The monastery played an important role in the religious, cultural and social life of Stawiski and the surrounding area.

History of the structure

In 1688, thanks to the efforts of Fortunat Zamoyski, two Franciscans of the Lithuanian Province were settled next to the chapel of St John the Babtist, St Andrew the Apostle and St Catherine, which is a branch of the parish in Poryte. In 1691, a wooden church of St Fortunatus and a monastery formally endowed by Zamoyski in 1697 were erected on the site of the chapel. The owner of Stawiski, who also planned to build a brick church and monastery, made a bequest for this purpose before his death in 1698. The construction of the brick church and the monastery began almost a hundred years later in 1788. The construction of the monastery was completed in 1791. Originally, the monastery building was connected with the church. In 1865, the monks from Stawiski were moved away for participating in the January Uprising, and in 1867 the monastery was dissolved. Afterwards the building served as barracks and then as a school. In the interwar period, the structure connecting the church with the monastery was demolished, and several cells on the second storey were converted into a theater hall. There is now a presbitery in the former monastery building.

Description of the object

T

he church and the monastery are situated in the centre of the town, to the south of Wolności Square, on the eastern side of Łomżyńska Street. The monastery building is perpendicular to the church, some distance to the south-west behind its presbytery (originnally connected to it with a passage). The complex was designed in the Late Baroque style. Made of brick, plastered. On a floor plan of an elongated rectangle, with a two-bay interior layout. The rooms on the ground floor, where the former refectory was located, are covered with a barrel vault with lunettes. The second storey is under flat ceilings and a barrel vault in one room. The elevations with frame divisions are topped with a prominent profiled cornice. The vertical panels at the height of both storeys have arched corners. There are window openings in the panels with partially preserved sectional finials. Cuboid shaped, two storey body of the building is covered with high gable roof.

Visitor access: The church complex is open to visitors.

Author of the note: compiled by Joanna Kotyńska-Stetkiewicz, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Białystok, 28 October 2014

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. IX, Województwo łomżyńskie, ed. M. Kałamajska-Saeed, fol. 3, Kolno, Grajewo i okolice, compiled by M. Kałamajska-Saeed, Warsaw 1986, pp. 35-39.
• Jemielity W., Parafie Jedwabnego, Kolna i okolicy, Łomża 1990, pp. 14-20.
• http://parafia.stawiski.pl/klasztor-ojcow-franciszkanow (17.05.2023)