Ruins of St Stanislaus Church in Żarki

On Laskowiec hill above Żarki stand the roofless walls of a church, and beneath the grass around them lie burials more than five centuries old. The Ruins of St Stanislaus Church in Żarki are the conserved walls of a small Baroque church built of rough limestone before 1782, on the site of an earlier roadside chapel. Since the mid-19th century the church has been a ruin – for reasons no one can now explain – and today it is one of the most interesting short stops between Żarki and Leśniów.

History: from a roadside chapel to a lasting ruin

First there was a wooden roadside chapel here on an important trade route from Kraków to Częstochowa; records mention it in 1595, 1748 and 1763. A cemetery surrounded the chapel, and archaeological excavations revealed burials from the second half of the 15th century. The stone church of St Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, was built of rough limestone before 1782. It has been a ruin since the mid-19th century. The walls were tidied up and conserved in the 1980s thanks to the Friends of Żarki Society, and above all to Wojciech Mszyca, a journalist with the regional daily "Dziennik Zachodni".

Legend and the name Żarki

A folk tale says that a wealthy knight founded the first church here as a thanksgiving offering after returning safely from war. Local tradition holds that the original Żarki stood right here, and that the hill may once have been a pagan cult site and later a burial ground. This is linked to a popular explanation of the town's name – from "żary", the pyres on which the dead were cremated. It is, however, a hypothesis rather than an established fact.

What you will see

• Walls of a single-nave church with a polygonal chancel – it originally had three altars, two entrances and three or four windows, whose openings are easy to spot in the walls.
• A roofless interior carpeted with grass – it looks best in the afternoon sun, when light streams through the empty windows.
• A wide view from the edge of the hill over the valley and the Żarki area.

Tripto tip

The ruins are open free of charge all year round; the address is ul. Cegielniana in Żarki. Allow 20–30 minutes. The ground is grassy with no paved paths, so it can be difficult with a pushchair after rain. Leave the car by the road and do not drive onto the grass. The visit combines easily with the Old Mill – Museum of Traditional Crafts, the synagogue and the Jewish cemetery in Żarki and the Leśniów sanctuary; a little further on are the watchtower at Przewodziszowice and Mirów Castle on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests, a route of medieval castles across the Polish Jura.