St Joseph's Church in Kicin

From 1564 to 1574 the titular parish priest of Kicin was Jan Kochanowski, Poland's great Renaissance poet, then a canon of Poznań. Today's wooden church was built two centuries later, in 1749–1751, on a medieval hillfort just beyond Poznań's north-eastern boundary. Its modest shingled exterior hides an interior covered in Rococo paintings, and the church is part of the Wooden Churches Trail around the Zielonka Forest.

History: from All Saints to St Joseph

The Liber Beneficiorum of the Poznań diocese mentions a parish church of All Saints here, belonging to the provost of Poznań Cathedral. Jan Kochanowski is linked to this benefice: as provost he administered the Kicin estate. The present church was funded by Józef Tadeusz Kierski, Bishop of Poznań and a former parish priest here, on the site of a church demolished three years earlier. On 20 November 1752 the bishop consecrated the church, changing its dedication to St Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mary, together with four bells: "Józef", "Nepomucen", "Stanisław" and "Wawrzyniec".

In the 19th century the Kicin priests also administered the parish of Wierzenica, and together with Count August Cieszkowski, Father Wincenty Studniarski founded the Wierzenica-Kicin Peasant Farmers' Circle. The church has been repaired many times: in 1980 the weatherboarding was replaced, in 2004 a new sacristy was built, and in 2008–2010 the interior was conserved.

What to see

• The building – a single-nave log church with a lower, three-sided chancel, a double-ridged shingle roof and a square tower with a spire and cross.
• Rococo paintings on the ceiling and walls, uncovered in 1966–1967 and restored in 2010–2011.
• The high altar from around the mid-18th century with a painting of the Virgin and Child from 1687 – a copy of the image from Święta Góra near Gostyń.
• The side altars – St Joseph's with a statue of St Lawrence, and St Stanislaus's with a copy of Szymon Czechowicz's "Raising of Piotrowin".
• A painting of Our Lady of the Snows from around 1620–1630 above the sacristy door, plus the pulpit, font and three patrons' pews from the time the church was built, and stained glass from 1938 and the 1950s.
• The bell tower of 1985, with three bells taken down from the church tower in 1980.

Mystery plays and trails

Every Palm Sunday the parish stages a Passion play, and on the first Sunday of January a Mystery of the Incarnation. The Greater Poland section of the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela passes through Kicin, and the church is part of the Wooden Churches Trail around the Zielonka Forest.

Tripto tips

The church is at ul. Kościelna 2 in Kicin (Czerwonak municipality), about 9 km from Poznań Cathedral, so it is easy to reach by car or by bike from Poznań's northern districts. It is a working parish church – the interior is easiest to see before or after Mass, and the parish website lists current service times. 20–30 minutes is enough for a visit; combine it with other churches on the trail, such as Wierzenica.