Churches & monasteries

St Bartholomew the Apostle Church in Jerzmanowice

St Bartholomew the Apostle Church in Jerzmanowice is a Classicist church in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. The present masonry building was erected in 1827–1830 on the site of an older royal timber parish church. After an enlargement in 1876, it was consecrated on 21 June 1884.

From a royal foundation to the present church

The parish probably existed as early as 1338 and is traditionally linked with King Casimir the Great. The timber church was dismantled in 1826, and construction of the present one followed. Its facade refers to Warsaw Palladianism and is distinguished by monumental pilasters, a triangular tympanum and an attic.

Bells, painting and traces of Nowosielski

Two bells from the former church survive, cast in 1545 and 1548. During the First World War parishioners buried them to protect them from confiscation. The high altar holds a 1911 painting of the Virgin Mary and St Bartholomew by Bolesław Rutkowski. The interior contains Baroque-Classicist altars, a historic font and wall decoration by Janusz Łęgowski, which replaced Jerzy Nowosielski’s paintings transferred in 2000.

Practical information

The church is at 6 Kościelna Street in Jerzmanowice. It is an active parish church, so view the interior outside Mass and check the current service schedule in advance. The parish grounds also include the former Baroque hospital church of St John the Baptist, built in 1696. Allow about an hour for both churches and a short walk nearby.