It is a testimony to the combination of classical forms for wooden sacred architecture (nave and chancel) with components derived from Baroque architecture of masonry churches (vestibule).

History

The first church in Ulanów located at the market square of the newly founded town dates back to 1636. The church and the entire village of Ulanów belonged to the old parish in the nearby village of Bieliny. The Church of the Holy Trinity was built in 1690. It was the second filial church in Ulanów, and its original purpose is unknown. Due to the location outside the town, it probably served as a hospital. The first mention of such function of the church dates only from 1748. Prior to 1742, the church was enlarged by the existing large vestibule. The cemetery, which now surrounds the church, was founded around 1785. It underwent renovation in the late 18th century, in 1856 and 1866 (painted decorations). In 1900, the roofing was replaced with galvanised sheet metal. Further works were carried out in 1980-1981 (including painted decorations). On 29 March 2002, the church was most likely set on fire and severely damaged by fire. Work on the partial reconstruction, renovation and conservation of the church and its fittings was conducted from 2002 to 2005. Because of river transport developed in Ulanów, the church is called “Raftsmen's Church”.

Description

The church is located east of the chartered town, in the area of a cemetery, in its western part, north of the main avenue of the necropolis. The church is oriented towards the east. It is a result of late traditions of medieval origins and the specific adaptation of the two-tower façade of a masonry Baroque church. Originally, the church consisted of a nearly square nave, a narrower chancel with a tree-sided end section, and a sacristy adjoining the church to the north. In the first half of the 18th century, the church was extended by the addition of a vestibule of the same width as the nave, but slightly longer. The body is clearly bipartite and consists of a clearly separated nave body with a chancel and a vestibule. The nave and the chancel are covered with a roof with a common ridge with the steeple in the middle of its length. The roof over the sacristy is an extended plane of the chancel roof. The vestibule is topped with two low interlocking tented roofs surmounted by steeples of considerable size. The building is a log structure set on a stone foundation, with walls made of wood. The walls are covered with board and batten siding and an apron. The central part of the nave and the chancel are topped with a common false barrel vault; other ceilings are beamed. The roofs and aprons are clad with wood shingles. The front façade is decorated with a niche in a profiled frame enclosing a painting of the Holy Trinity. Apart from small windows in the sacristy, window openings are found in the south façade — two in the nave and one in the chancel. The low vestibule room with a ceiling reinforced by a transverse beam rests on two wooden columns. The interior of the nave features the edges of a false barrel vault supported by a pair of slender columns. In the western part of the nave, there is an overhanging choir also on two wooden columns. The chancel is demarcated by a low-mounted rood beam, which features a crucifix with a sculpture of the crucified Christ—witness to the recent tragedy—destroyed by fire. The entire interior is filled with wall paintings (18th and 19th centuries) with features characteristic of trompe l’œil paintings with some deficiencies resulting from a lack of skills, but full of grandioseness and variety of representations. The paintings refer to the local raftsmen’s traditions, among others. The interior fittings include a set of three altars (18th c.), pulpit and pipe organ casing (18th c.) maintained in Baroque style.

The building is open to visitors all year round and can be viewed upon prior telephone appointment.

compiled by Bartosz Podubny, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Rzeszów, 18-09-2014.

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture, the so-called white sheet, Ulanów, Kościół filialny pw Św. Trójcy. / zw. „Flisacki”/, prepared by Cz. Kiełboń, 1992 (Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Tarnobrzeg)
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, województwo rzeszowskie, powiat niżański, Kutrzebianka K. (ed.), typescript (Archives of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Tarnobrzeg)
• Kronika kościoła parafialnego w Ulanowie, passage regarding the church of the Holy Trinity, as cited in: Garbacz D., Witkowska L., Powiat niski i niżański, Stalowa Wola 2004
• Gaj-Piotrowski W., Flisacki Ulanów. Studia z dziejów Ulanowa, Stalowa Wola 1997
• Kumik T., Ulanów, Ulanów 1992
• Podubny B., Drewniane świątynie odzyskują blask - prace konserwatorskie przy wybranych zabytkach świątyń północno-wschodniego dorzecza Sanu (północnej części województwa podkarpackiego) na przykładzie Ulanowa, Dąbrówki, Krzeszowa i Huty Krzeszowskiej, “Ochrona Zabytków” 2014 (in print)
• Rocznik Diecezji Sandomierskiej 2010, Kida K. (ed.), Sandomierz 2012
• Sieroń R., Rekonsekracja kościoła w Ulanowie,
• http://www.sandomierz.opoka.org.pl/akt/index.php?id=1142