Wooden Church in Szałsza

The church in Szałsza stands right by national road 78 between Tarnowskie Góry and Gliwice, and yet it is easy to miss – trees hide both the wooden church and the neighbouring manor. It is worth turning off: the shingled Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary holds a Gothic painting of the Virgin and Child surrounded by the twelve apostles, dated to the 15th century, and in the park next door stands a red-brick, Tudor-style manor house.

History: from Protestant church to chapel of ease

Szałsza appears in records in 1425. A first church or chapel was probably built around 1460, as suggested by the age of the high altar. Dates for the present building vary: the parish gives the mid-17th century, while other sources give 1554 for the main body and after 1571 for the tower. What is certain is that in the first half of the 17th century, until 1655, it was a Protestant church.

In 1715 the church was renovated and given a new roof. In 1784 a storm wrecked it, and a carpenter named Kycia rebuilt it. A sacristy was added in the late 19th century; in 1968 a fire destroyed much of the church, but parishioners restored its earlier form. The latest conservation work took place in 2008–2010. Since 1930 it has been a chapel of ease of St John the Baptist's parish in Gliwice-Żerniki.

What to see

• The log-built nave and chancel on a masonry base, covered with wooden shingles, and the timber-framed tower – the difference in construction is easy to see from outside.
• The hexagonal bell turret with a small dome from 1719 on the nave roof.
• The "marownia" by the tower – a room for storing funeral biers, added in the early 20th century.
• The Gothic painting of the Virgin with the apostles, plus late Baroque altars and a 19th-century pulpit.

Interesting facts

Very early on Easter Monday, the village men and the priest set out in a procession "za Panem Bogiem" ("following the Lord") into the surrounding fields to pray for a good harvest – a tradition now rarely found elsewhere. The manor next door was built in 1781 by Anna von Winter; from 1832 it belonged to the von Gröling family, who rebuilt it in Tudor style in 1877, and their family grave lies in the churchyard.

Tripto tip

The church is on ul. Kościelna in Szałsza (Zbrosławice municipality, Tarnowskie Góry County). According to the parish website, Sunday Mass here is at 10:15 – the most reliable chance to see the interior; the parish feast is on 8 September. Allow 30–45 minutes for the church, the churchyard and a stroll to the manor. In the manor park grow three protected pedunculate oaks with girths of 412–440 cm; the manor itself is a separate property with its own access rules.