St Lawrence's Church in Nowa Słupia

For centuries the pilgrims' road to Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross) has run through Nowa Słupia – and it was here, at the stone Church of St Lawrence, that they stopped before climbing Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain). At the entrance to the churchyard stands a wrought-iron late Renaissance gate from the second half of the 16th century, brought from the Holy Cross abbey after it was dissolved in 1819. The church is the starting point of the Way of the Cross that leads up the Royal Road to the summit.

History: from wooden chapel to parish church

The first records of the parish in Nowa Słupia date from 1326. Originally a wooden church stood here as a branch of the parish in Stara Słupia, founded by the Benedictines of Holy Cross. Tatar raids in 1500 and 1502 devastated it, and in 1597 it was described as a church with a sound roof but rotting walls. In the 17th century the town suffered from wars, and in 1666 a great fire destroyed most of Nowa Słupia.

Around 1656 the Benedictine parish priest Maciej Sekulski began building a single-nave stone church, on his own initiative and at his own expense. On 23 May 1678 the Bishop of Kraków, Andrzej Trzebicki, made it a parish church by a formal act of foundation; the exact date of its consecration is unknown. In 1960, thanks to parish priest S. Gruszka, two side aisles were added. Today the church is in the care of the Michaelite Fathers.

What to see

• The wrought-iron gate in the churchyard wall – late Renaissance, brought from Holy Cross; a relic of the True Cross also came here from the abbey at that time and was kept in Nowa Słupia for several years.
• The early Baroque portal with the Benedictine emblem and a stone figure of St Lawrence, and statues of Saints Benedict and Scholastica at the top.
• The high altar of Chęciny marble from the first half of the 18th century, with a carved figure of Christ on the cross and an 18th-century painting of St Lawrence.
• The barrel vault of the nave with late Renaissance stucco work.
• The 18th-century side altars: one with a 17th-century Virgin and Child (covered by a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary), the other with St Anne with the Virgin and Child in a metal cover.
• In the porch, plaques honouring Home Army officers – Major Jan Piwnik "Ponury" and Major Stefan Rychter – heroes of the Polish wartime resistance.

Curiosities in the churchyard

A spreading linden grows in the churchyard; local tradition says it was planted in 1690 to mark the market privilege granted by King John III Sobieski. By the wall stands a mysterious stone figure of a woman known as "Emeryk's Wife" – researchers still cannot say for certain which century it comes from. There is also a statue of St Florian from 1929, 19th-century gravestones and memorials to those who fell in the January Uprising of 1863 and in the Second World War. Guests at the nearby presbytery included Stanisław Staszic, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Prince Adam Czartoryski.

Tripto tip

The church stands on the road to Święty Krzyż, so stop here before or after climbing Łysa Góra. The interior is open mainly during services; the gate, portal, linden and the "Emeryk's Wife" figure can be seen from the churchyard. Allow 20–30 minutes. The Way of the Cross with 14 wooden stations, established in 2004, starts at the church and follows the Royal Road up to the monastery on the summit. In August Nowa Słupia hosts the Dymarki Świętokrzyskie festival of ancient iron smelting, and the Museum of Ancient Metallurgy of the Świętokrzyskie Region is worth a visit all year round.