St. Thecla’s Church in Dobrzyca

St. Thecla’s Church stands right at the market square of Dobrzyca in the Pleszew county — a wooden church that twice had to start over after fires. The present building was raised in 1778, and its history reaches back to the 14th century, when Dobrzyca had a mother church with filial churches in Lutynia and Wałków.

A phoenix from the ashes

On 29 October 1777 a great fire of Dobrzyca destroyed the church together with the belfry — the parish priest Stanisław Łukomski saved only the records, registers and part of the furnishings. The new church was built by the carpenter Antoni Wilczerowicz, with substantial funding from Augustyn Gorzeński; the work was probably completed on 19 August 1778. On the tie beam holding the walls together, a verse survives to this day comparing the rebuilt church to a phoenix: “This temple rose — like a Phoenix — from burning”.

A carver from Kalisz and a painter of the Tatras

The interior was decorated in 1780–1781 by Franciszek Eytner from Kalisz — the main altar and two side altars. The altar paintings were the work of Augustyn Kierblewski, including the image of St. Thecla. In 1823, on the initiative of the owner of Dobrzyca, Helena Turno, the tower, roof and façade were renovated and the building was clad in boards — in this almost unchanged form the church has survived to our times.

In practice

The church stands by the market square, so no planning is needed: a short walk from the town centre. The interior can be viewed outside mass times. Combine the visit with the Gorzeński palace-and-park complex in Dobrzyca, a few minutes’ walk away — together they form a coherent picture of an estate at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.