It is an example of a translocated building, which after being moved in 1960 has served as a filial church of the parish in Jemielnica. The unique value of the building is evidenced by the structural and stylistic solutions typical of Baroque sacral buildings built of wood.

History of the structure

The church was built in the years 1666-68 in Polska Nowa Wieś, in the Opole District. The temple, serving as a parish church for nearly 300 years was demolished in 1957 and moved to the village of Szczepanek. The initiators of moving and rebuilding the baroque church were master carpenter Antoni Piontek and Bishop Franciszek Jop. The reconstruction was completed in 1962. At the same time, when the church was already the property of a new parish, it was expanded with an annex on the northeast side of the nave with a staircase leading to the basement under the chancel. In 1967, the main altarpiece was restored in the Regency style. The church was renovated on numerous occasions, including in years 1995-1996 and 1998-1999.

Description of the structure

The Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Hedwig is situated in the central part of the village, on a small plot of land that used to belong to Antoni Piontek. It is surrounded by a brick and wooden fence with an access road from Strzelecka Street. It is a wooden object, erected in a log construction on a stone foundation with a tower added to the nave in a pole construction. The church is oriented, and consists of three main parts: a tree-sided chancel with a rectangular sacristy from the north, a wider nave on a square-like plan with a porch adjoining from the south, and a square tower preceded by a small vestibule within which the main entrance is located. The body of the building is characterized by a clear division into the nave part and the chancel part - covered with separate gable roofs with different ridge heights and a dominant tower, covered with an eight-pole tent roof, topped with a lantern and a baroque cupola. Similarly, an additional decorative element is a hexagonal bulb-lantern turret topped with a flag bearing the date 1707, located on the ridge of the nave. All the roofs and elevations are covered with shingles, except for the tower elevation, which is boarded vertically. The interior of the church is covered with a flat ceiling on one level in the nave and chancel. In the western part of the nave there is a music gallery, supported by four pillars. The interior has no original furnishings; some were moved to the new parish church in Polska Nowa Wieś.

Visitor access: The building can be viewed from the outside, the interior is open to visitors during services.

Author: compiled by Katarzyna Latocha, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Opole, 30.05.2018

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. VII: Województwo opolskie, z. 11: Miasto Opole i powiat opolski, T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki (eds.), Warsaw 1968, pp. 101-102.
• Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction. Kościół filialny pw. św. Nawiedzenia NMP i św. Jadwigi, compiled by W. Żurakowski, 1999.
• Piątek A., Dokumentacja techniczna przeniesienia kościółka zabytkowego z Polskiej Nowej Wsi do gromady Szczepanka pow. Strzelce Op., Arch. Voivodeship Heritage Protection Office in Opole, inv. no. 125.
• Emmerling D., Wierzgoń A., Opolskie kościoły drewniane, Opole 2006, p. 72.