St Joseph's Collegiate Church, Klimontów

Grand Chancellor of the Crown Jerzy Ossoliński saw how churches were being built in Rome and wanted one of his own in the small town of Klimontów near Sandomierz. The result is St Joseph's Collegiate Church, with a rare elliptical nave surrounded by two tiers of galleries — a building that took almost a century and a half to finish.

History: a chancellor's ambition

The parish began in 1626, when the young Ossoliński built a small wooden church by the market square. Seventeen years later, by then chancellor, he started work on a monumental church. The foundation is dated to 1637, and construction began in 1643 to a design by Wawrzyniec Senes (Lorenzo Senes) — an architect from Switzerland who also built the nearby Krzyżtopór Castle. The design drew on Roman models, including ideas by Vignola. As early as 1648, Bishop Piotr Gembicki raised the church to the rank of a collegiate church.

Then came trouble. The chancellor's death halted the work, and invasions by the Swedes and the army of George II Rákóczi of Transylvania left the walls in ruins. Building resumed only almost a hundred years later, thanks to the parish priest Walenty Boxa Radoszewski. In 1741 Bishop Michał Kunicki blessed the still unfinished church, and later priests carried on building. Dates carved into the structure tell the story: the dome drum was finished in 1732, the façade not until 1779.

What to see

The heart of the church is a nave on the plan of an ellipse set within a polygon. Two tiers of galleries surround it — a lower one with an ambulatory and an upper one with balconies — giving the interior an almost theatrical feel. The west front has two three-storey towers, and its balustrade is crowned by five late Baroque statues: the four Evangelists and St Joseph with the Christ Child.

Inside, look out for:

• the stucco frieze in the chancel by Giovanni Battista Falconi, from around 1647,
• the Rococo high altar with a painting of St Joseph and the Child, and the Rococo pulpit of 1758,
• paintings of the four Evangelists by Maciej Topolski from the early 19th century,
• the organ topped by a figure of King David with his harp, and the choir loft bearing the Oksza coat of arms,
• four confessionals brought from Vienna by Count Antoni Ledóchowski in 1806.

The founder, Jerzy Ossoliński, is buried in the crypt. The chancellor died in 1650, long before his church was finished.

Interesting facts

The collegiate status did not last long: because there was no money to maintain the chapter of canons, Bishop Konstanty Felicjan Szaniawski withdrew it in 1730. The parish priests nevertheless kept the right to wear a mitre until 1950, which is why the church is also called "infułacki" (mitred). On 17 August 1841, Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, born in nearby Górki and later a cardinal and Primate of Poland, received his clerical habit here.

Tripto tip

The church is an active parish church, so visit the interior outside service times. Allow 30–45 minutes for the façade, the interior and the churchyard with Baroque statues of Faith and Hope. Stand in the middle of the nave and turn around slowly — only then can you see how the ellipse and the two levels of galleries form a single enclosed space.

In Klimontów, also look at the former Dominican church of St Hyacinth and the mid-19th-century synagogue. The church combines easily with a trip to Sandomierz or to the ruins of Krzyżtopór, built by the same architect. It lies on the Lesser Poland Way of St James pilgrimage route.