History

The parish in Siedlątków was established in 1642. Due to its small catchment zone, it was incorporated in the Pęczniew parish in the 1920s, becoming its filial church. It did not regain the status of a parish until 1958. It is currently the smallest parish in Poland.

The existing church was built some time after 1683 on the site of the previous wooden temple (some sources mention the date 1684). The extreme western bay, housing a choir gallery and a porch, was built later - most likely in the 19th century.

The temple was known as a Marian shrine because of the miraculous painting of Our Lady of Siedlątków - the destination for many pilgrims, especially fiancées. The painting was destroyed by a fire in 1957, together with the main altar. Today, a copy of that painting exists in the new altar in the church.

The crypt of the church is the resting place of Adam Jabłkowski of Siedlątków (killed in a skirmish with the Cossacks during the January Uprising) and of other members of his family, who owned the village.

In 1986, the Jeziorsko artificial water reservoir was built and its waters flooded several neighbouring villages. Siedlątków managed to avoid that fate and a dam with a breakwater was built a short distance from the church.

Description

The church is situated on a promontory jutting out into the waters of the Jeziorsko reservoir, on the western edge of the village. The promontory is protected by a concrete embankment. The church is oriented. It is surrounded by a church cemetery enclosed by a stone and brick fence. In the northern part, there is a belfry gate. In the western part, there is an entrance gate. Another gate provides access to the clergy house from the east.

The church in Siedlątków is an example of late Renaissance architecture.

The two-bay nave of the church was erected on a rectangular plan, to which another, narrower rectangle of the chancel was added from the east. From the north, it is adjoined by the sacristy, erected on a floor plan resembling a trapezoid. A bay was also added to the nave from the west. It contains a porch and a choir gallery. The body of the church is compact, covered with gable roofs (only the sacristy has a shed roof).

The church was built of stone and brick. At present, it is plastered on both sides. In the southern wall, there is an exposed fragment of the stone wall laid with lime mortar. The walls are buttressed. There is a groin vault in the chancel and a barrel vault with lunettes in the nave. The roof truss is wooden, with a varied, king post truss structure in the nave, collar-and-purlin in the chancel and rafter in the sacristy. The roofs have sheet metal cladding. The nave is surmounted by a steeple.

All elevations are plastered and set on a low plinth. The western elevation was built as last and now serves as the façade. It is single-axial and three-storey. It is flanked by pilaster strips. In the central part, there is the main entrance, whose opening was designed as a rectangle topped with a segmental arch. It is accentuated by pairs of Tuscan columns. Above them, there is an inscription with the date of the establishment of the parish. Further above, there are pilasters based on a prominent cornice dividing the storeys. The elevation is crowned with a triangular gable, also supported by the cornice. It is divided into three parts, with a blende placed in the central one. On top, there is a cross. The eastern elevation has no window openings. It is topped with a triangular gable resting on a profiled cornice. In the ground level storey, there is a blende with a wooden figure of a saint. The northern and southern walls are pierced with slender rectangular window openings and blendes with semicircular arches. Vertical divisions are additionally emphasized by buttresses.

Inside the temple, there is a single nave. The nave follows a two-bay layout. It was extended westwards to include one more bay, however, fragments of the walls of the earlier façade were retained. As a result, the area of the porch was clearly separated from the area of the choir gallery. The choir gallery rests on two slender poles. The walls of the nave are adorned with pilasters. The nave turns into a narrower chancel through a semicircular chancel opening. The main decorative elements of the walls are the pilasters.

The oldest element of the interior fittings and furnishings of the temple is the mannerist side altar with a painting of St. Isidore (from about mid-17th century). The other altars come from the 20th century. In the 18th century, a baptismal font was built, as well as three Baroque crucifixes.

The church can be viewed from outside. It can be toured inside upon prior arrangement with the parish priest.

Compiled by Anna Michalska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź February 2017

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków sztuki w Polsce, woj. poznańskie, powiat tureckim Warszawa 1959
• Opiekun Domowy, 1868, no. 40
• Na sieradzkich szlakach, 1987 no. 2, 1988 no. 3, 1990 no. 4,
• Ruszkowski A., Sieradz i okolice, Sieradz 2000
• Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, 1889, vol. X, pp. 496-7