On 8 April 1914 the funeral mass of the well-known painter Józef Chełmoński took place in the church. He was buried in the nearby historic cemetery.

History

The parish, named Ojrzanowska, was founded in 1473 by efforts of Mikołaj and Jan Ojrzanowski, by the Bishop of Poznań, Andrzej Opaliński of Bnin. The brick church was erected before 1561. In 1646 it was thoroughly restored and equipped with a Baroque pulpit and pews funded by Stanisław Zaremba, Bishop of Kiev and Abbot of Sulejów. This fact is attested by a marble plaque with an inscription and a coat of arms of the benefactor placed inside the church. The wall surrounding the church cemetery was built at that time as well. The church underwent numerous renovations, among others, in 1777, 1871 and 1880-1890. In 1915 the upper part of the tented roof was altered. The feature was damaged during both world wars. In 1946, the roof and steeple were renovated.

Description

The church is located in the centre of the village, on a small elevation, on a parcel surrounded by a low stone wall, within the triangle formed by Chełmoński Street and a bifurcation of Kościelna Street. The church building is built of brick, plastered, single-nave and oriented. A two-bay chancel with a sacristy in the north, terminating in a triangle, adjoins to the three-bay nave from the east. It is slightly lower and narrower than the nave. The gable roofs are covered with sheet metal; the chancel and the sacristy share a common cover. The roof over the terminating vista is a three-sloped one. From the west, a massive, quadrangular, two-storey tower is added; it is crowned with a decorative cupola with a steeple. On the ground floor, there is a porch, to which a rectangular entrance leads from the west. Axes of straight façades of the tower are accentuated by oculi, round panels and rectangular windows and its upper storey is adorned by a decorative cornice and lesenes that brace the corners. Facades of the nave and the chancel are supported by pronounced buttresses with steps covered with roof tiles. The façade of a chancel’s terminating vista, with three buttresses, the central of which is equal in width to the eastern wall, is an interesting solution. After 1980 a rectangular slab with sculpted, decorative motifs, probably dating back to the Renaissance and coming from the interior of the temple, was placed along its axis. The south façade, in a niche located between two buttresses, terminating with a segmental arch enclosed by a small roof on the upper side, includes a rectangular entrance to the nave. Beyond, there are Renaissance reliefs made of stone, presenting the Holy Mother and two adoring angels. The windows of the nave and chancel are topped with semicircular arches. A pointed-arch rood and barrel vaults with lunettes and a network of decorative ribs with a simplified stellar layout in the interior remind us about the Gothic origin of the church. Plenty of the temple’s fittings date back to the 17th and 18th century. Particular attention should be paid to a Renaissance tombstone from around 1570-1580 with a sculpted, reclining figure of a knight in armour, most probably of Kacper Miński, and the abovementioned commemorative plaque of 1646.

The church is available for visitors outside the hours of religious services.

Compiled by Małgorzata Laskowska-Adamowicz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Warsaw, 18-09-2014.

Bibliograph

• M. Cabanowski Opowieści o kościołach dawnego dekanatu grodziskiego, Grodzisk Mazowiecki 1996, s. 109-114
• H. Faryna-Paszkiewicz M. Omilanowska M., Pasieczny R., Atlas zabytków architektury w Polsce, Warszawa 2001.
•  I. Galicka, H. Sygietyńska, Zabytki Grodziska Mazowieckiego i okolic w: Dzieje Grodziska Mazowieckiego pod red. J. Kazimierskiego, s. 289-296
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, T. X., Woj. warszawskie, z. 4, Pow. grodzisko-mazowiecki, opr. I. Galicka, H. Sygietyńska, 1967
• Żabicki J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Mazowsza i Podlasia, Warszawa 2010
• Karta Ewidencyjna Zabytku Architektury, Kościół parafialny pw. Zwiastowania NPM (Żelechów), opr. D. Koszewska, 1980 r., Archiwum NID
• http://www.zabiawola.pl/291,kosciol-w-zelechowie.html - dostęp 18-09-2014 r.
• http://parafia-ojrzanow.pl - dostęp 18-09-2014 r.