It is an example of Late Baroque sacred architecture, with later alterations. A type of a two-tower temple, with a two-storey façade, typical of the Baroque style, with lesenes, pilasters and cornices. Inside, preserved eighteenth-century side altars.

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, 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 erekted on that site The owner of Stawiski, who also planned to build a brick church and monastery, made a bequest for the monastery 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, and thanks to the efforts of the heir Antoni Bykowski the construction of the church, according to a new design by Teodor Seyfried, (without towers) was completed in 1813-1818. At that time, the windows of the nave were bricked up and the entire body was covered with one roof. In 1822, the church was consecrated as the church of St Anthony of Padua, branch of the parish in Poryte, and since 1903 it has functioned as a temple of the newly created parish in Stawiski. In 1927, the upper tiers of the towers were added. During World War II, in 1945, the towers were destroyed. They were partially rebuilt in 1951-1952, and in 1990-2008, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Mieczysław Gołaszewski, attained their present form.

Description of the object

the 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. Its front elevation faces the south-west. On the south of the church chancel there is the monastery building, with its gable facing Łomżyńska Street. The monastery was designed in the Late Baroque style. Made of brick, plastered. Set on a rectangular plan, with two square towers situated at the corners of the facade. It is a three-aisled, basilica-type building with light coming from each side aisle windows. The chancel is enclosed in rectangular, single-storey sacristies. The building is covered with a gable roof over the chancel and the main body, sacristies are under mono-pitched roofs, towers are topped with cupolas. The two-story screen façade, crowned with a gable with a triangular abutment, was extended by two forward protruding three-story towers topped with cupolas. The façade is divided with cordon cornices, lesenes (lower storey and third storey of the towers) and pairs of Tuscan pilasters supporting profiled entablature. The entrance and window openings, niches, panels and bell openings in the towers are semi-circular headed. The side elevations are divided with lesenes and topped with a profiled crowning cornice. The three-aisle interior is covered with a barrel-cross vault on pairs of arches, above the chancel - concha with lunettes. The nave is open to the aisles with semicircular arcades. In the recently made altar, there is a painting of the Mother of God with the Child from the 17th century. Baroque side altars, with later alterations, brought from a wooden church at the beginning of 19th century.

Visitor access: The monument is open to visitors all year round.

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/kosciol (17.05.2023)