Church of St Hyacinth in Klimontów

On the chancel arch of St Hyacinth's Church in Klimontów, the builders left a kind of signature: a mason's mark with the names of Gaspare and Sebastiano Fodiga and the date 1619 (or 1618). Thanks to traces like this, uncovered during conservation work, we now know who built one of the finest early-17th-century monasteries in Lesser Poland. The former Dominican church stands on a hill in the north-west of the small town, above the Koprzywianka valley.

History: an Ossoliński mausoleum and the Dominicans

The friary was founded in 1613 by Jan Zbigniew Ossoliński, governor (voivode) of Sandomierz, with permission from Bishop Piotr Tylicki. The church was built in 1617–1619 by the Fodiga workshop – Italian master builders who had settled in Chęciny. The founder intended it as the family mausoleum of the Ossolińskis. In 1620 an icon of the Virgin and Child brought from Moscow was placed here and soon became known for its graces. The church was consecrated on 10 July 1633.

The following centuries brought fires (1688, 1751, 1761, 1825), and during the Swedish invasion of the 1650s Cossacks plundered the church. After the failed January Uprising of 1863–1864, the Russian authorities left the community to die out; the last Dominican died in 1901, ending almost 300 years of the order's presence in Klimontów. The friary then housed a court, the municipal office and a lock-up, and from 1946 a secondary school, which only moved out in 2005. By a decree of Bishop Andrzej Dzięga of 31 January 2006, the church became a rectory church of St Joseph's parish.

What to see

The architecture blends late Gothic, Mannerist and early Baroque forms. The church has a single nave, a pseudo-transept and a three-sided chancel. To the west it is fronted by a narthex with a porch-mausoleum crowned by a dome with a lantern. The façades carry sgraffito decoration below the cornice dated 1620, and the vaults are covered with geometric stucco of the so-called Chęciny type.

• The icon of the Virgin and Child, Moscow school, cautiously dated to the 14th century and surrounded by votive offerings.
• The Holy Cross altar from around 1650, with a rare Tree of Jesse motif.
• The painted cabinet of the Rosary Confraternity from the late 17th century.
• The high altar of 1650 with a painting of St Hyacinth's vision, plus a Rococo pulpit and confessionals from 1800–1801 by the workshop of Jan Nowakowski.
• Stone portals from around 1620 and epitaphs from the 1620s and 1640s.

Interesting facts

During works in 1999, the remains of members of the Ossoliński family, including the founder, were found under the porch floor. The powerful magnate had asked to be buried modestly, beneath the church threshold, and not – as had long been assumed – under the high altar. The former refectory once hosted an amateur theatre founded by the Futurist poet Bruno Jasieński, who was born in Klimontów.

Tripto tip

The church is at ul. św. Heleny Herman 2. It is a working church, so the interior is best seen around a service or after contacting St Joseph's parish in advance. Allow 45–60 minutes for the church and its furnishings. Inside, look up at the chancel arch: next to the Ossolińskis' Topór coat of arms you can see the builders' mark. Combine the visit with a walk to St Joseph's Church in the centre of Klimontów and the Church of the Assumption in nearby Goźlice. Klimontów lies on the Lesser Poland Way of St James.