The church dominates the western part of the village. A stylish example of a classicist temple, very rare in the Kraków region.

History

Szczepanów lies in the west part of the Sandomierz Basin, 8 km north-east of the town of Brzesko in an agricultural area. The landscape is flat, partitioned by strips of fields, islands of human settlement, and patches of woods. The west part of the village is dominated by the Church of St Stanislaus of Szczepanów. According to tradition, it is located near the saint’s birthplace. The martyr was presumably born in Szczepanów on 26 July 1030, as the son of Wojsław and Benigna from the Turzynit-Prus family. He was appointed bishop of Kraków in 1071. On 21 April 1079, he was murdered in Skałka (near Kraków). Tradition has it that a wooden church was erected in St Stanislaus’s birthplace. It was replaced in 1781 by a new, classicist church funded by Stanislaus Lubomirski.

Description

A small, brick, single-nave church is decorated from the outside with frame divisions (horizontal stripes and vertical lesenes moulded in plaster). The façade, which definitely determines the style of the building, is divided by pilasters supporting entablature topped with an attic with ornamental stone vases. The building axis features a marble portal with the founder’s coat of arms, Szreniawa. It is worth paying attention to the correct proportions, harmony of divisions, and the classic orderliness of this façade. Despite its small size, the church is an important monument highlighting the artistic heritage of the region and its quick adoption of the fashionable style patterns of the time. The interior boasts uniform 18th-century Baroque equipment. The main altar features a 16th-century painting of St Stanislaus. The saint is pictured together with the founders and their coat of arms, Dębno. The church stands in the middle of the former cemetery and among old trees, an integral part of the historical surroundings of the temple. On the opposite side of the road, there is a 1851 chapel erected to replace an older one. It commemorates the legendary birthplace of St Stanislaus. The neo-Gothic chapel with a nearby well and the figure of St Stanislaus form picturesque landscape items, characteristic of the conceptual identity of the place. The chapel houses an oak under which Stanislaus was born, according to the legend.

Accessible to visitors: Upon prior arrangement with the parish.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 23 X 2014

Bibliography

• Chrzanowski Tadeusz, Kornecki Marian, Sztuka Ziemi Krakowskiej, Kraków, 1982
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce : Vol. 1: Województwo Krakowskie, ed. Jerzy Szablowski, Warszawa, 1953
• Łoziński Jerzy Zygmunt, Adam Miłobędzki, Atlas zabytków architektury w Polsce, Warszawa, 1967