History

The first church was built owing to the initiative of the Templars, probably in the second half of the 13th century. This single-nave building, erected from granite blocks, was destroyed in the 14th century. On its foundations and on a fragment of its plinth, a new brick church was built. It was longer than the original church by two bays. In the 15th century, the interior was covered with a stellar vault. Around the early 16th century, a tower was added. From the 16th century until 1945, the church was used by Protestants. It was renovated a couple of times. The last renovation took place before World War II, in the years 1899-1900. At that time, a staircase was added by the tower, as well as a porch on the north. In 1945, the church was severely damaged. As a result of a fire, the vaults of the nave and the chancel collapsed, the roof truss was destroyed, and the uppermost storey of the tower and the crest of the peripheral walls fell into ruin. The fittings and décor of the church have not survived.

Description

The church of St Nicholas is located in the town centre, between two main streets (T. Kościuszki and J. Kilińskiego), in a small depression. It stands on an unfenced plot of land overgrown with decorative trees and shrubs. It is oriented. The church was built in the Gothic style. It is made of brick, with granite blocks in the lower sections. It is a single-nave aisleless building erected on a rectangular floor plan, with a non-separated chancel, massive tower with a square base and an octagonal upper section, and porches from the north and the south. The main body is covered with a high three-sloped roof, the massive tower - with a tented roof, and the annexes are covered with multi-pitched roofs. The brick façades are pierced with high windows and narrow blind windows with pointed-arches, and reinforced with buttresses. The interior is covered with a wooden ceiling installed at a later time. The historical fittings and décor have not survived.

The site is open to the public. It can be visited by prior telephone arrangement.

compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 26-03-2015.

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, Tom III, Zielona Góra 2013, s. 153-154.
• Wędzki A., Sulęcin, [w:] Studia nad początkami i rozplanowaniem miast nad Środkową Odrą i Dolną Wartą, Tom I, red. Z. Kaczmarczyk, A. Wędzki, Zielona Góra 1967, s.326-327.