Church of St Hyacinth and St Mary Magdalene in Kroczyce

The high altar of the church in Kroczyce is neither carved wood nor marble: it is a grotto modelled on the one at Lourdes, built from blocks of local calcite, a mineral once quarried in the surrounding Jurassic rocks. The twin-towered church, built in 1893–1895, stands on the village's main street a few kilometres from Góra Zborów, and its parish history reaches back to the Middle Ages.

History: from wooden churches to a brick one

Written records say a parish existed in Kroczyce as early as the 12th century. Before today's church, a series of wooden churches stood here; the first burned down. The next was founded in 1427 by Piotr Firlej as a thank-offering for his safe return from the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. That wooden church, furnished over time by successive priests and donors, survived into the 19th century.

By the late 1800s it was too small for the growing parish. The parish priest, Fr Walenty Rajmiński, rebuilt it in 1893–1895 as a much larger brick church with two front towers and a separate bell tower. Much of the money came from the local landowner Józef Rutkiewicz. The church was not consecrated until 16 June 1912, by Bishop Augustyn Łoziński. It was badly damaged in the First World War, needed a thorough restoration afterwards, and was renovated again in 1963.

What to see

• The grotto altar – designed by Fr Kajetan Szymkiewicz, modelled on the grotto of the apparitions at Lourdes and made of local calcite.
• The painting of St Mary Magdalene in a side chapel. According to tradition it came straight from Rome in 1616, to the earlier wooden church. The Latin inscription quotes the Gospel of John – Mary Magdalene's words at the empty tomb: "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."
• 18th-century paintings in the side aisles.
• The two front towers and the bell tower, best seen from ulica 1 Maja.
• The old lime trees by the church – protected natural monuments; the oldest is about 500 years old, old enough to remember the Firlej wooden church.

Interesting facts

The church has two patron saints and two parish feasts: 22 July (St Mary Magdalene) and 17 August (St Hyacinth). The calcite was no exotic material: crystalline calcite, known locally as szpat (spar), was mined in the hills around Podlesice until the early 1950s, mainly for the glass industry. Since the 1950s the Carmelite Sisters of the Infant Jesus have been linked with the parish. The parish belongs to the Diocese of Kielce, even though the village itself lies in the Silesian Voivodeship.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church, so the interior is best seen just before or after Mass, without disturbing services. Entry is free. Allow 20–30 minutes for the church and the lime trees. Address: ul. 1 Maja 2, Kroczyce (Zawiercie County), by the junction of national road 78 and regional road 792.

It works best as a stop on the way to Góra Zborów and the Głęboka Cave in Podlesice, where calcite used to be mined. The Kroczyce Rocks and the Eagles' Nests Trail castles at Mirów and Bobolice are also close by.