Church in Gołąb

From a distance it looks like a three-aisled basilica, but that is an illusion: the low "side aisles" are really a thickening of the walls that hides gun-ports. The church in Gołąb combines an Italian order, Netherlandish decoration and the defensive habits of Poland's eastern borderlands – and it is one of the first churches in Poland with a two-tower façade designed as a single compact block.

History: the work of Jerzy Ossoliński

The parish of Gołąb is among the oldest in the Lublin region – papal tithe records of 1325–1327 already list two priests and two churches here, dedicated to St Florian and St Catherine. In 1621 the village was bought by Jerzy Ossoliński, later Grand Chancellor of the Crown and one of the most skilful diplomats of his day. Together with the parish priest Szymon Grzybowski he built the brick church and, next to it, the Loreto House – a copy of the Santa Casa in Loreto.

The building date was long disputed, but the Latin foundation plaque set into the façade settles it: work began in 1626, at the end of the reign of Sigismund III, and was completed in 1634, under Władysław IV. The church was consecrated in 1638 by Bishop Tomasz Oborski and dedicated to the Assumption, St Florian and St Catherine.

What to see

• Red brick walls in Polish bond with pale details in render and sandstone – lintels, pilasters, cornices and friezes. The distinctive strapwork looks as if it has been stuck onto the brick; similar work decorates the Górski Chapel at the parish church in Kazimierz Dolny.
• The block façade with two towers bound together by pilasters. Façades like this only became common in Poland from the mid-17th century, so Gołąb was ahead of its time.
• The gun-ports – one row hidden under the lean-to roofs of the widened lower storey, another behind the crowning frieze. Fortifying churches was already old-fashioned in the 17th century, but in the east of the country it still made sense.
• The interior – a single nave under a barrel vault with lunettes, geometric stucco work typical of the Lublin region, and pairs of massive columns against the piers that create the illusion of aisles.
• Five terracotta prophets – Noah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Aaron and Moses, dated to about 1650. They were moved for safety from the niches of the Loreto House façade into the church.

Did you know?

The buildings in Gołąb were the work of several workshops employed by Ossoliński, drawing on both Italian models and the Netherlandish pattern books of Hans Vredeman de Vries. The church clearly echoes the architecture of Kazimierz Dolny, and masons from there may well have worked on it.

In February 1656, during the Swedish Deluge, a battle was fought near Gołąb between the forces of Stefan Czarniecki and the army of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. Fighting on the Swedish side at the time was Jan Sobieski, the future king of Poland.

Tripto tip

Gołąb lies by the Vistula on the road from Puławy to Dęblin, about 10 km north of central Puławy. The church and the Loreto House stand side by side, so see them together – allow 45–60 minutes. The façades look best in sunshine, when the contrast between red brick and pale strapwork is strongest. The interior is easiest to visit before or after Mass.