Church of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary in Boronów

On the grille of a side chapel hangs a crucifix that, people in Boronów say, is slowly closing its eyes – and will shut them completely on the day the world ends. The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary in Boronów is a wooden church built in 1611 on the plan of a Greek cross – according to the Silesian regional tourism portal, the oldest wooden church in Silesia with this layout. It stands a dozen or so kilometres east of Lubliniec and is part of the Silesian Voivodeship's Wooden Architecture Trail.

History: the Dzierżanowski foundation

Tradition has it that a first place of worship – probably a forest chapel – existed in Boronów as early as the Middle Ages. The present church was funded in 1611 by the owner of the village, Count Andrzej Dzierżanowski of the Gozdawa coat of arms; the tower was added in 1616. The first bell was donated in 1638 by the founder's son, Aleksander Ernest, and a second was hung in 1824. The church was renovated several times in the 19th and 20th centuries. Until the 1970s its walls were covered with rich paintings, which were painted over during restoration. The coat of arms of the Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen family, owners of Boronów in the 19th and early 20th centuries, hangs in the organ loft.

Architecture

The church is oriented (its altar faces east) and is built of horizontal pine logs. The Greek-cross plan holds a nave, a three-sided chancel and two side chapels: St Anne's and the Immaculate Conception. In front stands a bell tower about 20 metres high, square at the base and octagonal higher up, with a pyramid roof. The roofs are covered with wooden shingles, and a small bell turret rises above the nave.

What to see inside

• The main altar from the early 17th century – below, a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary; above, a smaller painting of St Andrew, the church's former patron; at the sides, statues of St Adalbert and St Stanislaus.
• Four side altars: St Anne (17th century), the Immaculate Conception (1659), the Four St Johns (18th century) and St Nicholas (1751).
• 17th-century choir stalls on both sides of the chancel.
• 15 processional panels (feretrons) from the mid-18th century, carried in processions of the Rosary Confraternity – on the back are reliefs of Dominican saints, who probably spread the Rosary devotion here.
• The organ from 1853 and two stained-glass windows from 1890 showing St Andrew and St Hedwig of Silesia.

Legends and customs

St Anne's chapel is separated from the nave by an iron grille with the crucifix. Besides the tale of its closing eyes, there is a legend of a girl drowned in a nearby pond who came back to life thanks to prayers beneath this cross. Grateful parishioners moved the crucifix to the choir loft, but according to the story it returned to its old place overnight. On Holy Saturday the Easter Sepulchre is set up in the chapel, guarded by local firefighters.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church with no fixed visiting hours – the best time to see the interior is before or after Mass, or after contacting the parish in advance (ul. Wolności 1, tel. +48 34 353 93 37). Allow 30–45 minutes for the church and the churchyard with its 17th-century gate. Old trees surround the church, and the best view of the whole building with its tower is from the street. It combines easily with other stops on the Wooden Architecture Trail around Lubliniec.