Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Inwałd

The painting on the high altar of the church in Inwałd has an unusual nickname: Our Lady of the Robbers. According to legend it was brought here by brigands, and their leader handed it over to the villagers after his conversion. The church itself is a late-Baroque building of 1747–1750, funded by Franciszek Szwarzenberg-Czerny, castellan of Wojnicz, whose coat of arms still crowns the entrance.

History: from wooden church to sanctuary

A church in Inwałd is first recorded in 1325–1327; its founder was the royal courtier Jakusz Ligęza. For centuries a wooden church stood here, and next to it Szwarzenberg-Czerny, owner of Inwałd, Andrychów and other estates, built the present church at his own expense. It was consecrated in 1756 by the Bishop of Kraków, Franciszek Potkański, while its wooden predecessor survived alongside until 1850. The miraculous image and a bell of 1724 were moved from the old church; the bell still hangs in the small roof turret. On 26 July 1885 a fire started through the sexton's carelessness, destroying part of the furnishings, including the high altar, and damaging the image of Our Lady of Inwałd. Repairs continued in stages until 1938.

What to see

• The façade with its tower and the founder's stone coat of arms above the door; restoration has returned the walls to their 18th-century pale salmon colour with white framing.
• The single-nave interior with two side apses and not a single column or pillar blocking the view of the altar.
• The high altar with the image of the Virgin and Child painted in tempera on oak, flanked by figures of St Joachim and St Anne.
• The 1928 wall paintings by painters from Lviv after designs by Professor Karol Polityński, including the Assumption and the Coronation of the Virgin.
• The Stations of the Cross chapels set into the churchyard wall, built by the founder in 1762, and the Romer family burial chapel of 1888.

The legend of the robbers

According to tradition the painting was made in Scandinavia and reached Poland in 1534, brought from Hungary by robbers who roamed around Andrychów. It hung in a small chapel built on stilts in the middle of a pond, which the gang reached by boat. The story credits the defeat of the gang to Augustyn Kordecki, later famous as the defender of Jasna Góra – which is chronologically impossible, so the whole tale is best treated as legend. What is certain is that the painter and date of the image are unknown, and parish records from 1756 onwards show pilgrims coming from the Podhale region, Silesia and Mazovia.

Tripto tip

The church stands on the road from Wadowice to Andrychów. It is an active parish church, so visit the interior outside Mass times; the parish publishes the current schedule. Allow 30–45 minutes for the church, chapels and grounds. The village also has the Park Miniatur „Świat Marzeń” miniature park, which makes it easy to plan a family day, and Wadowice is on the same road.