Church of St Thecla in Dobrzyca

The wooden Church of St Thecla stands on the west side of the market square in Dobrzyca (Rynek 6) and has survived two fires and one relocation: in the 1980s its body was cut apart and rolled onto new foundations. The church of 1778 was rebuilt after a town fire, and its interior is filled with uniform Rococo furnishings by the Kalisz carver Franciszek Eytner.

History: three churches on one site

The first wooden church probably stood in Dobrzyca as early as the 14th century – a privilege of the Bishop of Poznań from 1364 mentions the rector of the local church, and Dobrzyca was the mother church of the parishes in Lutynia and Wałków. It burned down in 1545; two years later Maciej Dobrzycki funded a new one, also of timber.

On 29 October 1777 a great fire in Dobrzyca destroyed the church and its bell tower. The parish priest Stanisław Łukomski rescued the records, registers and part of the furnishings. The new church was built by carpenter Antoni Wilczerowicz, with substantial funding from Augustyn Gorzeński. On the rood beam a crucifix and a foundation inscription dated 1778 survive; the inscription compares the church, risen from the ashes, to a phoenix.

What to see

• Rococo furnishings from 1780–1783 by Franciszek Eytner: the high altar, two side altars, the pulpit and a font with a figure of St John the Baptist.
• The painting of St Thecla in the high altar, by August Kierblewski, 1780.
• The organ loft with a case from 1785, decorated with music-making angels; the organ was built by the Kraków organ builder Majerowicz and the case carved by Eytner.
• Log construction clad with boards inside and out, on a fieldstone base, with a shingle roof, a tower to the east and a small ridge turret.

Curiosities: the church that moved

In 1823, on the initiative of Helena Turno, the tower, roof and facade were repaired. When the church later leaned dangerously to the south, it was propped up with an oak beam. The boldest renovation began in May 1982: the tower was moved, and the body was cut and pulled on rollers 6 metres towards the market square onto new foundations. The National Heritage Board states that in 1982–1983 the nave was lengthened by almost 10 metres. The renovated church was blessed on 3 September 1983. Since 2007 the tower clock has played tunes during the day, including "Barka" at 21:37.

Tripto tips

• This is an active parish church; the interior is easiest to see before or after Mass. The parish feast falls on 23 September, St Thecla's day.
• Next to the church are the grave of Fr Stanisław Śniatała and a protected natural monument – a dawn redwood with a girth of 240 cm.
• Allow 20–30 minutes. Combine the visit with a walk around the market square and the palace and park complex in Dobrzyca.