The aforementioned values have been largely restored as a result of its reconstruction in 1948-1956, which is why the Stopnica church is an important example of the “Polish school of conservation”.

History

The oldest, probably wooden, temple in Stopnica was erected already in the 11th century. According to the hypotheses, at the end of this century Władysław Herman established a collegiate church, which today church historians deny, pointing out that its canon and scholastic were only mentioned in the sources in the years 10-60 of the 12th century. However, this does not change the fact that the building had to play an important role in the church administration. Therefore, already in the 13th century, a brick church was erected in its place, which was looked after by as many as three priests, as mentioned in 1325-27. The present church was erected between 1350 and 1376. According Jan Długosz, the current church was founded by Casimir the Great, in expiation for the murder of Fr Marcin Baryczko commissioned by him in 1349 (currently, these circumstances of the foundation have been called into question). In 1421, a local provostry was founded here. In the second half of the 15th century, the chapel of St. Anne was added to the church, and after 1564, it was extended by a northern porch and a Gethsemane. In 1645 the construction of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, founded by Adam Hinka, heir to the surrounding villages, was completed. In 1657, the church in Stopnica was desecrated by the forces led by the Hungarian duke Rákóczi. Quite quickly, in the 1660s-70s, the church was renovated. It was probably during this work that the poor statics of the building were discovered, as its roof was lowered in 1677. Further construction work was carried out on it in the years 1719-23, e.g.: a new steeple was erected and the pillars were strengthened. Before 1783 and 1795 the church was destroyed several times by fire. In the 19th century, the church in Stopnica was renovated several times, however the most important changes were not made until the early 20th century, when the altars were replaced with neo-Gothic ones, the Gothic antepedius was bricked into the façade of the Gethsemane and a number of construction works were carried out. In 1944, the building, which had been shaped for centuries, was destroyed by warfare in 80%. Despite the tragedy, as early as 1945 the local authorities and the faithful, motivated by ideological and moral reasons, decided to rebuild it. This task was entrusted to Józef Jamróz from Krakow, who proposed a reconstruction of the church in a form similar to that before the cataclysm, with the use of preserved original elements. The main construction work was carried out in 1949-56. Probably due to political reasons, the solemn consecration of the church did not take place until 1986. In 2002-2005, the restoration of its façade and roof was carried out, while in 2004 and 2011, paintings from the 18th century, Gothic architectural details and “marble” epitaphs from the 17th to 19th century underwent conservation.

Description

The Gothic church is located in the western part of the town hill, near the market square; it occupies the centre of an irregular yard which is surrounded by a stone wall. The hall church, oriented towards the east, follows a pseudo-two-nave layout and features a rectangular main body with a pair of interior pillars, adjoined by a three-bay chancel with a semi-hexagonal end section. The northern side of the chancel is adjoined by a polygonal staircase tower and a two-bay sacristy with a two-sided termination, the latter visibly lower than the chancel itself. A two-bay, square chapel of St. Anne and a square, domed chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary adjoin the southern side of the nave, while its western façade features a square porch with a cylindrical staircase turret. Another porch adjoins the northern façade of the church. The church is made of limestone, with parts of its walls covered with plaster and reinforced with buttresses. It is covered with: a gable roof (the body and the western porch), a roof consisting of five sections (the chancel), a shed roof (the sacristy, the chapel of St. Anne), a three-pitched roof (southern porch) and cupola ceiling (the chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary). Most façades of the church are simple and austere; the western façade is an exception, featuring a triangular gable adorned with blind windows. Medieval stonemasons’ marks and a “marble” epitaphs dedicated to Horacy and Anna Lusti form 1628 adorn the wall of the chancel (an undefined workshop in Chęciny?), and in the south-eastern part of the nave a Gothic bas-relief with the Lamb of God. The entrances to the church are accentuated by reconstructed portals topped with pointed or shouldered arches. The interiors of the church feature a variety of reconstructed vaulted ceilings: a vault with three supports (in the nave, resting on a pair of pillars), cross-ribbed vaults (in the chancel, the sacristy and the chapel of St. Anne, featuring keystones from the second half of the 15th century, a double barrel vault (in the northern porch), a barrel vault with lunettes (in the western porch), as well as a domed ceiling on pendentives (above the chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary). The vaulted ceilings of the body and the chancel are adorned with Gothic keystones in relief, decorated with coats of arms, and supports with floral decorations, dating back to the period between the 1350s and the 1370s. In the splayed window reveals in the chancel and the nave there are fragments of polychromes from the third quarter of the 14th century (?). Notable interior furnishings include the stone antepedium of the main altarpiece from the third quarter of the 14th century, a leaden baptismal font from the 1st half of the 16th century, two 18th-century paintings (Immaculata, St. Anna Samotrzeć), the altarpiece of the Blessed Virgin Mary moved from the monastery in Staniątki (second half of the 18th century (featuring a pair of decorative side sections from the second half of the 17th century) as well as “marble” epitaphs from the period between the 17th and the 19th century. (of Albert Węgrzynowicz who died in 1677, authorship is unknown, workshops from Dębnik).

The monument is open to visitors. Sightseeing upon prior telephone appointment.

Łukasz Piotr Młynarski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kielce, 09.06.2015.

Bibliography

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