During Christmas time, on their way to church to hear Mass, ice under their sleigh on the Vistula River broke while they were crossing. They survived.

History

According to tradition, the name of the locality comes from hunters (riflemen) who were stationed there to supply wild game to the royal court. The village was referenced in documents from 1125, 1229 and 1322. In the time of Jan Długosz, it belonged to the parish of Witów. An autonomous parish was funded and equipped by Andrzej Gawroński, the owner of the estate in the first half of the 17th century. It was officially established by the bishop of Kraków, M. Szyszkowski, on 11 October 1617. The former parish church from the time of establishment of the parish in Strzelce Wielkie survived until the end of the 18th century. It was built by the founder A. Gawroński in 1617. It was dedicated to St Fabian and St Sebastian. It was consecrated by Bishop Tomasz Oborski.

The present-day and second parish church of St Sebastian was built in the years 1784-1785. It was consecrated by Bishop Jan Duvall. The church was thoroughly refurbished in the years 1892-1894 and in 1936. Between 1956 and 1957, it was enlarged by extending the nave and building aisles. The works were overseen by Piotr Krakowski and Tadeusz Solecki. The carpenters Jan and Andrzej Solak were also engaged in the project. The church reveals modest Baroque features, partially obliterated through subsequent reconstructions and extensions. During the works, the structural programme was partially modified by opening up the annexes to serve as aisles.

Description

The Parish Church of St Sebastian is situated in the central part of the village, about 200 meters west from a road leading from Podlasie towards Strzelce Małe in the north. The church is oriented. The church premises are isolated by a low fence (made of planks attached to stone posts). The property has two gates: from the west (main entrance) and from the east (from the clergy buildings). In the south-west corner of the fence, there is a wooden belfry built at the turn of the 18th century.

There is also an interesting outdoor, wooden pulpit and a small timber-frame chapel embedded in the outline of the fence.

The church has a wooden log structure and formwork. It has a single nave and aisles separated through transforming former annexes. The chancel is narrower than the nave and closed with a straight wall.

To the north of the chancel, there is a multi-room sacristy. On the south side of the nave, there is a large porch. A vestibule with two storage compartments on the sides adjoins the church body from the west. The church is covered by double-sloped roofs with the ridge shared by the older and newer (lower) section, the latter added in 1957. The building has wooden roof trusswork. The interiors are covered with corbel, barrel vaults. Late Baroque and Rococo interior equipment from the fourth quarter of the 18th century.

The belfry has a square plan and a wooden log structure; it is boarded and two-level with a sheet-metal hip roof topped with a cross.

The church is accessible only occasionally.

All services are held in the new brick church.

Author of the note Grzegorz Młynarczyk, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 05/2015

Bibliography

• Archiwum Parafialne w Strzelcach Wielkich – Kronika od 1826 roku, księgi metrykalne od 1782r.
• Rocznik Diecezji Tarnowskiej na 1972. Tarnów 1972.
• Kornecki M., Kościoły drewniane w Małopolsce: zagadnienia uwarunkowań oraz systematyki typów i form architektury, Regionalny Ośrodek Dokumentacji zabytków; Kraków 1999
• Kornecki M., Małopolskie kościoły drewniane w XVIII w., “Teka Komisji Urbanistyki i Architektury”, no.12:1978, no. 13:1979, no. 14:1980.
• Brykowski R., Kornecki M., Kościoły drewniane w Małopolsce Południowej. Ossolineum 1984.
• Grabski M.-Karta ewidencyjna z IX.1999
• Ks. Tabiś. S., „Strzelce Wielkie” -seria Małe Ojczyzny, Warszawa 2000