History

The oldest information indirectly referring to the church in Żuławka Sztumska (Pozylia, German: Posilge, a church village) dates back to 1250 and is associated with the local parish priest, Arnold (earlier, in the peace treaty from 1249, Prussians were obliged to built a church in Żuławka). The village was probably first chartered in about 1280. In a new foundation charter from 1354, the commander of Dzierzgoń, Helwig v. Goldbach, gave the church 6 voloks of land. The present church was built in the years 1325-1350. During the Swedish Wars, in 1629-1659, the church was robbed and destroyed. In 1647, the chancel was renovated. Soon afterwards, in 1666, the tower collapsed partly and destroyed the south-western fragment of the nave. The church underwent comprehensive restoration in 1695-1696 and was painted in 1700. In that year, on 31 October, the church was consecrated by the bishop of Chełmno, Teodor Potocki. In 1888, the tower was topped with a new cupola. The church boasts rich interior fittings.

Description

The church is free-standing, oriented, surrounded by a graveyard, and situated in the centre of the village, on the southern side of the main road leading from Jasna to Krzyżanowo.

The Gothic church was erected on the plan of two rectangles set axially: the wide rectangle of the nave (approx. 12 by 15 metres) and the elongated chancel with cut eastern corners (approx. 11 by 9 metres). Additionally, from the west, the nave adjoins a square tower (approx. 4.5 by 5 metres) in the southern part, and a porch (approx. 3.5 by 4 metres) on the axis, and from the south, a rectangular sacristy (approx. 6 by 3 metres).

The body of the church is quite varied: the nave is buttressed and covered with a gable roof. On its east side there is a chancel, lower than the tower, terminated semi-hexagonally and framed with stepped buttresses. It features a gable roof (three-sided from the east). From the south, by the chancel, there is a narrow sacristy covered with a shed roof that slopes down from the surface of the chancel roof. By the western façade of the nave, there is a massive tower, asymmetrically moved towards the southern edge, buttressed from the south, plastered to the half of its height and further faced with brick. It is covered with a sheet metal cupola with a lantern topped with a spire. On the axis of the façade, there is a separately added small porch with a distinctive neo-Gothic decoration. The church is made of brick and plastered, except for the upper part of the tower. The roofs are covered with pantiles, the wooden roof truss is of the rafter and collar type. Over the nave, there is a wooden barrel ceiling covered with painted decoration.

The façades are partitioned with pointed-arch blind windows and less numerous window openings. The façade is topped with a gable closed with a triangular pediment. In the ground floor, on the axis, there is a porch with a pointed-arch portal. Above the porch, there is a blind window with a basket-handle arch, and above the arch there is a conch with a figure.

The interior is aisleless. The chancel is separated by means of a rood wall with a tall and wide pointed-arch opening.

The interior features valuable preserved fittings from the 17th and 18th century, e.g. the main altar with the painting of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the epitaph plaque of priest Kazimierz Szczepański (died in 1718), the founder of the altarpiece and of other elements of the fittings.

The church is open to visitors. Viewing of the building is only possible by arrangement with the parish office in Żuławka Sztumska.

compiled by Teofila Lebiedź-Gruda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 29-09-2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna (tzw. biała karta): Kościół parafialny pw. św. Jana Chrzciciela, autor W. Chruszczyńska, 1974, w zbiorach OT NID w Gdańsku.
• Schmid B., Bau-und Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Marienburg (Die Städte Neuteich und Tiegenhof und die lädlichen Ortschaften), Danzig 1919, s. 315.
• Dehio-Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler West- und Ostpreuβen, bearb. von M. Antoni, München-Berlin 1993., s. 140