St Nicholas' Church in Chrzanów

At 5 Mickiewicza Street in Chrzanów stands the parish church of St Nicholas – a church whose Gothic chancel dates back to the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, while the rest of the building is the result of a rebuilding in 1912–1914. Inside you will find Baroque marble, stained glass from the end of the Austrian era and a mosaic given by Pope Leo XIII to a local industrialist.

History: from Gothic parish church to rebuilding

The church was built around 1300 and reached its final form, which lasted until 1912, in the 15th century and somewhat later through added annexes. Jan Długosz mentions a brick church here in his records. Of the Gothic building only today's chancel survives. A free-standing brick bell tower was probably built beside the church in the same period and is mentioned in 16th-century documents.

The church owes its present appearance to a thorough rebuilding in 1912–1914 to a design by Stanisław Oszacki. Beneath it are crypts holding, among others, former owners of Chrzanów, officials of the local manor and prominent townspeople. In 2003 a plaque was placed on the bell tower to honour the people of Chrzanów who fought for an independent Poland in 1918–1920 and 1939–1989.

What to see

The furnishings are mainly 19th-century altars and paintings and the Stations of the Cross. Older highlights include:

• the 17th-century altar of St Stanislaus in black marble,
• a Baroque font of black Dębnik marble, made before 1748,
• stained glass from 1914 by the S.G. Żeleński workshop in Kraków,
• a 15th-century monstrance and an early Baroque 17th-century chalice,
• a large chandelier with the White Eagle from the interwar years.

Did you know?

The most unexpected object is a small mosaic of the Madonna and Child. In 1888 Pope Leo XIII gave it to Henryk Loewenfeld, who passed the papal gift on to the Chrzanów parish church. As a result, a small-town parish church holds a piece that came straight from the Vatican via a private donor.

Tripto tips

The interior and a walk around the church take 20–30 minutes. It is an active parish church, so plan your visit outside Mass times or arrange it with the parish office. The church is close to the centre, so it combines easily with a walk around Chrzanów; take a look at the free-standing bell tower with its 2003 plaque too.