The church features surviving original interior fixtures and fittings, including a Baroque altarpiece dating back to the mid-18th century, with a late-Gothic sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child which is considered miraculous.

History

The village of Tulce used to be private property. It belonged to the Łodzia family, from 1363 to the Łodzia and Doliwa families, in the 15th century to the Bniński family, and in the following century to the Górka family. In later years, the village was owned by the Czarnkowski, Grudziński, Gałecki, Walknowski, Koźmiński, Poniński and Potocki families, among others, and from 1908 on by Ignacy Sarrazin.

The parish in Tulce is believed to have existed as early as in the 12th century. The earliest known mention thereof dates back to 1363. The parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was likely erected in the first half of the 13th century (some scholars shift this date to the end of the 13th century or the turn of the 14th century). At the turn of the 16th century, the church was modified owing to the efforts of Łukasz Górka. In 1529, the church was incorporated into the Kórnik collegiate church, and from 1628 on, it served the function of a parish church again. In 1784, the church underwent modifications (the nave was extended towards the west, a tower was constructed, ceilings were added, and the shape of door and window openings was changed). In the early 20th century, a sacristy and a porch were added to the chancel and the nave, respectively. In 1928, a wall was placed around the graveyard. In 1948, the roof was renovated. Further renovation works were performed in the 1950s (the tower was renovated, the roof cover was replaced and the interior was painted).

Description

The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is situated in the eastern part of the village. The church is surrounded by a former graveyard enclosed with a plastered wall. Near the church, there is a wooden bell tower from 1860. The graveyard features a late-Renaissance column shrine approx. from the 16th century, which is adorned with reliefs depicting the scenes of the Passion (created by Henryk Horst).

The neo-Romanesque church consists of a nave built on the floor plan of an elongated rectangle and a slightly narrower and lower angular chancel in the east. In 1784, the nave was extended towards the west. A square sacristy abuts the chancel in the north, and a porch - also square - abuts the nave in the south. The nave and the chancel are covered with tall gable roofs, the sacristy features a hip roof, and above the porch, there is a three-pitched roof. The entire building is dominated by the wooden tower erected above the roof ridge of the Baroque section of the nave, which is crowned with an openwork dome.

The church is made of bricks laid partially in the monk bond and partially in a Gothic bond. The walls of the Baroque section of the nave and the walls of the sacristy and the porch are covered with plaster. The roofs are covered with ceramic tiles. Inside the nave, there are wooden ceilings: one from 1784 inside the nave, and a more recent one inside the chancel.

The façades of the original church are faced with red brick. The corners of the chancel and the western corners of the old nave are framed by stepped buttresses, which were liked added in the 16th century. The triangular eastern gables of the nave and the chancel - slightly extended upwards - have survived to this day. The side façades are crowned with a plastered cornice. The windows in the side walls are topped with semi-circular arches (inside the chancel) or segmental arches (inside the nave) and they feature plastered surrounds. The gable wall contains a surviving original window (currently a bay window), with traces of a round window above. A bricked-up portal topped with a semi-circular arch and traces of the original window can be seen in the wall of the southern nave. The late-Baroque western façade is accentuated by pilasters and segmental-arched or rectangular niches. It is crowned with a gable which features a triangular pediment and is framed with volutes. On the axis, there is the main entrance to the church, topped with a semi-circular arch.

Inside the nave and the chancel, there is a wooden ceiling. A semi-circular rood arch supported by pilasters separates the chancel and the nave. A similar arch separates the original nave from the added section. The northern wall of the chancel features the embedded tombstone of Leonard Modrzewski, which is made of stone.

The church fittings include the main altar and two side altars, a pulpit, and a baptismal font from the second half of the 18th century. The main altar features a late-Gothic sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child from circa 1500, and one of the side altars contains a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the 18th century. The tombstone of Leonard Modrzewski (who died in 1594) is also noteworthy; it is made of grey marble and is adorned with a relief depicting a standing knight, an inscription and the Grzymała, Korzbok, Jastrzębiec and Nałęcz coats of arms.

The church is open to visitors. More information on the parish and the Holy Mass schedule can be found online at www.tulce.archpoznan.pl

compiled by Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 29-09-2014.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. V, z. 24: powiat średzki, Warszawa 1964, s. 27-29.
• Kohte J., Verzeichnis der Kunstdenkmaeler der Provinz Posen, Bd. III, Berlin 1896, s. 288-89.
• Nadolski E., Kościół Narodzenia Najświętszej Marii Panny w Tulcach, „Kronika Wielkopolski” 1998, nr 2 (85), s. 109-114
• Tomala J., Murowana architektura romańska i gotycka w Wielkopolsce, t. 1, Architektura sakralna, Kalisz 2007, s. 429-30.