History

We do not know the exact construction date of the belfry. It was probably built in the first quarter of the 18th century, since its predecessor threatened to collapse in the late 17th century. It was mentioned in the sources for the first time in a document from a visitation to the Holy Trinity parish, drawn up in 1748 on the initiative of the Bishop of Krakow Andrzej Załuski. The description includes only a short statement that it was made of wood and had two bells. In the second half of the 18th and in the 19th century it was renovated several times, therefore in 1930 it was in a good state of preservation, as Fr Aleksander Bastrzykowski recalls in his book Zabytki kościelnego budownictwa drewnianego w diecezji sandomierskiej [Monuments of wooden church architecture in the Sandomierz Diocese] from 1930. These studies also contain information about a belfry from 1652 in the church. Its condition was significantly worsened by the damage the belfry suffered as a result of military operations in 1944-1945. Thanks to the local parishioners, it was quickly renovated and covered with weatherboards, as mentioned in the 1954 Catalogue of Art Monuments in Poland. Unfortunately, in the following decades, only temporary repairs were carried out, which almost led to its collapse in 2003. In 2005, the belfry was subjected to thorough renovation and restoration works.

Description

The belfry is part of the Holy Trinity church complex situated on a hill in the north-western part of Zawichost, on the area of the former village Trójca. It is located on the edge of the hill, on the northern side of the church, by the stone wall of the former parish cemetery, next to the main gate. It is a two-storey building designed on a square floor plan, with a narrower upper storey, covered with a tented roof, topped with an iron cross. The storeys are separated by a wide skirt roof tapering towards the top. The belfry was made of wood, based on a post-and-frame structure, on a stone foundation; the walls are boarded on the outside and the roof is shingled. In the lower part there are semicircular closed doors and windows under the eaves, closed with a segmental arch. In the upper part of each wall there are two bell openings.

The monument is open to visitors. The interiors may be explored upon prior arrangement with the parish priest.

Łukasz Piotr Młynarski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kielce, 29.05.2015. 

Bibliography

• Adamczyk A., Modras J., Polanowski L., Prace przy zabytkach architektury sakralnej i zabudowie miejskiej, [in:] Prace konserwatorskie w woj. świętokrzyskim w latach 2001-2012, ed. J. Cedro, Kielce 2014, pp. 23-86.
• Bastrzykowski A., Zabytki kościelne budownictwa drewnianego w diecezji sandomierskiej, Krakow, 1930.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. 3: Województwo kieleckie, J. Z. Łoziński, B. Wolff (eds.), vol. 7: Powiat opatowski, prepared by K. Kutrzebianka et al., Warsaw 1959.
• Kozera M., Kościoły dekanatu zawichojskiego i ich wyposażenie w świetle wizytacji biskupa Załuskiego z 1748, “Studia Sandomierskie. Teologia, filozofia, historia” 2012, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 181-211.
• Mirowski R., Drewniane kościoły i dzwonnice Ziemi Świętokrzyskiej, Kielce 2002.
• Wiśniewski J., Dekanat opatowski, Radom 1907.