the years 1707-1708, when their village was affected by a raging epidemic of “bad air”. The church was dedicated to St Rosalia, who had been venerated as a saint protecting people from epidemics since the 13th century. The pleas must have been heard, as the epidemic subsided in 1709. The church was consecrated in 1736. It was renovated a number of times, e.g. in 1884 and 1902. In the years 1964-1965, the roof was made higher and conservation works were carried out on the interior.

Description

Serafinów is a small village located to the west of Koźmin. The Church of St Rosalia, surrounded by trees, is situated on a small hill in the south-eastern part of the village. It borders a manor house complex on the east side. It is oriented towards the east. It has a wooden log structure resting on a cobblestone wall base. The exterior walls are covered with weatherboards. The building has a rectangular floor plan. It has one nave (with no aisles). The chancel, lower and narrower than the nave, is terminated polygonally. A small sacristy adjoins the church on the north side. The stone wall base forms a low socle. Long eaves run along the walls of the nave and the chancel at the same height. On the west façade, they pass into a small drip cap marking the beginning of the gable. The rectangular, segmental-arched windows of the church are framed by profiled window surrounds. The nave has a flat ceiling supported by posts standing by the walls and diagonal beams. The chancel is covered with a false barrel vault. The music gallery rests on posts. Between the nave and the chancel, there is a profiled rood beam with a Baroque-folk crucifix from the late 18th century. Right beside, there is an overhanging Baroque pulpit from the 1st half of the 17th century, decorated with painted images of the Evangelists. The church is covered with gable roof with roof tiles. Above the nave, there is a 19th-century steeple supported by four posts and topped with a metal flag with the date “1708”. The door has the original lock and metal elements from the 18th century. A particularly impressive element of the interior is the Baroque main altar from the 1st half of the 18th century, incorporating sculptures of Saints Stanislaus and Paul between columns and of St John of Nepomuk, St Peter, and God the Father at the top. In the central field, there is a painting of the patron saint of the church, St Rosalia, painted in 1906 by Julian Wałkowski from Wrocław. Above, there is a painting of St Catherine, dating from the 18th century. The two side altars also deserve attention. The left one, Late-Renaissance in character, made in the early 17th century, features small columns wreathed with grapevine, a painting of the Stigmata of St Francis in the central field, and a painting of the Holy Trinity at the top; the predella incorporates oval paintings of Sts Catherine and Barbara. The right one, dating from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century, is decorated with a panting of Mary with Child from the 1st half of the 17th century in the central field; the predella (1st half of the 17th century) features two tondi with painted scenes from the life of St Rosalia. At the top, there is an Ecce Homo painting from the 18th century. Other interesting works of art are: a Late-Renaissance painting of St Stanislaus from c. 1600, painted on a wooden board, a painting of Our Lady of Sorrows from the early 18th century, and a painting of St Jadwiga from the late 18th and early 19th century.

The church may be visited from the outside. Holy Mass: Sunday at 10.30 AM.

compiled by Beata Marzęta, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 17-11-2015.

Bibliography

• Brykowski R., Wielkopolskie Kościoły Drewniane, Poznań 2001; str. 171
• Drewniane Kościoły w Wielkopolsce , red. Maluśkiewicz P., Poznań 2004; str. 225
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, woj. poznańskie, t. V, z. 11, pow. krotoszyński, oprac. T. Ruszczyńska, A. Sławska, Warszawa 1973, s. 51-52
• Wielkopolska Słownik Krajoznawczy, Poznań 2002, s. 318