History

The chapel was erected on the so-called Dziewicza or Panieńska Górka (Hill of the Virgins/Maidens). According to local accounts, it is the resting place of two young women who froze to death after escaping some lewd soldiers. Their bodies were not found until the spring, when the snow melted.

It was also where cholera victims were probably buried.

The first monastery and church of Oratorian Fathers on the Maidens’ Hill were built in 1673. This location is said to have been designated by the Mother of God, who appeared to the bricklayer Lenartowicz, pointing to the site where the girls had been buried.

The miraculous painting was stored at the church and was made available to members of the congregation. It was famous for its miraculous powers and attracted numerous pilgrims.

The wooden building burnt down in 1730. A new, brick monastery complex with a capacity to seat more people was erected to the south of the Maidens’ Hill.

On the site of the former complex, the Oratorian Fathers built a chapel dedicated to St. Anne. Funds for this purpose were donated by Anna Zofia Starołęska-Zbąska.

The source literature mentions several construction dates: 1730, 1765 and 1782-3. The latter is thought to be the most plausible. The invocation of St. Anne is associated with the special cult of that saint in nearby Smardzewice, from which the benefactor’s family came, and with the name of the benefactor herself.

Description

The chapel stands on a small hill to the north of Główna Street (the main road in the village), near Szkolna Street. It is oriented. The area around the chapel is surrounded by a contemporary openwork fence set on a brick foundation. In the western part of the area, there is a wayside shrine, a typical example of street furniture in this region.

The chapel is situated on a floor plan of a rectangle with a semicircular eastern corner. The interior is single-nave. It is covered with a gable roof clad with ceramic tiles.

The western elevation serves as the façade. Its walls are smoothly plastered. The rectangular door opening is flanked by a pair of pilasters. The corners are accented by pilasters too. Above the entrance, there is a round window. The whole is crowned with a cornice which supports a triangular gable with a small opening. On top of the gable, there is a ridge turret. Each of the side elevations has one window opening topped with a segmental arch. The apse has no openings.

The chapel can be viewed from outside.

Compiled by Anna Michalska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź. 15 April 2019

Bibliography

• Wiśniewski J., Dekanat opoczyński, Radom 1913
• Nater W, Stanik S., Dzieje Sanktuarium Matki Bożej Świętorodzinnej w Studziannie, Studzianna 1992
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. II woj. łódzkie, Warszawa 1954