Holy Cross Church, Pietrowice Wielkie

On the edge of Pietrowice Wielkie, on the road to Gródczanki, a small wooden church of the Holy Cross sits at the bottom of a ravine. It has drawn pilgrims for more than three centuries, and right beside it a spring rises in a Gothic Revival chapel – locals link it to their own recipe for a long life. It is one of the most atmospheric spots in Racibórz county in Upper Silesia and a fine example of Silesian wooden architecture.

History: a picture found by a well

Legend has it that shepherds found a picture of the Crucified Saviour by a well here. In 1667 the parish priest Martin Mosler built a chapel-sized wooden church on the spot, and once word spread about the water's miraculous powers, pilgrims began to arrive. In the mid-18th century the church was enlarged to its present size. In 1743 it was granted a plenary indulgence on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and in 1899 a Gothic Revival chapel enclosing the spring was built right next to it.

The church is a chapel of ease of the parish of Saints Vitus, Modestus and Crescentia in Pietrowice Wielkie (Diocese of Opole).

What to look for

• The building's shape – a flattened octagon of log construction, roofed with wooden shingles and surrounded by covered arcades on posts, known in Polish as soboty.
• The 1822 bell turret with a bulbous cap, lantern and papal cross.
• The outdoor pulpit with a canopy and a porch with sliding doors.
• The high altar with the revered early 18th-century painting of the Crucifixion set against a cloudy Jerusalem, plus two side altars of St Anne and Our Lady of the Rosary.
• The rood beam with inscriptions in Moravian, Latin and German recording the 1743 indulgence – a trace of this borderland's multilingual past.
• A monstrance of 1690, donated by a farmer named Kaffka who helped build the church.

Curiosities

Locals believe that water from the spring, drunk with fervent prayer, works like medicine. The municipality even quotes a local recipe for longevity – honey, water from the Holy Cross spring, piety and honest work – and notes that many residents live to 90 or even 100. The little church is also a popular wedding venue, and a small botanical garden with a pond and a footbridge has been laid out around it.

Tripto tip

This is a chapel of ease, opened mainly for services – check the current Mass times on the Pietrowice Wielkie parish website. The building, pulpit, arcades and spring chapel can be seen from outside at any time; allow 30 minutes for a stroll round the church and garden. Treat the spring water as part of local tradition rather than a proven remedy. It is loveliest in autumn, when the old trees around the ravine change colour.