St Nicholas' Church in Byczyna

St Nicholas' Church in Byczyna looks like an ordinary Gothic parish church of a small town, but around 1300 it was one of the most unusual buildings in the region. Lower walls of unworked stone, a brick chancel with rich carved decoration and a west tower, rare at the time, all reveal the ambitions of its founders. Since the 16th century, with a short break, it has belonged to the Lutherans, and it stands in Byczyna, one of the few Polish towns whose medieval walls survive almost intact (they run for more than 900 m).

History: from a wooden parish church to a Lutheran one

The first, probably wooden, parish church of St Nicholas was mentioned in 1283. The brick church was built in the early 14th century, probably around 1300, in the time of Duke Henry III of Głogów, who took Byczyna in 1294 and had ambitions of winning Kraków and the crown. In 1313 the parish priest of Byczyna was made an archpresbyter, which may be linked to the building of a new, imposing church. The nave was completed or rebuilt as a basilica at the end of the 14th century.

In 1430 the church was plundered by the Hussites, in 1556 it was taken over by Protestants, and in 1694–1707 it was Catholic again. In 1886–1888 it underwent a thorough Gothic Revival remodelling: the tower got a neo-Gothic top, a chapel and porch were added, and most of the furnishings were replaced. After 1945 most Lutherans left Byczyna, and the church became a branch of the Lutheran (Evangelical-Augsburg) parish in Wołczyn.

What to look for

• The contrasting walls: a base of fieldstone with brick walls above, and the four-storey tower with its pointed stone portal.
• The chancel corbels: a surviving fragment in the north-east corner shaped rather like hunting horns; art historians compare this decoration with the nave of Olomouc Cathedral.
• A Gothic crucifix from around 1530, linked to the circle of Veit Stoss's pupils.
• A Renaissance votive painting of pastor Albrecht Opala showing the Baptism in the Jordan, and two paintings by Tobias Fendt.
• A plaque with the letters A M and J M and the date 1709 in the wall by the chancel.

Interesting facts

The crypts beneath the church hold, among others, Duke Maximilian Emanuel of Württemberg (1689–1709), who died on his way back from Russian captivity after the Battle of Poltava, as well as members of the Frankenberg family. Until 1750 the church was surrounded by a cemetery, which was closed for fear of epidemics.

Tripto tip

This is a working Lutheran church and is often locked outside services; the Wołczyn parish publishes its service schedule online, so ask in advance whether you can get in. The church stands on ul. Okrężna. The interior takes a quarter of an hour, but allow 1–1.5 hours if you add a walk along the town walls and around the market square.