St. Martin's Church in Tarnowskie Góry

In the cemetery of the Stare Tarnowice district stands the oldest surviving church in Tarnowskie Góry — the Gothic church of St. Martin, whose walls date back to around 1400. Right next to it rises the later parish church, so two eras meet on one small hill.

From knight Sambor to bishop Jastrzębiec

The church began life as a filial church of the mother parish of St. Nicholas in Repty, serving the medieval settlement of Tarnowice. Its founder was most likely the local lord, the knight Sambor de Tarnowitz. A tower with two bells was added in 1400, and in 1415 the Bishop of Kraków, Wojciech Jastrzębiec, established an independent parish here. The church served as the parish church until the 19th century, when a larger new church of St. Martin was built nearby.

A Baroque transformation of 1707

The present shape is the result of a Baroque rebuilding in 1707, financed by the heirs of the nearby castle in Tarnowice: siblings Wacław and Anna Felicjana Ohm-Januszewski and Anna's husband Kaspar Hunter de Grandon. The presbytery was enlarged and a brick barrel vault with lunettes was built, covered with Baroque polychromes that survive today. The chapels of St. Anne and St. Wenceslaus date from this time; opposite stands the later chapel of St. John of Nepomuk from the late 18th century.

In practice

The church on Niedziałkowskiego Street now serves as a cemetery chapel, so it is best visited outside services. Allow 20–30 minutes: look out for the polychromes, the Gothic fragments of the walls and the valuable furnishings.