Churches & monasteries

St. Lawrence Church in Dąbrowa

The parish church of St Lawrence in Dąbrowa near Opole is one of the best documented churches in the Opole part of Upper Silesia. Its own parish priest — „Nicolaus plebanus in Dambrova" — is already listed in a tithe register from 1305, and the dedication to the deacon-martyr Lawrence suggests that a first church stood here as early as the first half of the 13th century.

From the Register of Ujazd to the Renaissance

The village lay among the estates of the bishops of Wrocław, so the church reappears regularly in medieval sources: the Register of Ujazd from 1303–1306 records the parish income from hides in the village of Skarbiszów, and the papal collector Galhard de Carceribus listed it in a register of tithe debtors from 1335–1342. The present single-nave building represents the late Renaissance; in 1681 a chapel was added and the vault rebuilt. An inventory from 1651 mentions a stone floor, three bells and three carved altars.

A countess's endowment

An interesting trace was left by Maria Sabina, Countess Mettich née Verdugo, who funded a new altar and a monstrance. The church was entered in the register of monuments on 24 February 1959 under number 552/59, and stands next to the Hochberg palace, which today belongs to the University of Opole.

Practical information

Dąbrowa lies about 11 km west of Opole, on the edge of the Niemodlin Forests. The church serves the local parish and is open mainly during services; at other times you can admire it from the outside.