Churches & monasteries

St John the Baptist Church in Dobczyce

St John the Baptist Church in Dobczyce stands in the Old Town, above the former cemetery and close to the castle ruins. The present Neoclassical church is not the oldest building on the site, but it preserves reminders of several centuries of Dobczyce history.

A Neoclassical church partly built from castle material

Jan and Jakub Turnau built the present church between 1828 and 1834. The builders partly reused material from the demolished Dobczyce castle, linking the church with the most important monument on the hill. The building has Neoclassical and Josephine features: a single nave, a Latin-cross plan and a western tower.

Epitaph, altars and the Jan bell

Inside, look for the Renaissance child’s epitaph of Sebastian Lubomirski from the 16th century, carved in white marble. The church also preserves a pulpit, five altars—three made by Kajetan Domasiewicz in 1851—and 18th-century Stations of the Cross. A stone belfry in the form of a three-arched triumphal arch stands beside the church. Its central arch holds the Gothic Jan bell, cast in 1504.

Practical information

The church is in Dobczyce’s historic Old Town. It is an active church, so plan an interior visit around a service or check access in advance. The castle ruins, open-air museum and fragments of the town walls are nearby; allow 1.5–2 hours for the full hilltop route.