History

According to Franciszek Lochman, who visited the parish in 1699, the original church was built in 1085 by Władysław Herman. This opinion was multiplied in subsequent publications, although it was verified as unreliable. The first mention of the parish comes from 1326. It was called Beszowa Biskupia, as reported by Jan Długosz. The name of Zborów got established in the mid-15th century. The current church was built in 1459 by the vicar named Piotr, which is confirmed by the inscription engraved in the rood beam. In the opinion of R. Brykowski, the church is historically homogeneous, yet T. Dobrowolski claims that the three-sided closure of the presbytery is younger than the beam walls. The church was re-consecrated after reconstruction in 1654. About 1870 it was renovated. In that time it had two porches: on the north and west. In the years 1906-1908, a brick, neo-Romanesque nave was added designed by S. Szpakowski. Between 2007 and 2009 a thorough restoration of the roof was performed, and in 2011 major conservation works were carried out on the paintings and windows.

Description

The church sits on a hill overlooking the area. It consists of two parts: an neo-Romanesque stone nave and an old wooden temple that served as the presbytery with sacristy.  Originally, it was an oriented single-nave Gothic church with a rectangular nave and presbytery, closed with a three-sided wall. A small, rectangular sacristy adjoins the presbytery from the north, slightly overlapping with the nave. The church was built as a log structure, on a stone wall base. The nave and presbytery are covered with a uniform, gable roof (also three-panel roof over the eastern part above the presbytery; it was a king post truss roof covered with shingle. The extensions to the sides of the nave are covered with separate shed roofs. The roof ridge above the nave supports a bell turret on a hexagonal base, covered with a cupola, topped by a lantern beneath a ball and cross. The façades of the church covered by vertical weatherboard. The foundations are protected by a drip edge, and the wall is topped with a cornice board. In the middle of the nave, there is a planked ceiling with coving; elongated beams on the sides. The presbytery is closed with a barrel vaulting. On the pointed arch, a profiled rood beam supported by corbels, decorated with a motif of twisted rope with a decorative foundation inscription dated 1459. On the beam there is a late Gothic wooden crucifix from the 2nd half of the 15th century, flanked by the statues of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist from the beginning of the 16th century. The wooden Baroque altar features a late Gothic sculpture of St Nicholas and two wings of a late Gothic triptych of 1481 produced by Jan Wiellki with the figures of St Stanisław and St Adalbert on the face and Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary on the back, probably moved here in 1629 from one of the chapels of the Wawel castle. The northern part of the nave reveals a late Gothic triptych by Marcin Czarny of the 1st half of the 16th century with a painting of St Nicholas and a kneeling figure: probably the founder of the church, Grzegorz of Strzyzów. The face wings feature St Gregory and St Stanisław; the back shows the scenes of the Annunciation. The church also has paintings of Józef Wittman of 1914. In addition, an 18th-century pulpit has been preserved with a magnificent woodcarving decoration. Worth mentioning is also a crucifix of the early 16th century in the side altar (in the stone part of the structure).

The building is generally accessible; access to the interior upon the consent of the parish priest.

Compiled by Nina Glińska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 02.09.2014.

Bibliography

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