St Catherine's Church in Nowy Targ

Inside St Catherine's Church hangs a Latin inscription, "Fundata a Casimiro Magno Anno Domini 1346" – founded by King Casimir the Great in the year 1346. The brick chancel and the stone holy-water stoups by the entrances survive from that time, although fire has repeatedly ravaged the rest of the church. Locals call it the "old church" to set it apart from the "new" Sacred Heart Church; it draws visitors with a Baroque gate-and-bell tower and a Gothic painting of the Madonna with a Pear.

History: a royal foundation and many fires

A wooden church established in 1327 already stood on the site. When Nowy Targ was re-founded under Magdeburg law in 1346, Casimir the Great funded a new church dedicated to the town's patron, St Catherine of Alexandria. Only the chancel was built of brick; the rest was wooden. In 1493 a charter of King John Albert confirmed the parish's endowment.

A great fire in 1601 destroyed almost the whole town; only the chancel and sacristy of the church survived. In the early 17th century the church was rebuilt in brick, with a new nave and a tower topped by a Baroque cupola – the date 1606 can be seen on the church wall. In 1634 the townspeople added the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary. The church burned again during the Swedish invasion in 1656 and several times in the 18th century, and in 1701 the distinctive Baroque gate-and-bell tower was built.

What to see

• The "Madonna with a Pear" in the chancel above the sacristy door – most likely 15th-century, from the Lesser Poland school. In the Middle Ages pear blossom stood for purity and was a symbol of Mary. The painting was moved here for safety from the wooden Church of St Anne.
• The gate-and-bell tower in the wall around the church, with a carved Crucifixion scene with the Virgin and St John.
• A niche on the outer wall with figures of Christ and the two thieves.
• Fragments of a sgraffito frieze with Podhale highland motifs under the eaves.
• The painting of St Catherine on the high altar, made in 1892 by Władysław Rossowski as a copy of an earlier, ruined image.

Tripto tip

The church is open to visitors, and in summer it hosts organ concerts on an E. Weyland organ brought from Germany in 2004. It is a working parish church, so sightseeing is not possible during Mass. Allow 20–30 minutes for the interior and a walk along the wall. Combine the visit with the market square, more than 1.5 hectares in size, where the town hall houses the Podhale Museum, and with the 15th-century wooden Church of St Anne in the cemetery, which has a replica of a painting of St Anne – the original is here at St Catherine's.