History

In 1598 the abbot of the Augustinians, Jakob II Liebig, initiated the construction of a chapel at the church “on the hill” (currently the church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary). The building, modelled upon a chapel in Goerlitz, which in turn was a copy of the Christ’s Tomb in Jerusalem, was completed after the abbot’s death, after 1600. In 1691, in its neighbourhood, a chapel of the Anointment and a chapel of the Holy Cross (transformed into morgue in the 19th century) were erected. In 1696 another four chapels were added along the road linking the church with a bridge over the Bóbr river, in Przedmieście Żarskie. The complex of chapels formed a Calvary that was eagerly visited by pilgrims. The chapel of the Christ’s Tomb was subject to conservation works in 1998 and 2016.

Description

The chapel is situated on a hill, at the church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the northern section of the graveyard wall. It is made of sandstone blocks, has one storey and was designed on a square floor plan with an apse terminating in a semi-circle at the west end. It consists of a vestibule with a groin vault and a tomb chamber with a barrel vault. A flat roof is crowned with a gloriette in an oriental style, featuring a dome resting on six pointed-arch arcades. On the front façade axis there is a pointed-arch portal, while on the west side there is a semi-circular wall accentuated with blind arcades.

Heritage site accessible to the general public.

Author of the note Anna Jackiewicz, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra. 30-11-2017

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 2, Zielona Góra 2012, p. 116.
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 442;
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, pp. 1099-1100.
• Record sheet, Kościół cmentarny (obecnie parafialny) pw. Nawiedzenia NMP, compiled by Domagalska K., 2002, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Zielona Góra.