History

Wola Radziszowska was founded by the Benedictines of Tyniec after 1286, when Duke Leszek the Black permitted them to establish new settlements.

Some time after (probably around 1300), a parish was established here, first mentioned in the records of 1325. In the sources from the 14th to 16th century, Wola is recorded also by other names than Radziszowska. These are Wola Nowa, Radziszów Nowy, Wola Brunawska or Wola Brunaczowska.

During the country’s disintegration between the 12th and 14th century, the village was located on the border between the Kraków and Silesia districts. Later (from 1445), it found itself close to the border of the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Zator (established after the division of the Duchy of Oświęcim).

In 1494 King John Olbracht purchased the Duchy of Zator together with Wola Radziszowska from Janusz, Duke Wacław’s son. Despite frequent shifts of the border, the locality remained the property of the Benedictines and for hundreds of years earned revenue for their monastery in Tyniec (as one of 95 localities). The situation changed in 1782 when the property of the Tyniec abbot was seized by Austria (for the so-called Religious Fund). The Austrian transferred it to the Dzieduszycki family.

The church was built at the end of the 15th century in the place of the former temple related to the establishment of the hamlet. The tower was probably added at the turn of the 16th century. The oldest references to the temple are found in the records of nine bishop’s inspections of the parish in the years 1598-1748.

Description

The village of Wola Radziszowska, the church at its heart, is located in the valley of the Cedron creek, more or less in the middle of the railway line between Skawina and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. The temple is an oriented, wooden log structure with the chancel closed on three sides and a wider body. It is covered by a roof sharing one ridge and the ceiling with enclosed logs in the body. The profiled portals, the pointed-arched rood and its crucifix come from the time of construction. The Gothic tradition is seen in the pole-and-beam tower built to the west in the 16th century, with an upper extension, a pointed cupola flanked by spirelets. The equipment is mostly Baroque from the 17th and 18th centuries. The painting of the Virgin Mary with Child from 1460 (the date discovered during conservation in 1987), the recently discovered painting of The Virgin and Child with St Anne and figurative paintings from 1893 on the walls and ceilings.

The church is open to visitors.

Sightseeing season: 01.05-30.09.

Services on Sundays and feasts 8:00 and 11:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. (possibly this applies to the new church)

Author of the note Grzegorz Młynarczyk, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 05/2015

Bibliography

• Ks. Kracik J. Wola Radziszowska –parafia z czasów piastowskich, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2000
• Archiwum Kurii Metropolitalnej w Krakowie – Akta wizytacji z lat 1598, 1610, 1617, 1644, 1663, 1704, 1727, 174; Acta officialia, XV-XVIII wiek; teczka parafii Wola Radziszowska.
• Kornecki M., Kościoły drewniane w Małopolsce: zagadnienia uwarunkowań oraz systematyki typów i form architektury, Regionalny Ośrodek Dokumentacji zabytków; Kraków 1999
• Mirowski R., Kościoły drewniane najbardziej polskie, Warszawa: Krajowy Ośrodek Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków, 2005, pp. 198-199
• Pytel Z., Drewniane świątynie Archidiecezji Krakowskiej, Kraków 1999, pp. 150-151
• Kutrzebianka K., Powiat myślenicki; Biuro Inwentaryzacji Zabytków. Warszawa: ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, 1951, (Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, ed. J. Szablowskiego; vol. 1) Województwo krakowskie; no. 9, p. 29.